How do you make a success of your prospecting email (with free prospecting email examples)?

In an ever-changing and increasingly connected world, companies need to keep up with these changes in order to remain competitive. While contacting prospects by telephone was the norm just a few years ago, email has now become the preferred channel. According to a study by Rain Group, 8 out of 10 buyers prefer to be contacted by email, compared with one in two by telephone.

Despite strong interest in email, email prospecting can be very complicated. After analyzing 12 million outreach emails, Backlinko and Pitchbox found that more than 90% are ignored. As a marketer, you need to write an email that stands out from the many others in your prospect's inbox.

Email prospecting works, provided it's used appropriately. Let's take a look at what email prospecting is, what tips you need to write the perfect email, and how to offer email prospecting examples.

Introduction to email prospecting

What is a prospecting email?

Email prospecting is a marketing strategy that involves sending an email to a potential customer or client with the aim of generating leads, nurturing relationships, and ultimately converting prospects into customers.

In concrete terms, the main objective of email prospecting is to obtain a response from the prospect to start a conversation that will lead to conversion.

Today, there are two approaches to email prospecting in B2B: cold outreach and warm outreach. 

Cold outreach

Cold outreach involves contacting customers for whom there is no current relationship with the company. As a means of mass communication, the emails sent will have a generic approach, often relying on templates, an impersonal tone, and a vast, unsegmented database. This technique saves a lot of time, but on the other hand, the open and response rates are much lower. Some customers may even consider this method as intrusive or spam.

A much-used means of communication in the 2000s, it is now recognized that e-mail personalization and segmentation deliver far better results, leading marketing experts to move away from this method.

Warm outreach

Warm outreach is the process of sending emails to potential customers who have already established some form of relationship and shown some interest in the company. For example, they may have signed up for a newsletter, or downloaded a specific brochure.

With the information previously gathered by the company, it is possible to send more targeted and personalized emails. Unlike cold outreach, this approach favors quality over quantity, and delivers far superior results.

What are the different subtypes of e-mail prospecting?

Email prospecting isn't just about making a positive first impression with a prospect, it can also serve many other purposes. 

Introductory emails

The introductory e-mail is extremely important, as it's the first e-mail you'll send to your potential customer in order to develop a business relationship. Its purpose is to establish a positive first impression and seek a response. It should be brief, concise, and in line with the prospect's interests.

Follow-up e-mails

Follow-up emails are a type of email sent after an initial interaction with the prospect has gone unanswered. They aim to continue the conversation and answer any questions or concerns the individual may have, in order to maintain engagement.

Re-engagement emails

Whereas the previous examples were aimed at prospects who had never engaged with the company, re-engagement emails are aimed at those who have already shown interest in the company but are now inactive or disengaged. The aim of re-engagement emails is to rekindle one's interest and encourage him or her to re-engage with the company.

Invitation emails

Event invitation emails are sent to prospects with the aim of inviting them to attend events such as webinars, workshops and conferences that may be of interest to them.

Informative emails

Informative emails provide useful information to the prospect, with the aim of strengthening the business relationship while simultaneously positioning the company as expert and trustworthy.

How to write a good prospecting email?

The backbone of a good prospecting email is based on 3 points: Copywriting, segmentation and data validity. This paragraph will outline the best practices for building the best possible prospecting email around these 3 axes.

Understand the objectives of the communication

Before you start writing your email, it's vital to understand the purpose for which it's going to be sent. What sub-type of prospecting email should be sent? Is the reason for contacting the prospect convincing enough to target her or him? What type of response do I want? Answering these questions in advance gives you a clear idea of your objectives, so you don't send overly generic content that may not speak to your target prospects. 

Understand your target audience

Once this first stage has been completed, it's time to identify the right targets. Sending an e-mail to the wrong contacts can be very damaging. At best, the recipient will ignore the e-mail. In the worst case, the email will be flagged as spam, or the relationship between recipient and sender will be severed. Clearly identifying that prospects correspond to the buyer's persona saves time for all stakeholders. The more complete the prospect's details, the more personalized the e-mail can be. These details can be retrieved by looking at the prospect's browsing patterns on websites, or by browsing the prospect's social networks. 

Writing a catchy email subject line

The email subject line is an extremely important element when sending a prospecting email. Nearly 70% of e-mail recipients report an e-mail as spam on the basis of the subject line. Simple methods can be used to increase open rates. First of all, creating a sense of urgency or curiosity through the email title can significantly increase the email open rate. Another tip is to personalize the headline: including the prospect's name in the headline can increase the open rate by up to 18%. Titles of between 61 and 70 characters are also the most widely read. Finally, including a question mark, offers and promotions or numbers in the email title are other factors that significantly increase open rates.

The body of the email

The subject line is extremely important to get possible clients to open the email. But for them to respond, writing relevant content is crucial. The more personalized the body of the email, the greater its impact. One of the most effective ways of doing this is to include the name, position, and company. To kick-start the conversation, write a catchphrase about the prospect's position, take an interest in his or her company or sector of activity, or simply his or her common interests, all of which help to emotionally engage the prospect.

Email doesn't have to be extremely long. According to a Zero bounce survey, two-thirds of respondents prefer short emails. So be concise, and place the most important words at the beginning of the email. On the other hand, you don't want it to be too short, omitting certain information. As a rough guide, the ideal size of an e-mail varies between 50 and 200 words, depending on the objectives set. In addition, including a CTA at the end of the email is an important step in directing your prospect to take a specific action, or to follow up if the action has not been taken.

Monitor emails after they have been sent

You've written interesting, personalized content. You've assessed the prospects, segmented them and chosen to contact the most relevant ones. The final point is to monitor the status of the prospecting emails you've sent. Did the prospect open them? At what time of day? Answering these questions not only helps you assess the prospect's level of interest, but also helps you plan follow-ups. Knowing whether a prospect has opened a link or file included in the email could be an indicator of the level of interest in the subject. Additionally, knowing what time the email was opened can be used to schedule a follow-up at a specific time. According to Sopro.io, sending 3 follow up emails increases the success rate by over 80%.

To find out whether an email has been opened or not, there are free solutions such as Mail Track for Gmail. Mail Track for Gmail is a free email tracker that allows you to track unlimited prospecting emails from Gmail, with real time notifications.

Samples of email prospection

Introductory e-mail sample

Subject: How could [Company name] and [Name of your company] work together?

Hello [Prospect name],

I recently became aware of your company [Company name] and its involvement in [Specific field]. I am impressed by your work in this area.

I noticed that there was a recent article in [Name of publication] on [Specific topic]. I found the approach interesting and think our perspectives might align.

I am convinced that a collaboration between our two companies could be extremely beneficial. We could bring our expertise in [Specific area] to support your initiatives and help you achieve your business objectives. Would it be possible to arrange a discussion to explore this opportunity further?

We look forward to hearing from you.

Best regards,

[Your name]

[Your position]

[Name of your company]

Mail reminder sample

Hello [Prospect name],

I hope you're well.

Following our recent interaction, I'd like to remind you that our customers have seen an average [X]% increase in productivity with our solution. These tangible results could also benefit [Company name].

Would it be possible to schedule a short call to discuss in more detail how we can help you achieve these results?

Best regards,

[Your name]

[Your position]

[Name of your company]