The Ultimate Guide to Cold Email Outreach: Best Cold Email Strategies

Cold email outreach has changed drastically over the years. What worked in 2022 or even 2023 may not get the same results today. In 2024, businesses that want to succeed with cold emailing need to understand the new landscape. Let’s break down what’s changed, the best practices for success, and the tools you should use.

In this article:

• What Cold Email Outreach Looks Like in 2024
• Importance of Infrastructure in Cold Emailing
• Crafting Effective Cold Email Copy
• Managing Your Cold Email List for Success
• Tools for Cold Email Outreach in 2024
• Measuring Cold Email Success: KPIs to Track
• Overcoming Cold Email Challenges
• Common Mistakes in Cold Emailing and How to Avoid Them

What Cold Email Outreach Looks Like in 2024

Cold emailing has become more complex in recent years. In the past, it was common for companies to use just one domain and a few email inboxes. Now, businesses are using multiple domains and hundreds of inboxes to increase their chances of landing in the inbox instead of the spam folder.

For example, some companies manage anywhere from 40 to 100 domains for a single customer and create over 1,000 email accounts to send emails. This method helps spread out the emails, reducing the chances of any one domain getting blacklisted. 

If an email provider like Google or Yahoo sees too many emails coming from one domain, it may flag it as spam. By using multiple domains and inboxes, companies avoid penalties, and their emails are more likely to reach their target audience. This strategy ensures that emails remain targeted while protecting the domain’s reputation.

Another strategy that’s gaining popularity is the use of spin tax. This tool randomizes certain parts of your email, making each one slightly different. It’s a small but important tactic that helps emails avoid spam filters. 

For example, instead of saying “Hi there” in every email, spin tax allows you to change it to “Hey there,” “Hello,” or “Greetings.” This variation makes each email look unique, even if the core message is the same. Since spam filters often flag repeated messages as spam, spin tax helps keep emails fresh and more likely to land in the recipient’s inbox.

Importance of Infrastructure in Cold Emailing

In cold emailing, having the right infrastructure in place is more important than ever. As email providers like Google and Yahoo become stricter with their rules, businesses need to be careful about how they send emails. 

Without proper infrastructure, your emails may never reach their intended inboxes. Setting up multiple domains, inboxes, and managing DNS records ensures that your emails don’t end up in spam or get your domain blacklisted.

Using Multiple Domains and Inboxes

To run a successful cold email campaign today, your infrastructure needs to be strong. You can no longer send hundreds of emails from a single inbox without risking being flagged for spam. Instead, you need to create multiple domains and inboxes. This distributes your emails across various accounts, reducing the risk of blacklisting.

For example, if you’re sending out 200 emails a day, you can split them across 10 different inboxes. That means each inbox is only sending 20 emails, which is much safer than sending all 200 from a single inbox. 

This way, you lower the chances of being flagged as a spammer and increase the likelihood that your emails will reach their destination. Plus, if one domain gets flagged, your entire outreach isn’t affected, as you still have other domains to rely on.

Setting Up DNS Records Properly

To ensure your emails get delivered, it’s crucial to set up your DNS records correctly. This includes SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records, which act as your “registration stickers” for email sending. Without them, your emails could be flagged as spam.

• SPF (Sender Policy Framework) makes sure that only authorized servers send emails from your domain.
• DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail) adds a signature to your emails to show they haven’t been tampered with. 
• DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting & Conformance) tells email providers what to do if something goes wrong with SPF or DKIM. 

Together, these records prove that your emails are legitimate. Without these, your emails are much more likely to end up in spam folders, making it harder to get your message across.

Managing Sending Limits

Sending limits have dropped significantly over the years. While businesses used to send hundreds of emails from one inbox in a day, the current best practice is to send only 20 per inbox daily. 

Exceeding this limit can hurt your deliverability. Even a slight increase, like jumping to 25 emails per day, can cause a noticeable drop in deliverability.

Staying within the sending limit keeps your email account healthy and ensures better results. If you need to send more emails, it’s better to create additional inboxes and spread your sending across them. 

For example, if you want to send 100 emails a day, instead of using one inbox to send all 100, use five inboxes to send 20 each. This strategy helps maintain your inbox’s reputation and increases the likelihood of your emails being opened.

Crafting Effective Cold Email Copy

Crafting an effective cold email is more than just writing a few lines and hitting “send.” Email providers have become smarter at identifying mass emails, making it harder for cold emails to reach inboxes without the right approach. 

Personalization, strategic copywriting, and making small adjustments in how emails are sent can make a huge difference in email deliverability and response rates. Here’s how you can do it right.

The Shift in Email Copywriting

If your email looks too generic or if it’s sent to a large group at once, it’s likely to get flagged as spam. This shift has made personalization not just a bonus, but a necessity.

Using spin tax, which randomizes small parts of the email, can help your emails appear more unique. But beyond just changing a few words, cold email copy now needs to feel like it was written for a specific person. 

For instance, instead of starting with “Hi there,” addressing the recipient by name, such as “Hi, [First Name],” creates a more personal touch. Personalized emails are proven to have higher open rates—research shows personalized subject lines alone can increase open rates by 26%.

Additionally, even if you are sending to hundreds of people, it’s crucial to avoid using the same cookie-cutter language. Vary your messaging and target each segment differently. 

A cold email sent to a sales manager should sound different from one sent to a CEO, as their pain points and interests are often not the same.

The Power of Personalization

To stand out in today’s crowded inbox, personalization is key. A well-personalized email doesn’t just use the recipient’s name—it speaks directly to their needs, problems, and goals.

Here’s a breakdown of each part of a personalized cold email:

• Subject Line: The subject line is the first thing the recipient will see, so it needs to grab their attention. Using the recipient’s name in the subject, like “Hi [First Name],” is a simple yet effective strategy. Keep it short, and avoid anything that sounds salesy or spammy.
• Purpose of the Email: In the first sentence, get straight to the point. Explain why you’re reaching out. You can say, “I noticed you’re looking to expand your marketing efforts and wanted to share an opportunity that could help.”
• Problem You’re Solving: In the second sentence, address a problem the recipient might be facing. This shows you understand their challenges. For instance, “Many companies struggle to generate leads through email outreach, but we have a solution that’s proven to work.”
• Solution: The third line should briefly explain how you can help. Keep it simple and focus on how your solution benefits them. For example, “Our tool helps increase open rates by 30% using AI-driven email personalization.”
• Social Proof: In the fourth line, add a short piece of social proof. This could be a statistic, testimonial, or example of a company you’ve helped. For instance, “We’ve helped companies like XYZ achieve a 40% increase in response rates in just three months.”
• Call to Action: The final sentence should encourage the recipient to take action, such as scheduling a meeting. For example, “Got 15 minutes to chat this week?”

Each part of the email builds on the last, creating a seamless, personalized message that speaks to the recipient directly. This structure has been proven to increase response rates, making it a simple yet powerful approach.

How the Email Looks:

Hi [First Name],

I noticed you’re looking to expand your marketing efforts and wanted to share an opportunity that could help. Many companies struggle to generate leads through email outreach, but we have a solution that’s proven to work.

Our tool helps increase open rates by 30% using AI-driven email personalization.

We’ve helped companies like XYZ achieve a 40% increase in response rates in just three months.

Got 15 minutes to chat this week?

-Josh

The Significance of Small Lever Movers

When it comes to cold email outreach, sometimes the smallest changes can make the biggest impact. These small adjustments, often referred to as “lever movers,” are easy to implement but can significantly improve deliverability and response rates.

Avoiding Links

While it’s tempting to include a link to your website or product in the first email, it’s better to avoid links initially. Links can raise red flags with email providers, leading to your message landing in the spam folder. Instead, focus on starting a conversation first, and save the links for follow-up emails after you’ve made initial contact.

Not Tracking Opens or Clicks

Tracking email opens or clicks might seem helpful, but it can actually hurt your chances of reaching the inbox. Email providers often detect tracking codes and may flag your emails as promotional or spammy. By not tracking opens or clicks, you increase the likelihood that your email will make it to the recipient’s inbox.

No Images, GIFs, or Videos

While visual elements might look nice, they aren’t suitable for cold emails. Including images, GIFs, or videos in a cold email can trigger spam filters, especially since cold email is primarily meant to build connections, not immediately sell. 

Email providers like Google or Yahoo may flag emails as spam due to repeated messages or issues with HTTP status codes, which can impact deliverability. A plain text email that reads like it was written personally is much more likely to get a response.

Keeping it Short and Simple

Emails with fewer words tend to perform better because they’re easier to read and digest quickly. Focus on clarity, and make sure the recipient can understand the purpose of the email with just a quick glance.

By focusing on these small lever movers, you can increase your chances of getting your email delivered to the inbox and improve your response rates. When combined with personalization and strategic copywriting, these small changes make a big difference in your cold email outreach.

Adjusting your email copy based on seasonal keyword trends can also help ensure your messages resonate with the right audience at the right time.

Managing Your Cold Email List for Success

Managing your cold email list properly is one of the most important aspects of a successful campaign. Without the right approach to building, cleaning, and segmenting your list, even the best-written emails can end up in spam or ignored by your target audience. 

Taking care of your email list ensures better deliverability, higher response rates, and improved overall campaign success. Effective cold emails can also contribute to improving your website’s SEO, as backlinks continue to play a key role in shaping Google rankings.

The Value of High-Quality Lists

The quality of your email list is crucial. Sending emails to bad or invalid addresses can lead to high bounce rates, which hurts your sender reputation. When too many emails bounce back, email providers like Gmail or Yahoo may mark you as a spammer. This can make it harder for future emails to reach your recipients, even if the addresses are valid.

To avoid this, you need to invest in high-quality, verified email lists. Tools like instantly.ai or Apollo.io make it easy to get verified contacts at a low cost, often just a few cents per contact. 

These tools ensure that the email addresses on your list are valid and up-to-date, which reduces the chance of your emails bouncing. A clean, high-quality list means your emails are more likely to get opened and responded to.

Moreover, using a high-quality list saves time and resources. Instead of sending hundreds of emails that end up bouncing, you can focus on reaching real people who are more likely to engage with your content.

Cleaning Your Email Lists Regularly

Cleaning your email list regularly is another key step to maintaining high deliverability. Over time, even good email addresses can become invalid if people switch jobs, change email providers, or deactivate accounts. 

Keeping these invalid addresses on your list will hurt your sender reputation. That’s why regular cleaning is essential.

Tools like ZeroBounce can help you verify the accuracy of your email list and remove invalid or old addresses. These tools can also check for “spam traps,” which are email addresses designed to catch spammers. 

If you accidentally send emails to these addresses, your domain could be flagged as a spammer, causing your deliverability to suffer. Regular list cleaning ensures that you’re only sending emails to valid, active addresses, which improves your chances of landing in the inbox.

Additionally, cleaning your list can help increase your open and response rates. By removing invalid or inactive contacts, you can focus on the people who are most likely to engage with your emails. A smaller, more engaged list is far better than a large, inactive one.

List Segmentation for Better Targeting

Segmenting your email list is another powerful way to improve your cold email campaign. Instead of sending the same email to your entire list, segmentation allows you to divide your list into smaller groups based on certain criteria, like industry, job title, or the event where you met them. This approach enables you to send more personalized, relevant emails to each segment.

For example, if you met people at a trade show, you could send them a follow-up email specifically referencing that event. Or, if you’re reaching out to different industries, you could create unique messaging for each one. 

Segmented emails are proven to increase open rates, click-through rates, and overall engagement. Segmented email campaigns have a 30% higher open rate and a 50% higher click-through rate than non-segmented campaigns.

In the long run, segmentation helps build better relationships with your audience, as recipients feel like the message is tailored to their needs, making them more likely to engage with your emails and follow through with your call to action.

Tools for Cold Email Outreach in 2024

AI-Powered Tools

Artificial intelligence (AI) is playing a bigger role in cold email campaigns. AI-powered tools like instantly.ai and Clay can help automate personalized outreach at scale. These tools can craft highly personalized emails that look like they were written after hours of research. For example, Clay can scan a prospect’s website or LinkedIn profile and include personalized details in your email, making it feel like you took the time to learn about them.

This level of personalization is important because recipients are more likely to respond to an email that feels tailored to them. AI tools can analyze the data and predict what type of message or subject line is likely to get the best results. By using AI, businesses can send thousands of personalized emails in a fraction of the time it would take to do manually.

AI-powered tools also help optimize the timing of your emails. They can track when recipients are most likely to open their emails and send your message at the ideal time, improving open rates and engagement.

Automation Platforms

Platforms like Apollo.io and instantly.ai not only help with list-building but also manage your entire email campaign. These platforms automate follow-ups and track responses, making it easier to handle large-scale outreach efforts. 

For example, if a prospect doesn’t respond to your first email, these tools can automatically send a follow-up email a few days later without you needing to lift a finger.

Automation platforms save time by handling the repetitive tasks of sending, following up, and tracking. Instead of manually keeping track of who has responded or who needs a follow-up, the platform does it for you. This is especially helpful for large campaigns where you might be sending hundreds or thousands of emails.

In addition, automation tools can provide detailed reports on your campaign’s performance. They track open rates, reply rates, and bounce rates, giving you insight into what’s working and what needs improvement. This data helps you make smarter decisions and adjust your strategy for better results.

Personalization Tools

If you want to take personalization to the next level, tools like Clay can create emails that seem as if they were individually researched and written. These tools can gather data from multiple sources, such as LinkedIn, company websites, or news articles, and incorporate that information into your emails. This makes your emails stand out because they don’t feel like mass messages, even if you’re sending them at scale.

For example, instead of a generic email, a tool like Clay could help you write something like, “I saw that your company just launched a new product. Congratulations! I’d love to discuss how we can help you generate more leads for it.” This level of detail shows that you’ve done your homework, which increases the chances of getting a response.

Personalization tools help you build better connections with prospects. By tailoring your message to each recipient’s unique situation, you’re more likely to engage them and start a conversation. As a result, your emails feel more human, leading to higher response rates and better overall campaign performance.

Measuring Cold Email Success: KPIs to Track

When it comes to cold email outreach, knowing how to measure success is key. Tracking the right Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) helps you understand what’s working and what needs improvement. 

Key Performance Indicators (KPIs)

One of the most important KPIs to track is positive replies per 1,000 emails. A good benchmark for a cold email campaign is getting at least one positive reply per 1,000 emails. 

Some companies see even better results, with up to 2.5 positive replies per 1,000 emails. Tracking this metric helps you see if your messaging, targeting, and list quality are effective. If you’re not hitting this benchmark, you may need to adjust your approach.

Tracking other KPIs like open rates and bounce rates is also helpful. While open rates show how many people are reading your emails, bounce rates tell you how many emails failed to reach the inbox, which can point to issues with your list quality or sender reputation.

Meeting Bookings as a KPI

Another critical KPI is meetings booked. In most cold email campaigns, the goal is to get the recipient to take the next step, which is often scheduling a call or meeting. 

Booking meetings is a key sign that your cold email campaign is successfully generating interest and leading to deeper engagement. The more meetings you book, the more opportunities you have to convert prospects into customers. 

A well-crafted cold email will guide the recipient toward scheduling a meeting, often by offering a simple, clear call to action like, “Do you have 15 minutes to chat this week?” Tracking how many meetings come from your emails allows you to gauge how persuasive and effective your outreach is.

Booking meetings is also a great way to measure the quality of your email list. If you’re booking a good number of meetings, it’s a sign that you’re reaching the right audience with your message. 

If you’re struggling to get meetings, it may be time to refine your targeting, improve your copy, or use more personalization in your emails.

Overcoming Cold Email Challenges

Cold email outreach comes with its fair share of challenges, and one of the biggest is maintaining a good domain reputation. If you’re not careful, sending too many emails from a single domain or reaching too many invalid addresses can harm your domain’s health. This can lead to serious problems like having your emails marked as spam or even getting blacklisted. Knowing how to avoid these issues—and what to do if they happen—can save your cold email campaign.

Managing Domain Health

Maintaining the health of your domain is one of the most important aspects of a successful cold email strategy. If you send too many emails from the same domain, or if a large number of those emails bounce, your domain’s reputation can suffer. 

When email providers like Google or Yahoo notice these patterns, they may start flagging your emails as spam, even if you have a clean list. Worse, your domain could end up blacklisted, which would make it nearly impossible for your emails to reach anyone.

To protect your domain’s health, keep your email list clean and up-to-date. Sending emails to invalid addresses or spam traps can damage your reputation quickly. Use email verification tools like ZeroBounce to ensure you’re only sending to valid, active email addresses. 

Also, limit the number of emails you send per domain each day. A good rule of thumb is to send no more than 20 emails per inbox per day to stay under the radar of email providers.

In addition to keeping your list clean, it’s also a good idea to rotate between multiple domains. This prevents any single domain from being overused and helps spread the risk. If one domain encounters problems, you’ll have backups to continue your campaign without interruption.

On top of maintaining domain health, building author authority can boost your SEO and cold email results, helping your emails reach the right inboxes.

Getting Off a Blacklist

If your domain ends up on a blacklist, it can feel like a huge setback. Unfortunately, there’s no quick fix to getting off a blacklist, and it requires patience. 

The first step is to stop sending mass emails from the blacklisted domain immediately. Continuing to send emails from a blacklisted domain can make the problem worse and hurt your chances of recovering your domain’s reputation.

Once you’ve stopped sending emails, you need to focus on improving the quality of your emails. Make sure your list is thoroughly cleaned and verified, and start sending only to warm contacts—people who are more likely to engage with your emails. 

Over time, as you send higher-quality emails, your domain’s reputation will begin to improve. This may take weeks or even months, but eventually, your domain will recover if you stick to best practices.

You can also use tools like MXToolbox to check your domain’s status and monitor your progress. If your emails are still landing in spam after some time, it might be worth considering starting fresh with a new domain while continuing to repair the old one. Maintaining good domain health moving forward is key to avoiding these problems again in the future.

Common Mistakes in Cold Emailing and How to Avoid Them

As mentioned, over-sending can get your domain in trouble if you’re not careful. Not personalizing and forgetting to segment your audience can also lead to lower response rates.

Over-Sending from the Same Inbox

One of the biggest mistakes in cold emailing is sending too many emails from a single inbox.

When you overuse one inbox, email providers like Gmail or Yahoo might flag your emails as spam. This is because sending hundreds of emails in a short time from one account looks suspicious, and email providers want to protect users from spam. 

As a result, your emails could end up in the spam folder, or, worse, your inbox could get blocked altogether.

To avoid this, limit the number of emails you send from each inbox to around 20-25 per day. This keeps you under the radar of email providers and increases the chances of your emails reaching the recipient’s inbox. 

If you need to send more emails, create multiple inboxes and spread your sending across them. This will help you maintain good deliverability while still reaching a large number of prospects.

Not Personalizing Enough

Generic, one-size-fits-all emails simply don’t work. People are bombarded with emails every day, and if your email feels impersonal or looks like a template, it’s likely to be ignored.

Personalization is crucial to standing out in crowded inboxes and getting the recipient’s attention. When your email feels like it was written specifically for the recipient, they’re more likely to open it, read it, and respond.

To avoid this mistake, always personalize your emails by including the recipient’s name and tailoring your message to their specific needs or interests. 

For example, mention something unique about their company, such as a recent product launch or a milestone. This shows that you’ve done your research and are genuinely interested in helping them. 

Neglecting List Segmentation

Another common mistake is sending the same email to your entire list without segmenting it. Not all your recipients are the same, so sending them the same message isn’t always effective. 

For example, a CEO will care about different things than a marketing manager. If you don’t tailor your message to each segment, your email might not resonate with the recipient, leading to lower engagement and fewer responses.

To avoid this, segment your email list based on factors like job title, industry, or how you got their contact information. 

For example, you can create one segment for people you met at a conference and another for people who downloaded your e-book. By sending more targeted emails to each group, you increase the chances of catching their interest and getting a reply. 

Segmented emails are proven to have higher open and click-through rates, making this a simple yet powerful strategy for improving your cold email outreach.

Getting a Warm Welcome with Your Cold Emails

Today, cold email outreach requires more strategy and precision than ever before. The rules have changed, and businesses that want to succeed must adapt to new best practices and technologies. 

Whether it’s managing multiple domains, personalizing every message, or carefully cleaning and segmenting your email list, small actions can lead to significant improvements in your cold email success.

Remember, effective cold emailing is not just about sending mass emails—it’s about making meaningful connections with your target audience. 

Apply these strategies as you scale your outreach efforts with Link Genius. Find, manage, and build quality backlinks and guest posting opportunities, all in one easy-to-use platform. This way, you can focus on creating emails that drive better results for your business.