In a lot of my discussions with MSP business owners, I find that people are often receptive to the idea of conducting cold email outreach campaigns… they’re just usually not sure where to begin.
We all know what a cold email looks like, as we get more of them a day than we can count. But you know those precious few that actually capture your attention? The ones that make you think “hey, I just might actually respond to this one…” There’s a lot more that goes into them than it looks.
But at the same time, cold email campaigns aren’t necessarily as difficult to get right as certain people would lead you to believe. You just need to avoid buying into a number of common myths you believe along the way.
Build that list
Any cold email campaign for MSPs depends on a solid list of prospects, but not necessarily in the way you might have heard. Oftentimes, people recommend building the biggest list possible — after all, cold emailing is a “numbers game.”
Instead, go small. Build a niche email list that plays directly into your MSP’s specialty. If you serve people in a specific industry like law firms, pour over LinkedIn and similar resources to find contact information for decision makers and other local legal professionals.
If you truly want to be successful with cold emailing, don’t go after EVERYONE — reach out to the people who are most likely to become a customer in the first place. In other words, think about your “ideal customer” and find as many of them as possible to build your list.
Craft your message
There are a lot of elements of a cold email that will vary depending on your business — meaning that unlike some other “experts” out there, I can’t sit here and tell you that “so long as you include X, Y, and Z elements, you WILL succeed.”
Part of what you’re doing is making a positive first impression. To get there, you need to play to the strengths that make you unique. Meaning, of course, that there are certain blanks you’ll need to fill in, that only you are aware of.
Having said that, there ARE certain techniques you can use when crafting your message to help make that positive first impression you so desire. Most importantly, be as personal as possible.
Go beyond simply including the first name of your prospect at the beginning of a form letter. Find out what the person does at their company and work that into the message. Make it clear that the reason you decided to reach out and that you have their specific needs in mind. Show them that you’ve done your homework and that you’re not just sending the same message to everyone.
Yes, it’s possible to re-use parts of the same message in every cold email. However, if you try to craft each message in a unique way, they’ll be able to feel it.
The art of the follow up
One of the biggest myths that so many people buy into is that it only takes “that one perfect email” to make a connection with someone. This isn’t just false — it’s a dangerous way of thinking that will undo your efforts before you know it.
Yes, you should craft that opening message and refine it until it’s just right. However, you also can’t rely on an immediate connection that probably isn’t going to happen.
Instead, you need to follow up with people and show them you’re serious about establishing this relationship. Maybe someone meant to respond to you and just forgot. Maybe they assumed that you’re like 99.9 percent of all other marketers out there and you’d just “go away” after the first attempt.
Regardless, following up helps cement the idea that there is a living, breathing human being on the other end of that email message who actually cares about the person in question. It keeps you at the top of someone’s mind and it makes it far more likely that they’ll respond, too.
Be human
When someone insists that you need to be doing more cold email campaigns, they tell you things like “people’s time is precious, so you need to get your pitch out there as fast as you possibly can.” In my opinion, this is the exact OPPOSITE of what you need to do. People are bombarded by marketing from all angles. They don’t need you adding to that.
Instead, go in the other direction and be as human as you possibly can. Don’t immediately come off like you’re trying to sell them something, because they’re going to be able to sense that. Instead, reach out with genuine curiosity to learn about their business, ask them to go get a cup of coffee. Bring up something that your two organizations have in common or compliment them on a blog post that they wrote. In other words, be yourself.
Be consistent
The success of your cold email outreach campaigns depends on your ability to be as consistent as possible.
If you tell yourself that you’re going to send 100 emails a day, you actually have to sit down and do the work. You especially need to double down and do it on those days when you “don’t feel like it.”
From a certain perspective, cold email campaigns for MSPs are a numbers game. The more emails you send and the more consistently you send them, the higher your response rate will be. But zero times ANYTHING is still zero, so send those emails as often as you can.
The MSP lead generation puzzle
Cold email is a fantastic tactic for MSPs who want to generate more leads, but it is only one piece of the MSP lead generation puzzle. Where does cold email fit into your lead generation strategy? What other pieces are missing?
If you’d like to find out, apply for an MSP marketing strategy call with myself or a colleague at Tech Pro Marketing. We’ll help you identify the next steps in finishing your lead generation puzzle.
Photo: Cienpies Design / Shutterstock
