From Cold to Gold
Master the art of cold emailing with
proven tactics for increased replies
and business expansion
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Ideal for all in sales,
marketing, recruitment,
and link building
Effective tactics to
maximize ROI
A comprehensive
guide for every cold
emailer
Packed with
valuable resources
for your success
Why this ebook?
Introduction
Cold emailing is like saying "hello" to a stranger,
but with a business intent. It's about sending
emails to potential customers, turning digital
chatter into professional connections.
Gives high ROI
Highly scalable
Cost-effective
Breaks down geographic barriers
What is Cold Emailing?
Why Does Cold Emailing Matter?
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Learn their interests
Understand their needs
Identify their challenges
Show how your business can help
How To Understand Your Target Audience?
Identifying Patterns and Segmentation
Understand
Your Audience
Invest time to
learn about
your prospects
for effective
cold email
personalization.
Spot Patterns
Categorize
prospects
based on the
specific
problems your
product/service
addresses.
Organization
Organize
prospects into
separate
campaigns and
tailor your
pitches
accordingly.
Gather Audience
Insights
Organize
prospects into
separate
campaigns and
tailor your
pitches
accordingly.
Implement
Strategies
Use the
identified
patterns to
automate tasks
and create
group-specific
templates.
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Let's buckle up and dive into the fascinating world of cold emailing!
P.S.: Some of the chapters consist of free value-packed resources inside.
Do not forget to check them out!
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Target Role: Who are you reaching out to? (e.g., CEOs, HR Managers)
Industry: Which sectors interest you? (e.g., IT, Healthcare)
Company Traits: Ideal company size or revenue? (e.g., SMEs, high revenue companies)
Geography: Focus on which region? (e.g., US, UK)
Unique Features: What makes your service special? (e.g., AI Integration)
Benefits: How does your service solve problems? (e.g., Streamlines workflow)
Defining Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)
Crafting Your Value Proposition
Chapter 1: Laying the Groundwork for Cold Emailing
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Use Cloud Storage: Google Drive can help manage your campaign.
Create Folders: Separate folders for each target industry keeps things tidy.
Categorize Leads: 'Unverified', 'Verified', 'Contacted' leads for organization.
Campaign Naming: A system like 'Role-Industry-Location-Size' aids clarity. (e.g.,
CEO-IT-USA-50-100)
Know the Laws: Learn rules about unsolicited emails in your target regions.
Stay Compliant: Avoid actions that trigger spam filters. (e.g., misleading subject
lines)
Understanding Legalities and Spam Filters
Organizing and Managing Prospects
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Filters
Apollo.io
Target by job title.
Example: sales manager
Use Advanced search and Boolean
Operators (AND, OR, AND NOT) for
more specific results.
Target by location
Example: London
Job Title
Location
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Filters
Apollo.io
Target by company size
Example: 10-50 employees
Target specific industries
Example: Marketing & advertising
Employee Count
Industry & Keywords
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Filters
Apollo.io
Identify companies using specific
software
Example: Google Analytics
Include companies within a certain
revenue range.
Technologies
Revenue
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Saving and Exporting Leads
Apollo.io
Apply filters and select people using the checkbox above the Name column.
Click 'Lists' and then 'Add to Lists'.
Create a new list.
Reload the page for changes to take effect.
Continue adding leads to your list from other pages.
Go to 'Saved' (or 'Lists' and open the list you created).
Select all saved contacts and click 'Export'.
Customize the information to export and download the CSV file.
You can find the video here
Verify these email addresses using an email verifier tool- don't skip this step.
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Domain Enrichment
With Apollo, you can enrich company
domains to find target personas.
Example: use list of domains from tech
firms to find founders or CTOs.
Go to Search - People - Company -
include/exclude company list.
Paste company websites in the include list
and click 'Save & Search'.
Apollo will list matching companies and
associated profiles.
Apply filters and export the file.
Apollo.io
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Define your search niche (e.g., "SEO Agencies").
Specify target location longitude and latitude
(using tools like LatLong or Google Maps).
Click 'Continue'.
Google Maps for Leads
Go to Find Leads.
Choose Google Maps as your data source.
Search Query & Location
Clay.run
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Extracting Business Info
A "Google Maps" column will populate with
"Business Found" outputs.
Click the expansion logo after "Business Found"
to extract Company Name, Contact Details,
Website, Number of Reviews, etc.
Map relevant info to new columns.
Clay.run
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Select "Enrichments" and choose “Find and
Enrich Data from Google”.
Use the company name and conduct a strict
Google search for the CEO.
Click "Continue" to add fields & run columns.
The LinkedIn column enriches your leads profile.
This information can be used to extract additional
data for personalized emails.
Identifying CEOs via LinkedIn
Clay.run
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Navigate to 'Enrichment'.
Search for "find work email".
Map the 'Full Name' from LinkedIn and the
company's website.
Let Clay.run find the email addresses for you.
Find Email Addresses
Clay.run, with AI integration, facilitates large-scale personalization,
functioning like an enhanced Google Sheets.
Clay.run
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Clay ignores catch-all emails to reduce
bounce rates.
Email address verification is still necessary for
all fetched emails.
Map email fields to a new column and export
the CSV file.
Some emails may be missing in the example,
but searching multiple locations expands the
lead pool rapidly.
Clay.run
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Exporting Your Data
Wait for Clay to populate the table with
enriched lead data.
Export the data as a CSV.
Optionally, you can directly add the data to
your CRM/marketing tool.
Verify these email addresses using an email verifier tool- don't skip this step.
Clay.run
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"All that glitters is not gold" aptly describes lead databases.
Unvalidated lead lists may contain many non-existent addresses.
For example, without validation, a list of 1000 leads of restaurant owners
in Chicago might include 300 non-existent addresses.
Emails sent to invalid addresses can damage your email reputation.
Email validation is a critical, non-negotiable step.
Quality over quantity: a smaller, validated email list is always preferable.
Why is email validation crucial for successful cold
emailing?
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Select and upload the file that
contains your leads. Wait until
the upload completes.
You'll see two options: 'Analyze my list' and
'Clean my list'.
Choose 'Clean my list'.
NeverBounce
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Proceed to select your payment
method. For this example, we'll use
credits.
NeverBounce
After the validation, click on
'Download'.
The email validation process will
start and usually takes about 2-3
minutes.
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Choose among four download options:
'Deliverable', 'Undeliverable', 'All results',
and 'Custom presets'.
As an example, we've selected custom
presets here.
Download the validated email list.
NeverBounce
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Chapter 3: The Art of Creating Compelling Emails
An effective cold email consists of four main elements:
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Call-to-Action (CTA)
First Line/
Personalization
Subject line
Angle/Offer
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Personalization It shows that you've taken time to
understand the recipient, which can increase reply rates
significantly
Balance time spent with the quality of personalization.
Craft personalized lines manually or use an AI generator.
Choose between hyper-personalization and semi-
personalization.
First Line/Personalization
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Celebrating Successes: "Your feature in
Progressive Entrepreneurship was truly
inspiring! It's remarkable to to see your growth
journey from $10m to a whopping $30m!"
Valuing Content: "Your blog post on
{topic-name} provided some enlightening
insights- I’ve bookmarked it for future
reference."
Respecting Experience: "35 years in
business? That's quite an achievement
in such a competitive field!"
Noticing Impactful Work: "Your recent
campaign for {client-name} was executed
brilliantly- it truly raised the bar in the
industry."
Hyper-personalization
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Use Google Sheets and add a column titled 'Personalization' to
your CSV file with leads.
Include personalized lines in the 'Personalization' column for each
recipient.
When adding a campaign on Smartlead, set it as a custom field
and use "insert variable" in your email copy.
Voila! Smartlead will automatically pick up the personalized lines
for each recipient.
More about this in Chapter 5 of the guide!
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Semi-personalization
Connecting with Environment:
"Hope you're enjoying the lovely
spring weather in [location]."
Acknowledging Career Moves:
“Impressed with your new role
at [company], how's the journey
been so far?”
Channeling Passion into
Profession: “The way you turned
your passion for [niche] into a
thriving business is truly
inspiring!"
Engaging across Platforms: "Your
recent podcast was a goldmine of
insights- keep up the great work!"
Building Regional Connection:
"Notice you're from [location],
have you visited the new art
exhibit in town?"
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Angle/Offer
Unique proposition: Standout solution addressing recipient's needs.
Compelling reason: Engaging offer, not a generic pitch.
Problem-solving: Solve significant challenges for the target
audience.
Resonating offer: Too good to resist, provides exceptional value.
The hook: Grabs attention and keeps the reader interested.
Must read: '$100M Offers' by Alex Hormozi
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Here are some examples across different niches:
Digital Marketing: "We helped XYZ Corp amplify their online
presence by 50% in 2 months. Let's do the same for you?"
Fitness Training: "John shed 20 pounds in 2 months with our fitness
program. We can customize it for your fitness goals too."
Education Tech: "ABC School witnessed a 40% upswing in student
engagement with our innovative tool. Imagine the possibilities for
your institution."
Retail: "BigMart cut overheads by 20% with our retail software. Let's
streamline your business too."
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CTAs that really work
Soft CTAs encourage a conversation, without pressure.
Hard CTAs sound too assertive or demanding.
Hard CTAs
Are you free on Monday at 11 am?"
Book a meeting here: {link}
Shall we arrange a call this week?
Soft CTAs
Interested to explore further?
Open to learning more?
Mind if I send a video on it?
Choose soft CTAs >> hard CTAs
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After sending First Email
Follow-up 1
2 days after no
reply to the main
email
Follow-up 2
4 days after no
reply to the first
follow-up
Follow-up 3
6 days after no reply
to the second follow-
up
Follow-up 4
7 days after no reply
to the third follow-
up
Follow-up Sequence
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Reminder: "Hi [Name], just checking if my previous email reached you."
Delegate: "Hi [Name], should I be addressing this to a different team member at
[Company]?"
Respect Their Priorities: "Hi [Name], I understand if our solution isn't your priority at
the moment. Feel free to connect when the time is right."
Success Story Sharing: "Hi [Name], thought I'd share a recent success we had with a
similar client. We managed to…"
Problem-Solving Ideas: "Hi [Name], I've come up with two strategies that could
enhance your [specific area]..."
Here are some follow up ideas:
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Optimize email preview
Use plain text emails
No links, photos, and gifs in first email
Email word limit < 80 words
Remove unnecessary details
Provide text-based opt-out options
Conduct A/B testing
Utilize Spintax for variety
Additional Tips
Avoid making false promises
Steer clear of generic emails
Don't neglect follow-ups
Focus on the recipient's needs
Offer valuable information
Avoid spam trigger words
Avoid complex jargon
Proofread before sending
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I'm intrigued to discover more.
This could come in handy soon.
This is something useful.
This is just what I've been looking for.
This solution seems helpful for my {issue}.
To truly make a connection, your email should inspire one of these 5 reactions.
Remember, the goal of every cold email isn't always to sell immediately,
but to create a meaningful connection and incite genuine curiosity about
your product or service.
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Reply immediately: Speed up booking rates with prompt responses.
Allocate daily response time: Dedicate 30-minute slots twice a day for lead
management.
Customize replies: Personalize responses based on prospect's needs.
Maintain a response document: Organize common Q&As in one place.
Follow up timely: Remind unbooked prospects within 24-48 hours.
Adopt an omnichannel strategy: Interact across email, social media, phone,
etc. for a consistent experience.
Lead nurturing refers to building relationships with potential customers throughout
the buying process, aiming to convert them into clients and maintain their loyalty.
Here's how to do it:
Lead Nurturing
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The backbone of successful cold email outreach?
It's the right technical setup!
Domains and email configurations tuned to perfection ensure your emails hit
the inbox, not the spam folder.
Without the right setup, even the best-written emails could go unread,
wasting your effort.
Chapter 4: Technical setup
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Safeguard your main domain's reputation.
Use similar but different domains for outbound emails.
Example: If main domain is smartlead.ai, use trysmartlead.ai,
smartleadlabs.com for outbound.
Initially, purchase 10-14 such domains.
Add unlimited email accounts with Smartlead at zero extra cost.
Email reputation is tied to domain, not individual email accounts.
High bounce rate on one email impacts the whole domain.
Have a scalable system to prevent reputation damage from high
spam scores.
Additional Tips
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Domain and Email Accounts
Buy domains from providers like Google, GoDaddy.
Get email accounts from Google, Outlook.
Number of domains/accounts depends on email volume.
Send up to 40 emails/day/account with 2-3 accounts/domain.
Have extra domains/accounts for scalability and backup.
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SPF authorizes servers to send emails on your domain's behalf.
DKIM adds a signature to your emails, verifying their legitimacy.
DMARC is a record showing your emails are protected by SPF and DKIM.
MX Record directs incoming emails to your servers.
Setting up SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX Record
How to Setup these?
Find here
These are DNS entries for your domain that improve email
deliverability.
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Custom Tracking Domain
Set up custom tracking domain for email open/click tracking and
improved deliverability.
This involves DNS record entry in domain provider's settings.
Domain Forwarding
Ensure domain forwarding from all sending domains to main domain.
This aids recipient verification and links secondary domains to main
domain.
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Chapter 5: Email Campaign Blueprint with Smartlead.ai
Email Campaign Success: 4 Key Steps
Optimize and analyze
results
Start warming up
Set up email accounts
Launch campaign
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But Why Smartlead?
Full API Automation: Effortlessly automate all your tasks.
White-labeling Access: Rebrand SmartLead to match your business (logo, domain, etc.) (offer it as a SaaS
& make $$$)
Client Management: Deliver end-to-end services to your clients directly within SmartLead, impressing
them with your efficiency.
Team Collaboration: Invite unlimited team members and track individual performance; no more messy
shared logins.
Master Inbox & Smart Categorization: Manage communication from one place, without the hassle of
maintaining multiple email accounts.
Behavior-Based Sequences: Automate complex tasks using subsequences, making your outreach more
personalized and effective.
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Stronger Deliverability: Get more replies thanks to our robust deliverability improvements.
ESP Matching: Boost your open rates by over 30% with our unique email service provider matching.
Smart Warmup Optimization: Ensure you're not overdoing warmups from active campaign email
accounts; let our feature auto-adjust to enhance delivery.
Multi-Channel Outreach: Reach out to leads through multiple LinkedIn accounts, all managed centrally
from the master inbox.
Reasonable Pricing: Make the most of our cost-effective plans.
Deliverability Features: Enjoy spam checking, 26 AB testing variants, Spintax, liquid syntax, plain text
emails, and readability checks, all designed to maximize your email deliverability.
In a nutshell, Smartlead is not just a tool, it's an end-to-end solution for your email marketing
needs. It's designed with a focus on deliverability, collaboration, automation, and cost-efficiency.
No matter the scale of your operations, SmartLead adapts and provides the features necessary for
your success.
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Domain warming maintains sender reputation and inbox
placement.
Smartlead.ai utilizes an algorithm for human-like sending
patterns.
Algorithm enhances sender reputation gradually.
Improved sender reputation helps avoid spam folder placement.
Email Account Warmup
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Navigate to 'Email Accounts' on the left-hand menu.
Select the desired account(s) for warm-up, individually or in bulk.
Configure the settings, enable warm-up, and save.
Smartlead's auto-warm-up feature helps emails avoid spam.
Check back shortly after activation for email statistics.
To use warm-up feature in Smartlead.ai :
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Warm-up Configuration
Total Daily Emails: Aim for
10-20 daily emails for active
campaigns.
Daily Ramp-Up: Gradually
increase daily email volume
for new domains.
Randomize Warm-Up
Numbers: Simulate natural
sending patterns.
Reply Rate: Set a suggested
rate of 20-30% for warm-up
email replies.
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Total Emails/Day: 40
Daily Ramp-Up: 3-5
Randomized Emails: 25 - 40
Reply Rate: 45%
Recommended Warm-up Settings
For Fresh Accounts (first 2 weeks):
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Total Emails/Day: 15
Daily Ramp-Up: 2-3
Randomized Emails: 5 - 15
Reply Rate: 30%
For Transferred Accounts (first 1.5 weeks):
Total Emails/Day: 40
Daily Ramp-Up: 4
Randomized Emails: 30 - 40
Reply Rate: 40%
After 1 week:
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Total Emails/Day: 40
Randomized Emails: 25 - 30
Reply Rate: 45%
The goal is to keep total warm-up and active campaign emails to
50 - 70 per day, with a 1:1 or 1:0.7 ratio of cold emails to warm-ups.
For Active Campaign Accounts (after a minimum 2-week warm-up):
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Getting your campaign up and running with SmartLead is a
straightforward process involving a few essential steps.
Campaign Creation in Smartlead.ai
Here's a quick guide
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Click 'choose file' to upload your CSV list. Select the appropriate CSV
settings in the pop-up.
Uploading Leads
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Ensure correct mapping of variables for each column in your file.
Use Custom Field for personalization (if required).
Mapping Fields
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Compose your email copy, including
necessary follow-ups.
Incorporate variables like
{{first_name}}, {{company_name}},
{{personalisation}}, etc.
Use Spintax for text variations and
improved deliverability.
Setting Up Email Sequence
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Choose your follow-up mode.
While email is a common choice,
SmartLead also supports LinkedIn
messages.
Add multiple follow-ups, recommended to
keep it to 3-4 (excluding the main email).
Adding Follow-ups
Follow-Up Selection
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Verify your email for readability and spam
words using the right-hand side tool.
Eliminate any spam words to avoid delivery
issues.
Spam Word Check
Experiment with subject lines, CTAs, and
angles for optimal results.
Test one element at a time for clear
analysis.
A/B Testing
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Click 'Save and next' to access the setup window for campaign
settings.
Save and Next
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Set conditions for when to stop
messaging a lead, tracking open rates,
sending emails in plain text, using ESP
matching, etc.
Campaign Settings
Choose the email accounts for
sending emails.
Set webhooks for real-time campaign
activity notifications.
Email Accounts and Webhooks
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Scheduling
Match the timezone to your leads.
Select specific days and times for email
dispatch.
Set the campaign start date and daily
sending limit/account.
Set daily email-sending limit based on
the number of accounts used - ideally,
around 30 to 50 emails per day per
account.
Save & Next.
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Preview the first email for both
desktop and mobile.
Send a test email to verify functionality.
Preview and Testing
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Add tags, clients, duplicate or delete campaigns.
Additional Settings
After verification, click 'Start Campaign'.
Regularly monitor your campaigns.
Starting the Campaign
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Utilize SmartLead's comprehensive campaign analysis for future
strategy refinement.
Analysis
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