Why Is Cold Email Personalization Important For Deliverability?

Cold emailing is a great way to generate qualified leads and convert them into paying customers for any organization. With a well-thought-out strategy in place and helpful hacks, one can easily yield beneficial results through cold emailing. 

According to a study, the average person receives around 100 emails per day. As email recipients ourselves we understand that in order for us to click on an email and read it, it needs to be attention-grabbing. 

To stand out from the sea of already existing emails, you need to personalize your cold email subject line and content. Email personalization can increase your reply rate by 100%! Yes, you read that correctly! That’s how impactful personalization is for cold emails. 

In addition to this, cold email personalization is also directly linked to your email deliverability. Personalizing your cold email appears to be a win-win situation for all. It boosts deliverability and open/conversion rates, and in this sense, you get the best of both worlds. 

In this blog, you will learn how to personalize your cold emails from scratch to build successful business relationships that will bring in desirable outcomes. Additionally, this blog will also explain why cold email personalization is important for deliverability. 

What is Cold Email Personalization? 

When someone thinks of the concept of ‘personalization’, they generally think of adding in the prospects’ first and last name. But personalization is much more than simply adding your prospect’s first and last name.

Most cold email campaigns are sent out in masses, and use basic {{first_name}} {{last_name}} merge tags; which means one thing, they lack personalization. 

Personalizing your cold email campaign entails crafting an email copy that is tailored to your prospect. The prospect should know that you have done your homework and went the extra mile to grab their attention.

Effective personalization is extremely important and is a huge deterrent to the success of your cold email campaign. In order to have a highly personalized campaign that will yield favorable results, you need to use more specialized custom fields such as your prospect’s previous work (blogs, articles, e-books, etc), clients, software used, marketing activities, interests, etc. 

Why is Personalization Important for Cold Emails?

As a cold email receiver, you have close to no knowledge of the sender. If a recipient receives an impersonal email from someone they have never interacted with before, there is a high chance they will ignore the email. 

Now imagine a personalized email from someone you don’t know, an email that is directly communicating your pain points; wouldn’t that email have a higher response/open rate? 

Did you know using a personalized subject line can increase your open rates by 22%? Personalized emails immediately stand out, they are far more enticing in nature as compared to impersonal emails. 

A personalized correspondence also shows the prospect that they will have a personal customer experience; that the sender actually cares about their experience and will put the best foot forward to resolve their pain points. 

Which elements can you personalize? 

The opening line should be crafted to propel the prospect to read further. It should be catchy, and of course, personal in nature. Most readers skim their emails, so the first line should be enticing enough to hold their attention. Beyond this, you can also personalize the following elements: 

• Email Body 
• Subject Line
• Call-To-Action (CTA) 

How Does Personalization Effect Cold Email Deliverability?

When you send out identical mass emails, Email Service Providers (ESPs) regard those emails as ‘spam’. This will trigger the ‘spam filter’ and emails will not land in the recipients’ primary inbox and end up in the spam folder. 

If this continues to happen, your email server IP will get blacklisted, and unfortunately reviving or getting it back is extremely difficult. 

This is why cold email personalization is recommended to curb this issue!

Personalized emails receive higher engagement rates. They lower your chances of being marked as spam and ensure deliverability. This works out in your favor, as your future cold email campaigns will also benefit from this personalization practice. 

Personalized cold emails allow ESPs to know your emails are legitimate and valid i.e. it shows them you are a trustworthy sender. 

Personalization practices to follow for effective deliverability: 

• Add personalization snippets to your email templates 
• Segment your prospect list into smaller groups and customize the email content for each batch 
• For maximum deliverability, combine the above-mentioned practices

Through this method, you are not sending out identical emails to large groups of people. The email copy will vary and keep you away from spam filters. Furthermore, your emails become highly targeted resulting in an increase in open and conversion rates.

Pro Tip: Newly created domains (email addresses) should refrain from sending out email blasts. Instead, they should ‘warm-up’ their inbox for a period of 3 to 6 months to boost their ‘sender reputation’ and achieve maximum deliverability. 

So now that you know the impact of personalization on cold email deliverability. You must be wondering, how exactly can I personalize my email content? There are a wide variety of methods and techniques you can use to achieve maximum deliverability and avoid the spam folder altogether. 

Let’s explore some of these techniques! 

5 Simple Tips To Personalize Your Cold Email

Personalizing each and every single email in a mass outreach is not humanly possible, even with various automation tools available. You still need to key in information manually even when you are using a cold emailing tool.

This does not mean you skip out on personalization altogether. Instead, we recommend segmenting your prospects in accordance with the amount of predicted revenue they will generate for your organization. You can then choose which level of personalization you will use for each segment. 

1. Basic Personalization (Lower Range): This segment of prospects includes those that will most likely generate the lowest revenue. You will find that most of your prospects will fall under this category. For this segment, the most basic level of personalization is acceptable by adding their first and last name, industry, and the name of their organization. 
2. Semi-Personalization (Mid Range): The second segment of prospects are ones that will bring a medium range of revenue. With these prospects you can increase the level of personalization by adding in organizational or personal achievements, and common interests. 
3. Hyper-personalization (High Range): The last and final segment of prospects, are the ones you should give the most amount of attention to (usually, these prospects are often very few). These prospects will bring in the most amount of revenue. When reaching out to these prospects, write cold emails after conducting in-depth research. For example, researching their specific pain points. 

So now that you know the three levels of personalization, let’s delve a little deeper into the different methods of cold email personalization. Depending on the prospect segmentation, select the method which works best for you.

1. Highlight Mutual Connections 

A surefire way of getting a prospect’s attention with a cold email is by mentioning a mutual connection. Most individuals are reluctant to engage with strangers, sharing a mutual connection creates a sense of already established trust which increases the chances of a response. Because of this, the cold email suddenly becomes a ‘warm’ one. 

How can you find a mutual connection? Social media is the answer (unless you actually already share a mutual acquaintance). Search up the prospect on commonly used social media platforms such as LinkedIn and see if you share a mutual link. 

You could also be a part of the same groups on LinkedIn or Facebook. If you are unable to find a professional connection, then you can opt for personal connections. You both could be from the same city/town and know the same individual or went to the same college and share a common connection from there. 

Another way of finding a mutual connection is through business events, which provide an avenue for professional networking. If you have attended one of those in the past, and recall someone mentioning an individual (that could be a prospect) then use that as an opportunity to reach out. 

2. Show That You’ve Researched Their Organization

Mentioning something unique or new about their company will immediately make your email stand out. It could be anything from a featured news article to their start-up receiving a new round of funding. 

Perhaps if they released a new feature or product, you could use that as an opportunity to open the lines of communication. 

It should be simple yet effective. The main point here is to show the prospect that you’ve researched their company and that they make a good fit for your outreach. 

3. Throw In Some Flattery

One of the fastest ways to build a relationship with your prospects is to throw in some flattery. Let’s face it, everyone loves being complimented! 

Praising someone will make the person on the receiving end a lot more open to listening to what you have to say. Complimenting someone is one personalization technique that has worked for years in numerous business deals. 

It has even been scientifically proven that compliments create positive attitudes in the subconscious mind.

Here are a few instances you can use compliments as a method of personalization: 

1. When your prospect is an inspiration in their field – you can mention some of their prominent works that you personally like and admire. 
2. When they have won an award or been given some sort of recognition – this acts as a great ice-breaker and paves the way for a business conversation. 
3. When they publish an article or blog post that has become popular – mention what you loved about the article to make it more personal. 

Also Read: 5 Ways to Personalize your Email Outreach

4. Use Personal Pain Points

One intelligent way of personalizing an email is using the specific pain points of the prospects. Why does this work? This works because:

1. It directly resolves a problem they are facing 

2. It shows them you did your homework on their organization 

3. You are bringing a solution to them, your proactiveness is highlighted 

4. At times prospects aren’t even aware they are experiencing what you have mentioned, once again this showcases your proactiveness 

This type of personalization requires extensive research, and the content for every prospect will have to be manually typed out. This type of personalization is not recommended for email blasts. Use this level of hyper-personalization for prospects that will generate the most amount of revenue for your organization. 

In the content of the email, be very specific about their pain points. Tell them how exactly your product/service will resolve their issue, and if possible, give a rough estimate of the results you can help them achieve. 

For example, “using our CRM software you can increase your sales by 5% and save half an hour daily”. 

You need to convince them why your product/service is the perfect fit. If you have case studies or testimonials from organizations in the same industry as them, use that to leverage them into choosing your services. 

5. Use Their Name In Various Places

Did you know hearing your own name sets off a chemical reaction in your brain? It is no wonder that using a prospect’s {{First_name}} is one of the oldest tricks in the book!

With the chemical brain reaction working in your favor, you immediately have their attention when the prospect reads their own name. And that is your intention, isn’t it?

However, most prospects are well aware of this trick; it’s been used too many times. So what’s the solution to this? 

Sprinkling a little extra personalization in the emails. If you are aware of their interests, then add that to the copy of your email. Find something that will pique their interest (this could very well even be their pain points), and add their name next to it. 

For example, 

{{First_name}}, we are both a part of the toastmaster’s group on LinkedIn. When did you first get into public speaking? I also noticed that you have won awards for this. I have to say I am quite impressed, {{First_name}}

It is important not to overdo it, as it can come off as annoying. Be subtle about it. 

Pro Tip: Personalize your subject line and avoid using spammy words. Personalized subject lines with the prospect’s name have an open rate of 18.30%. As compared to subject lines without names, they have an open rate of 15.70%. 

Learn the depths of email deliverability in our cold email masterclass to reach your prospect’s inbox continuously. 📧

Personalized Cold Email Templates

1. Mentioning Their Achievements

Hey {{First_name}}, 

I recently learned that you won a {{name of the award}}. My heartiest congratulations to you and your organization! 

I truly admire your professional journey, it is an inspiration for most young marketers like myself. 

Now that {{the name of their organization}} is moving up in the industry you will probably be upscaling your [email marketing methods]. 

{{brief introduction of your product/service}} 

I would love to walk you through how exactly your organization can benefit from our software. 

Let me know if you are free for a quick 15-minute call. 

{{calendar link}}

Best, 

{{Your_name}}

2. Using Highly Specific Pain Points

Hey there, {{First_name}}

I was going through your website and I noticed it hasn’t been optimized for mobile usage. As a result, your page load time on handheld devices is below 50. 

This could pose a problem for users visiting your website from their mobile devices. You risk losing 50% of your website traffic if you don’t optimize it. 

Lucky for you, I have the perfect solution for you. 

{{brief introduction about your product/service}}. 

{{name of your product/service}} is specifically designed to optimize websites for mobile usage within minutes. 

If you are interested in learning more about this, simply reply to this email. 

Let me know. 

Best, 

{{Your_name}}

3. Complimenting The Prospect

Greetings of the day, {{First_name}}

I was on LinkedIn and I saw your recent {{blog post/article/status}}, and thought your insights on {{topic}} were refreshingly interesting. I agree with your views and find them valuable. 

I wanted to take this opportunity to reach out to you to explain how {{name of their company}} could benefit from {{name of your product/service}} which will resolve the issue you mentioned in your {{blog post/article/status}}. 

Let me know if this is something you would be interested in. We can schedule a meeting sometime this week. 

{{calendar link}}

Thanks, 

{{Your_name}}

4. Using Their Interests

Hey there, {{First_name}} 

We are a part of the same LinkedIn group, {{name of group}}. 

How long have you been into [growth marketing hacks?] 

I thought I would take this opportunity to reach out to you, and talk about our [email marketing tool]. 

{{name of your product/service}} is a premium email marketing tool that allows you to design your own unique templates and provides you with in-depth analytics. 

Trust me when I say this, this is the ultimate growth marketing tool you need for your organization. 

{{explain how the tool has helped other users}}

If this is something you are interested in, then we can schedule a short call to discuss this further. 

Regards, 

{{Your_name}}

Now that you know how important cold email personalization is, and the impact it has on email deliverability; you now need a cold email software to support these two elements.

Doing all of this manually is impossible and too time-consuming, especially if you are sending out emails weekly or monthly. 

Which cold email software prioritizes personalization and deliverability? And offers features that will ensure these function in tandem. 

Saleshandy meets all your personalization and deliverability needs. 

Send Personalized Cold Emails With Saleshandy 

Saleshandy is a cold email automation tool that focuses on personalization. As you’ve read in this blog, you now understand that personalization is very important for the success of your cold outreach campaign. If you have a high-volume campaign, then first of all you need to ensure that your domain (email address) is old enough to send high volumes of emails. 

Our platform is designed to assist cold emailers like yourself in effectively scaling your cold outreach with personalized and tailored emails.

Here are a few features of Saleshandy that help you with cold email personalization and also ensure you have the maximum deliverability: 

Mail Merge Tags

Mail merge tags are custom fields that you insert into your compose window when typing out your email content. With Saleshandy, you can have up to 30 custom fields (merge tags) and insert them in any section of your email. You will have to upload a CSV file containing all the data of the merge tags that will be reflected in the email copy. 

Spintax 

Spintax allows you to add variations of words and sentences while you are drafting your email. The spintax will use the variations that you have inserted to make your email content look more unique and compelling to your prospects.

Email Age

As mentioned earlier, if you have a new domain then you cannot send high-volume emails. This email age feature allows you to check the age of your email address, and find out when it is suitable for you to start sending high-volume emails. 

Email Ramp-up

The email ramp-up feature allows you to ‘warm up’ your inbox. Warming up your inbox is beneficial for newer domains that are wanting to send out high masses of emails. The email ramp-up feature sends out smaller batches of emails and then gradually increases the number of emails being sent out as per the percentage keyed in by you.

Sender’s Rotation

Sender’s Rotation involves sending email sequences from multiple email accounts, rather than relying solely on one.

 By doing so, the volume of emails being sent is spread across multiple accounts, thereby reducing the likelihood of any one account being flagged or experiencing deliverability problems.

Additional Features: 

Unified Inbox

We have recently added Unified Inbox to help you simplify your reply management. With Unified Inbox, you don’t need to switch between multiple inboxes to access replies to your cold emails.

Now you can have a centralized view of all emails, and track and access all replies in one place improving your response time. You can also use Saleshandy’s Unified Inbox Bulk selection and take control of your inbox like never before and use advanced AI filters to categorize and prioritize any email replies.

Automated Email Follow-Ups With Unique Trigger Actions 

Different email sequences with various steps can be created using Saleshandy. Each step can have a trigger action email linked to it, to help you save time. For example, if you have a trigger action as ‘opened’, then the email linked to that action will be automatically sent out once the user opens your email. Trigger actions can be set up by you. 

Email Assistant 

With our AI-powered email assistant, you can know if you are going in the right direction when writing your cold email. Get real-time tips and tricks as you write your email copy. 

Email Sequences with A-Z Testing 

Create email sequences with multiple steps (with 26 variants using A-Z testing) and choose the timeframe of each step. Each step can be tracked and analyzed once the campaign is launched. 

Email Verification 

Once you upload your prospect list onto Saleshandy, our AI-powered mechanism will inform you which email addresses are unverified and verified. This will help decrease your bounce rate and improve deliverability. 

Sender’s Rotation

Sender’s Rotation involves sending email sequences from multiple email accounts, rather than relying solely on one.

 By doing so, the volume of emails being sent is spread across multiple accounts, thereby reducing the likelihood of any one account being flagged or experiencing deliverability problems.

Conclusion 

Personalizing your cold emails will ensure your emails will land in the prospects’ main inbox and not get marked as spam. Personalization also helps you stand out from the crowd. 

Refrain from sending generic or bot-like emails with fake personalization. Cold emails require some level of effort from your side, take some time to research your prospects so you can add something unique to your email copy. 

Personalization is indeed the secret ingredient for a successful cold email campaign. Hope this blog has helped you understand how exactly you can personalize your cold emails and achieve maximum deliverability and results.