How do I find prospecting emails?

If you've ever sent out an email newsletter or even just one letter in response to a request for information, then you know how difficult it can be to craft the perfect message without sounding like a spammer. It's easy enough to write something generic that could apply to anyone with any business -- but what if you're targeting specific industries or companies? What if they are all different from each other?

Here is where we come in. We'll help you create targeted marketing communications so your messages stand apart and attract attention.

We have compiled some of our best tips for crafting effective marketing materials specifically for B2B marketers who need to send out emails to prospective customers. Here are five ways we show you how to use them effectively.

First up: How do I get prospects to respond to an email?

If you haven't already built a relationship with someone before sending this kind of promotional communication, there may not be much hope. But don't give up! In fact, these kinds of campaigns are often more successful than others because they tend to go directly at their target audience. They usually include links back to your website. And here's another bonus tip: You should also add call-to-actions (CTAs) such as "click here" or "contact us." CTAs increase the chances that people actually take action on whatever you put in front of them.

So, first things first: Find out everything possible about the person receiving the email. Get his name, company name, job title, phone number, address, etc. Then build a database of contacts based on this information. That way, you can send followup emails later based on those results. For example, say you found out that he works for Company X and lives in California. The next step would be to set up automated systems for making sales calls to him via Skype. Or maybe you'd contact him by telephone instead. Just make sure the system you choose has tools for tracking which leads convert into paid contracts. If you don't track conversions properly, you might end up wasting money while giving away free samples...which isn't good practice anyway.

Next: When creating your email campaign, think about adding images, graphics, videos, testimonials, case studies, white papers, infographics, slide shows, audio clips, animations, charts, graphs, checklists, FAQs, surveys, photos, and anything else you can imagine in order to keep it interesting. The goal is to grab readers' attention quickly, engage them emotionally, and motivate them toward taking an action. Remember: Use emotion rather than logic to appeal to your reader's heart and mind. People buy benefits, not features.

Now let's talk about how to customize these types of letters.

What do you do when a prospect won't respond?

The most common reason why a prospect doesn't reply after receiving an email is because she didn't feel her needs were met. So ask yourself whether you covered every angle, including her interests, goals, priorities, fears, concerns, objections, questions, hopes, dreams, ideas, values, and desires. Keep in mind that you might be trying to sell her too hard right off the bat. Try asking her for permission to market to her again through another medium.

Another thing to remember is that many businesses prefer to receive proposals over emails. In addition, many employees simply cannot handle receiving multiple emails per day. Email overload makes it harder for them to focus and absorb important information. In general, no matter what industry you're in, stick to two or three pieces of correspondence per week unless requested otherwise. Also, avoid using fancy fonts and colors whenever possible. Plain text is always easier to scan, and it keeps recipients from getting distracted. Lastly, never try to solve everyone's problems at once. Instead, provide solutions for individual requests only.

In summary: Don't bombard your prospects with constant emails. Keep them short and sweet, and tailor them to the recipient. Make sure you cover all necessary topics and points, and stay consistent. Follow up regularly, and keep records of previous conversations. Be patient and persistent. As long as you treat people fairly and professionally, they will eventually see value in working with you.

Finally, how do you get potential clients to respond?

You must understand that sometimes they really aren't interested in doing business with you. Sometimes they're busy, preoccupied, uninterested, disorganized, lazy, or overwhelmed. Whatever the reason(s), you shouldn't expect miracles. Your prospects are going to ignore your offer, reject your proposal, or procrastinate until the last minute. However, you can still turn opportunities down into profitable deals. All you have to do is be ready to seize the moment when it arrives.

There are lots of reasons why people fail to act upon offers made to them. Some believe that they have plenty of time to decide, so they wait. Others have unrealistic expectations and refuse to consider alternatives. Still others are afraid to spend money unnecessarily, whereas spending money now saves thousands down the road. On top of that, some prospects fear being sold to repeatedly, or having their personal data shared among vendors.

Remember to remain professional and courteous throughout the process. Always deliver quality products or services. Focus on the customer experience above all else. Stay flexible and responsive. Learn more about how to deal with rejection and how to overcome obstacles during project implementation.

Does email prospecting work?

A lot depends on whom you want to reach. While mailing lists are useful for reaching large numbers of qualified buyers, you should also realize that most companies are inundated with hundreds of unsolicited commercial emails daily. Many of them contain junk content, useless promotions, and viruses. Therefore, in today's world, it's very likely that your prospects either delete these unwanted pieces of mail outright, unsubscribe from newsletters, or block unknown sources. Another factor that affects success rates is timing. Prospects generally look forward to future events, and they expect new offerings from brands they trust.

Therefore, it pays to plan ahead and determine exactly when to schedule your emails. Ideally, your followers should be waiting anxiously for your latest announcements. You should aim to strike while the iron is hot. Timed releases can boost visibility and awareness dramatically.

Emails are far better than traditional methods of direct marketing such as snail mail, telemarketing, faxes, flyers, billboards, commercials, radio ads, TV spots, print ads, and magazine advertising. Emails allow you to communicate frequently with prospects and encourage interaction. Plus, they're less expensive to produce, distribute, and measure. Online subscriptions and opt-in forms generate highly relevant subscriber databases that improve conversion rates.

For decades, email marketing has proven its effectiveness, especially in terms of lead generation. Whether you're selling cars, real estate, insurance, pet food, jewelry, or office supplies, email promotion can help you close more sales with fewer resources. A study conducted by MarketingSherpa determined that 92 percent of respondents said that they were willing to pay extra for quality leads, and 89 percent preferred buying a list of high-quality subscribers to cold calling.

Email is also cost efficient compared to other media channels. According to eMarketer, the average cost per acquisition (CPA) for online display advertisements was $1,039 in 2015, while broadcast television reached CPA $4,849. Newspaper ads had a lower CPA of $923. Radio ads came in third with a CPA of $722. Print ads averaged $543.

When used correctly, email marketing can help grow your business faster than traditional techniques. Now that you know more about how to use these powerful tactics, start applying them immediately. To learn more about email marketing and related subjects, visit Harvard Business Review.

Sara McCord is founder & CEO of Marketoonz LLC, a digital marketing agency specializing in email marketing strategies. She helps entrepreneurs launch custom websites, manage social media accounts, optimize SEO, design branding projects, and develop email programs for maximum performance. Sara brings extensive expertise gained during 14 years running major marketing departments at Dell Computers Inc., Microsoft Corporation, Intuit, and Netscape Communications.  She currently advises several technology startups and provides training seminars nationwide.

There are so many ways to market online, but how can one decide which method works best for them?  The first step is to know what type of marketing works - whether it's paid or free advertising, offline or online methods, etc. Once this question has been answered, then comes the next important decision -- "what channels should I use?" For example, if someone is looking for information about starting an Internet business from home, they may not be interested in using social media sites like Facebook or Twitter. But there might also be times when they'd prefer to receive their news via e-mail instead of on Facebook or Twitter. In addition, some companies have strict privacy rules regarding who receives their newsletters. If these things apply to you then perhaps sending out regular updates by e-mail would fit better for your purposes than using other forms of communication. The bottom line here is finding out exactly where your target audience prefers to interact with you before deciding upon your preferred channel(s).

After choosing your preferred channel, the next thing to consider is the actual content of each message. You'll need something interesting enough to catch attention, yet simple enough to keep recipients' eyes focused (so as not to get bored). There's no point sending a boring newsletter full of long paragraphs and lots of details. Keep everything short and sweet. Your readers don't care about all those flowery words you think make you sound more intelligent. They only care about how quickly they can digest the relevant bits of information and take action. Prospecting emails often consist of two parts: 1) a brief overview of what you're offering, 2) a call to action such as requesting visitors sign up for your opt-in list. It's important to remember to include links within your email body to whatever site you wish to direct users to after they've signed up. Here are three suggestions for creating compelling subject lines. Try combining different types and see what sticks out. Some examples are listed below:

1. Free Report Revealing How To Make Money Online With No Experience Required!

2. Top 5 Ways To Get Started Making Money On Craigslist Without Any Cash Or Credit Cards

3. 3 Easy Steps To Creating A Profitable Website & Getting Traffic From Google Search Engines

4. 10 Simple Things You Should Know Before Buying An MLM Business

5. Start Earning $100 Per Day As A Network Marketer By Following These 4 Tips

6. How Can I Build My Own List Quickly And Easily?

7. Three Secret Weapons That Will Super Power Your Next Sales Letter

8. How To Create A Killer Offer Using Only One Word... FREE!

9. What Is Article Marketing And Why Is It So Powerful?

10. Email Signature Ideas That Actually Work!

So now we come to the real meat of our discussion - actually drafting a great email. First off, try keeping your messages relatively short. Don't ramble on too much because you'll lose interest faster than a speeding bullet. Secondly, always be sure to put yourself into your reader's shoes. Would you respond positively to this kind of email? Most likely not. Therefore, write emails that are easy to understand and relate to your target audience. Thirdly, try to avoid spamming your subscribers with constant automated emails. People hate getting flooded with irrelevant mail every day -- especially during peak traffic hours. Lastly, remember to personalize your communications. Always add value to your emails by giving useful tips and resources related to your niche. Give away valuable information that could help solve problems, increase profits, save time and money, etc. When done correctly, personalized emails are guaranteed to build stronger relationships with potential customers. Now, let's look at four helpful guidelines for crafting successful emails.

What makes a good prospecting email?

Your prospects already spend several hours per day reading e-mails. Do they really need another reason to click on your link? Probably not. So why write anything lengthy or complicated? Remember, brevity is still king. Write concise sentences, limit wordiness, eliminate unnecessary adjectives, adverbs and superlatives. Use active voice rather than passive when possible since it sounds friendlier. Also, avoid clichés and overused phrases. Finally, watch out for excessive spelling errors and punctuation mistakes. Writing style matters just as much as content does. After all, how can anyone trust you if you can't even spell properly?

What is the most effective way of prospecting?

Here's a tip that will potentially boost your response rates significantly. Send multiple copies of your same email, varying the content slightly from copy to copy. Each version should contain new thoughts, ideas, quotes, figures, images, testimonials, facts, statistics, etc. Vary the length of the letters and paragraphs to create variety. Also, vary the frequency of your emails according to recipient preferences. For instance, send less frequent updates via e-mail while sending out daily updates through RSS feeds. However, don't stop with adding variety -- mix up your headlines and subheads as well. Be creative and original. Just imagine what happens when your subscriber opens dozens of similar emails filled with identical boring material. He won't pay any attention to them except to delete them without opening a single word. Then again, he might end up being annoyed and unsubscribe immediately. Mix things up and give him a little bit of fun along with the serious stuff.

Does email cold calling work?

Yes, and no. Sometimes cold calls work very effectively. Other times they backfire big time. Like everything else when it comes to marketing, timing counts. Sending out emails when nobody wants to hear from you isn't going to produce positive results. Instead, wait until your target audience starts paying attention to your offers. At that particular moment, start flooding them with targeted promotional materials. Another option is to occasionally contact your followers directly and offer help or advice relating to the products and services you promote. Never ever attempt to sell unless asked explicitly.

How do I find people to prospect?

It doesn't matter who you choose to subscribe to. All that matters is that you have chosen wisely. Let me explain. Maybe you're trying to generate leads for a local brick-and-mortar store. In order to reach local businesses, you can either go door-to-door personally, join a network marketing group, attend trade shows, post flyers, publish ads, etc. Or maybe you chose to advertise locally via radio stations, newspapers, TV commercials, billboards, etc. Whatever strategy you choose, once you've decided on the medium, focus exclusively on that specific area. Otherwise, you risk wasting precious time chasing down dead ends. Now, say you're promoting a blog service aimed at professional bloggers. Wouldn't you be more efficient focusing your efforts on blogs written by professionals in your field? Obviously, yes. Focus your energy on making contacts with real people who can benefit from what you have to offer. After all, wouldn't you feel foolish spending countless hours searching for blogs written by amateur writers? Of course not. The biggest mistake beginning marketers make is spreading themselves thin across numerous areas. Spread your wings wide and fly high above your competition.

The hardest part of any sales job is finding the right people to talk to about what it’s like working for their company or selling their products.

If you have an online business, this can be even harder still—especially if your market is global. You might not know anyone who works at a big-name tech firm in London, but you may know dozens of small businesses just like yours across Europe, Asia, Australia, Africa, or South America. How are you supposed to reach out to them all without wasting everyone’s time?

Fortunately there are ways to streamline the process so you don't spend hours searching for leads on LinkedIn or calling up every local marketing agency within 100 miles of your office. We've got some great suggestions below.

In this post we'll show you how to create lead magnets (i.e., prewritten emails) specifically designed to attract new customers from your target audience. Once created, these freebies offer something truly valuable to readers: insight into industry trends and best practices. Here's how they work...

How do I find a prospect email?

You probably already know that most emails get opened only once -- as soon as possible after being sent. That means targeting your email to those who would benefit most from reading it first is essential. If you're looking for a way to increase response rates, however, consider using segmentation tools to narrow down exactly which types of people should receive each particular message.

For example, here's one simple method that has worked well for me over the years...

1. Use keyword research to determine ideal customer persona

2. Create multiple versions of an email with different messages based on persona

3. Send personalized version via autoresponder

When crafting your subject line, think carefully about what you want potential clients to do next. For instance, "Free Report Reveals Why Your Business Is Struggling" sounds much more compelling than "Report Reveals Problems With Our Products." The latter could easily end up in the spam folder!

It also helps to use keywords in your subject lines when sending out emails to specific audiences. By doing so, you ensure that only interested parties see your content. Here are two examples:

Subject 1: New Research Shows [What Type Of Customer] Are Making These Mistakes

And Subject 2: Free Tips On Avoiding Common Sales Pitfalls

How do I find someone's cold email?

Whether you're trying to sell a product or service, you need to start by determining whether it's actually worth opening an email from complete stranger. After all, it takes less effort to send a follow-up email yourself instead of waiting around for yet another person to respond.

To figure out whether a certain email belongs to someone you'd rather avoid, try asking yourself these three questions:

Is the sender reputable? Does he/she hold a higher position than you?

Does she provide value through her words? Do you feel compelled to take action because of what was written?

Can you trust the information provided? Will the advice given help you improve your skillset?

Once you answer yes to all three of these questions, then chances are good that the email in question comes from a real human being. And if it does come from someone else, you won't waste too many precious minutes replying back. Instead, forward it onto colleagues who handle such matters.

How do I contact a prospect?

Now that you've determined that you want to engage with whoever sent the email, you must decide where to direct your reply. There are several factors to keep in mind before responding to an unsolicited email.

First, never write off a prospective client simply because you haven't had the chance to meet him face-to-face. In fact, you shouldn't ever dismiss someone just because of geography, either. It doesn't matter if you live in a rural area or somewhere remote---there are always exceptions to the rule.

Second, remember that sometimes you can turn a negative situation into a positive. Don't let fear stop you from moving ahead with a deal.

Finally, the easiest way to prevent unwanted replies is to set up filters in Gmail. To learn more about setting up filters on Google Mail, check our guide to filtering junk mail.

As long as you stay professional, though, you should ultimately be able to strike up productive conversations with almost anybody. Just keep in mind that everyone isn't going to react positively to your initial outreach attempt. Be patient, and don't give up until you've tried everything.

How do you make a prospecting email?

There are hundreds of thousands of articles, guides, and other resources available online that cover how to craft effective copywriting. But since we've covered topics related to both creating and contacting prospects, we thought it'd be helpful to focus on building the actual template itself.

That said, while following steps closely can certainly result in a quality final draft, it's important to understand that no two companies operate identically. Therefore, you should adjust your wording accordingly whenever applicable.

The goal is to capture attention quickly, and to build rapport with readers through relevant stories and interesting facts. While keeping things short and sweet is generally beneficial, you can go overboard and risk losing interest altogether. So, balance between giving enough detail while remaining concise.

With that in mind, here are four tips to bear in mind when drafting a lead magnet:

Don't forget to include callouts. When writing personalization, keep in mind that including links to services or products that can add further perks can encourage users to click away immediately. Adding a link underlined in blue text is usually safe, whereas red calls attention to the link itself.

Offer useful information upfront. Before diving into details, establish why your reader needs to act now. What problem(s) can his/her experience solve?

Be authentic. No matter how impersonal your email looks, always maintain professionalism. Try to sound friendly, knowledgeable, and approachable. Emphasize benefits, not features. Also, avoid jargon and acronyms used by competitors.

Make sure you proofread thoroughly. Remember that typos happen to the best of us. Read your document aloud to catch errors. Then run spell checks, grammar fixes, and syntax corrections.

So there you have it. Now you're ready to put these ideas together and create your very own lead magnet! All you need to do is download the template above, customize it according to your preferences, and schedule delivery to begin tomorrow. As long as you follow these guidelines and stick to the basics outlined above, you should be fine.

Good luck!