What is a cold email tool?

It's no secret that emails are one of the most effective ways to reach your audience. But it doesn't have to be hard work or expensive either - you just need the right tools!

Cold Email Tools are an amazing way to target new customers with offers without having to spend thousands on advertising campaigns. You'll find that they're particularly useful in B2B marketing as well as lead generation. They allow you to send personalized messages directly to people who might want what you offer by using data collected from their social media accounts.

In this post, I'm going to explain exactly what those tools are, how they work, which ones are worth checking out, and whether you should use them at all. Let's get started...

Can Gmail be used for email marketing?

Yes, but not every feature will come into play. For example, Google has recently introduced "Smart Reply" features, which allows users to reply to certain types of emails automatically based on keywords within the body text. This means that if someone sends you a message about "cloud storage," for instance, then you could respond with something like "I know what you mean! We make file backup easy through our own cloud services."

This type of response would be considered "warm," because it uses content the recipient sent in that exact message. It also works very well for newsletters and other bulk-email systems such as Constant Contact and MailChimp. If you don't already have any of these systems set up, though, then you may run into some issues.

But even so, these tools aren't quite as sophisticated as the full-blown autoresponders that companies like HubSpot and Marketo offer. The reason why is simple: they still require human interaction before sending anything out. A good rule of thumb is to only try these tools if you can avoid using the same canned responses over and over again. Otherwise, stick with traditional methods.

What is cold email and warm email?

The basic idea behind cold emailing is to create lists of prospects based off information found online. These lists usually contain names, numbers, addresses, and sometimes links to websites where you've seen potential clients researching products or services similar to yours. Once you build a list, you start reaching out to individual members via email -- often called "cold" emails since they're sent to individuals rather than mass mailing groups.

Warm email is different. Instead of creating lists manually, Warm emails are built around automated triggers that collect relevant contact info as soon as someone signs up for a specific product or service. Think of it like a newsletter: once someone subscribes to your blog posts, you can send them regular updates containing related articles and tips. That's a warm email!

For example, if you sell web hosting solutions, then you'd probably build a warm email list using your website signup form. As soon as someone submits their details, you'd create a welcome email welcoming them to your site and asking if they had any questions. Then you could follow up with another email each month introducing more helpful resources and maybe sharing case studies.

You wouldn't necessarily go after everyone who signed up individually--you'd likely keep building up a community instead. And this approach makes sense when you consider the fact that many businesses struggle to convert leads into paying customers, especially when compared to industries like retail and consumer electronics. Having a warm email strategy helps boost conversion rates while keeping costs down.

What does a cold email do?

A cold email is simply a personal communication between you and a prospective client. Since you're targeting people outside your existing network, you're unlikely to hear back immediately. So, you need to be prepared for rejection. To help prepare yourself and ensure you stay positive throughout, here are five things to remember:

1) Always begin with a greeting card. Use a personal introduction to show your enthusiasm for the opportunity. Your first line should always read something along the lines of "Hi [name], thank you for taking time to meet me today!"

2) Don't take rejection personally. Even if you were rejected, this person won't hold it against you forever. Remember that he/she is busy too, so give him/her a chance to respond before moving onto the next prospect.

3) Be sure to ask for permission! Many business owners believe they shouldn't bother doing this, but it actually improves chances of getting a yes. Ask permission upfront to see if the prospect wants to receive future communications from you.

4) Keep your language professional. Avoid slang and colloquialisms. While this isn't strictly necessary, it shows professionalism and helps put the reader at ease.

5) Be careful with direct selling pitches. People hate being sold to, and this is true both offline and online. If you're trying to convince someone to buy from you, it's better to include benefits in your pitch rather than telling them straight away what your product is.

Now that you understand cold email basics, let's look at the best free cold email tools available.

What is SalesHandy?

SalesHandy is an open-source CRM system designed specifically for small businesses and startups looking to grow their customer base quickly. Its unique auto-response technology lets you automate your entire process, including setting up drip campaigns, scheduling reminders, and tracking results. There's also support for integration with popular apps like Zapier and Intercom, allowing you to manage everything via one platform.

Another cool thing about SalesHandy is its ability to store conversations in a single database. This means that you can track every conversation you've ever had with anyone, regardless of whether or not you've kept in touch afterwards.

Streak is a great option if you're interested in automating your outreach efforts across multiple channels. With Streak, you can schedule emails, track opens, and add notes to contacts. All of these settings can be managed easily from the dashboard interface.

MailChimp is probably the oldest name in the game, and it doesn't hurt that it's one of the most widely accepted platforms for email marketing. Just note that the company charges per subscriber, which can result in higher monthly fees depending on your needs.

SendinBlue is a solid choice if you prefer a simpler experience. Here, you can import your LinkedIn connections and send targeted emails to selected groups of people based on criteria you define. It also includes automation options for drip campaigns and calendar management, making it much easier to scale your team.

Yammer is Microsoft's answer to Slack, and it provides an excellent alternative to Facebook Groups. With Yammer, you can share documents, photos, videos, presentations, files, polls, surveys, and live chats among coworkers. It integrates perfectly with Outlook, so you can access all your data from anywhere.

LemList is an app created by Salesforce for managing your sales pipeline. LemList connects with Salesforce CRM to pull real-time data on your deals, allowing you to view performance metrics for each stage of a deal and compare statistics with your competitors.

YesWeCode is an educational resource that teaches students programming skills in order to improve employment opportunities. By connecting with job seekers, YesweCode hopes to increase the number of qualified candidates applying for positions.

Canva is a design powerhouse that gives you the freedom to customize templates to fit your brand. Canva comes packed with tons of graphics, fonts, layouts, colors, backgrounds, shapes, logos, vectors, icons, and animations. Best of all, it's completely free to use.

What does a cold email cost?

Each tool mentioned above varies in price based on several factors, including what kind of plan you choose and whether or not you pay extra for additional features. However, generally speaking, the more advanced tools tend to cost more money. You can expect to pay $10-$20 / month for a basic plan that supports one user, although larger teams typically opt for paid plans starting at $50 / month.

If you decide to move forward with cold emailing, however, you must realize that you'll need to invest time learning how to optimize your messaging. It requires patience, persistence, and practice to become successful, plus you'll need to figure out what works best for your industry and personality. But once you master the art of writing effective emails, you'll reap huge rewards!

Cold emailing is one of the most effective ways to acquire new customers or leads in any business. It's also an essential part of modern day digital marketing. However, it comes with its own set of challenges that you need to overcome if you want your campaigns to work well. In this guide, we will go over some key tips on how to get started with cold emailing. We'll cover what tools are available, pros & cons and pricing options so you know exactly what you're getting yourself into before starting off!

Note that this article was updated December 2018. This article has been revised since then as new tools have become available, but still stands true at its core. The first update included a section on "cold gmail" which is no longer relevant due to Google changing their policy around sending bulk messages through Gmail. Please see our latest article here for more details about cold emailing and why it works so well. If you'd like to learn even more about cold email marketing, check out these guides below:

1) How To Use Email Marketing For Your Business [Broken URL Removed]

2) 5 Tips On Using Email Marketing To Grow Your Small Business [No Longer Available]

3) 10 Ways You Can Turn Prospects Into Customers With Email Marketing [Broken Link Removed]

4) 7 Best Practices Of Effective Email Marketing Campaigns [Broken Link Removed]

5) 6 Secrets That Will Help You Create A Powerful Lead Generation System From Scratch [No Longer Available]

6) How To Build An Email List And Get More Leads Without Spending Money [No Longer Available]

7) How To Make $10k Per Month Selling Software Products Online [No Longer Available]

8) 3 Simple Strategies To Convert Visitors Into Buyers [No Longer Available]

9) 4 Essential Steps To Building A Successful Ecommerce Store [No Longer Available]

10) How I Made Over $20K / Month As A Freelance Writer By Sending Emails [No Longer Available]

Can I use Gmail for cold email?

Gmail is by far the largest online communication service today, and for good reason. While not all companies may feel comfortable using a third-party solution such as Constant Contact or Marketo, they should definitely consider using Gmail itself. There are several reasons why this makes sense -  First, it’s widely used and trusted. Second, it integrates seamlessly with other services. Third, it’s a great platform for building automation systems. Finally, it provides a very simple interface for users who don't want to deal with complicated platforms.

The biggest downside to using Gmail as a sender of cold emails is that while it’s easy enough to do, it doesn’t always provide the same level of security as dedicated solutions. So even though it might seem tempting to just fire off a bunch of emails, you shouldn’t necessarily take that approach without thinking carefully about the potential risks involved.

However, if you absolutely must use Gmail to send your emails, make sure to follow these steps:

Create two separate accounts – One account where you handle incoming communications only, and another account where you manage outgoing communications. Don’t open up a third “personal” Gmail account. Instead, create a separate company email address specifically for cold emailing purposes.

Only signup for the personal account – Never open up a second browser tab or window to access the corporate account. Doing so could allow someone else to easily find the password and gain access to both accounts simultaneously.

Keep things professional – Always treat your personal account as if you were working directly for your clients. When responding to them via Gmail, keep everything formal and impersonal. Think about writing letters instead of texts. Keep conversations short and succinct, because people tend to skim long ones anyway.

Always remember to delete old emails after sending them out – Even if you’re receiving responses, never forget to clean up old emails once they’ve expired. Otherwise, you run the risk of having a spam filter flagging every single message you ever sent.

Don’t use Gmail as your primary contact management system – Unless your client is already using Gmail themselves, don’t try to force them onto Gmail as well. Many businesses prefer standalone CRM applications or even Microsoft Outlook.

If you decide to stick with Gmail despite the above warnings, please note that Gmail does offer several features designed to help protect against phishing attacks. These include:

Two-Step Verification – Enables users to verify their identity by requiring them to enter a code sent to their phone number each time they log in. This means that anyone attempting to steal your login credentials would have to hack into your mobile device rather than simply guessing your username and password.

Sender Policy Framework – Allows administrators to block specific types of messages coming from certain IP addresses based on rules defined by the user.

While Gmail offers plenty of benefits, it isn’t perfect either. Some of the downsides include:

Limited customization – Although Gmail allows you to customize your inbox layout quite a bit, you won’t receive advanced functionality such as tagging and filtering.

Complicated interface – Gmail requires a lot of clicking to perform basic tasks. This can quickly turn into a nuisance especially if you’re trying to stay productive during meetings.

Email overload – Like Facebook, Gmail tends to attract spammers looking for fresh targets. Unfortunately, this often results in your inbox filling up with junk mail pretty fast.

Not everyone uses Gmail. But if you plan on doing a significant amount of cold emailing, it makes sense to start with Gmail now, rather than later. Just be careful to avoid falling victim to phishing scams along the way.

How many cold emails can I send from Gmail?

You can certainly send thousands upon thousands of emails using Gmail, provided you have enough patience and discipline. But if you really want to increase your conversion rates, you should focus primarily on those who receive hundreds of emails per week. Those kinds of contacts usually respond better to personalized content. They appreciate seeing genuine human interaction in their inboxes, rather than being bombarded with automated emails.

So the rule of thumb is to limit your cold outreach to 1–50% of your total mailing list. Anything higher and you could actually lose money.

What is the best way to cold email?

There are different approaches depending on whether you want to build a list or generate interest among existing prospects. Here’s a quick summary of the four main strategies:

Build a list – If you want to build a database full of qualified buyers, you should probably look elsewhere. Still, if you have a small list of targeted leads, you can leverage them effectively by following the method described above.

Generate awareness – If you want to generate buzz within your target market, you should definitely consider generating press releases and blog posts. Then promote them across social media channels. Afterward, you can reach out personally to top influencers in your industry to invite them to participate in interviews on your podcast. Or maybe you could write guest articles on popular blogs. Whatever you choose, make sure you put real effort into creating high quality content.

Start a conversation – Once you have established rapport with your audience, you can begin asking questions that prompt them to share information. Maybe you ask them what they think about a particular topic. Perhaps you pose hypothetical scenarios to gauge their reactions. At this point, your goal is to spark ideas and engage others. Remember to maintain a conversational tone throughout.

Offer value – If you’d like to convert more contacts, you should probably give away something valuable. Offer them exclusive discounts, special deals, early bird announcements or anything else that’ll encourage them to opt in to your newsletter. Be careful not to cross the line between helpful advice and blatant self-promotion, however. You should aim to strike a balance between the two.

What is cold Gmail?

As mentioned earlier, Gmail no longer supports Bulk Senders. Because of this change, marketers who rely heavily on email marketing are forced to switch to paid solutions like Constant Contact or Drip. Fortunately, there are still plenty of other options available to us.

Here's a quick rundown of some of the best cold email tools currently available:

Yesware – Yesware is an excellent all-around lead generation and customer engagement platform built entirely on Gmail.

Streak – Streak offers a variety of useful features including autoresponders, customizable templates, and drag-and-drop campaign creation.

SendinBlue – SendinBlue is similar to Yesware in terms of features and functionality. Its key difference lies in price. While Yesware costs $12/month, SendinBlue starts at $19/month.

MailChimp – MailChimp is arguably the gold standard when it comes to email marketing programs. Not only that, but it’s completely free until you hit 300 subscribers.

ConstantContact – Another popular choice, Constant Contact offers many useful features such as auto responders, drip campaigns, and custom branding.

ClickFunnels – Clickfunnels is yet another fantastic option if you want to sell products online.

Cold emails are one of the most effective ways to acquire new customers today. You don't need to spend time building relationships with them if you have an awesome product or service that they want.

A cold email has no context from your past interactions. It's simply a message sent by someone who wants something from your business. There will be nothing in it to remind you of what he/she did before. This makes cold email more personal than any other type of communication. Because of its nature, cold email doesn't require much effort on the part of the sender. That means anyone can do it. And because it's not personalized, cold email also increases your chances of getting a response.

However, cold email isn't easy. If you're just starting out, cold emailing might seem like a daunting task. But once you get into the swing of things, it becomes easier and faster than sending regular messages. Here are some tips and tricks to make sure your cold emails reach their target audience effectively.

What is a cold email service?

Before you start using cold email services, let me tell you about the basics first. A cold email service offers you all the features you'll need to send your own cold emails. These include templates, autoresponders, tracking analytics, etc. Since these services offer everything under the sun, I won't go through each feature here. Instead, I'd like to share my top picks among the best cold email tools available online. So without further ado, here goes...

1. LeMlist

LeMlist is the #1 choice of many marketers. It was founded in 2011, but didn't gain popularity until 2015. Its main goal is to help people build businesses around their passions. By doing so, it helps them earn passive income while having fun at work! The platform allows users to create lists of prospects based on criteria such as location, industry, job title, company size, revenue range, age, gender, etc. With over 50 million subscribers across different industries, LeMlist is definitely worth checking out.

2. Pardot

Pardot is another great option for those looking for affordable yet comprehensive automation platforms. Built upon HubSpot technology, Pardot offers the following: lead nurturing campaigns, automated drip-email series, social media integration, list segmentation, and campaign scoring. It's even integrated with Google Analytics so you can track campaign results easily. As for pricing, it starts at $99 per month for up to 10 leads. After that, you pay $299 per month for unlimited contacts. However, it does allow you to try it for 30 days without paying anything else.

3. EmailOctopus

EmailOctopus is a cloud-based solution which lets you manage your entire email life cycle. From creating a template to scheduling auto responders, this app takes care of every step involved in a typical email marketing workflow. It integrates well with various CRMs too. For instance, you can sync data directly with Zendesk, Basecamp, Slack, Trello, Dropbox, Github, Jira, Gmail, Outlook, etc.

4. Yesware

Yesware is another excellent choice for small businesses looking to automate customer support and nurture long term relationships. Designed to replace traditional email apps, Yesware focuses on delivering your emails via an intuitive interface. What's cool about this app is how it automatically categorizes emails based on user behavior. Yesware uses machine learning algorithms to predict whether an email should be read immediately or saved for later. When you use Yesmail for two weeks, it learns your preferences and sends only relevant emails to your inbox.

5. GetResponse

GetResponse is known for being the fastest growing ESP (automated email system) provider worldwide. It boasts hundreds of thousands of active accounts and millions of delivered emails per day. Apart from email marketing, it also supports SEO, webinar hosting, video recording, content creation, etc. Best of all, you can test drive the platform completely risk-free for 14 days. Once you've decided to move forward, you can choose either monthly ($39 - 100K emails), yearly ($129 - 500K emails), or lifetime plans ($499 - Unlimited Emails).

6. SendinBlue

SendinBlue is famous for offering the largest selection of professional email templates. Their team of developers worked hard to ensure that the designs were optimized for mobile devices. They also created custom designs for specific needs. One thing that sets SendinBlue apart from competitors is its seamless integration with popular CRMs. Whether you prefer Zapier, Intercom, Marketo, Salesforce, Pipedrive, Hubspot, ActiveCampaign, or others, SendinBlue works seamlessly with all of them.

7. Campaign Monitor

Another good option for small businesses looking to grow organically is Campaign Monitor. It combines a wide variety of advanced email technologies to help you achieve optimal performance. Among its key features are: email deliverability, spam score, open rate optimization, click-through rates, unsubscribe management, and more. Plus, you can customize your email design according to your brand identity. To learn more, visit our full review.

8. Constant Contact

Constant Contact is owned by LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman. It's a reputable email marketing provider that specializes in helping startups and small companies succeed. The service includes a robust set of features including customizable newsletters, opt-in forms, landing pages, event registration, surveys, polls, etc. Moreover, since it's built on Hootsuite’s API, it integrates smoothly with several third party applications. On top of that, it provides 24x7 live chat assistance.

9. iContact

iContact is a tried and tested email marketing service trusted by tens of thousands of professionals. It comes with a host of features designed to enhance productivity and boost ROI. Some of its major highlights include: drag & drop editor, auto-responder builder, email triggers, social media sharing buttons, dynamic images, HTML codes, etc.

10. Leadpages

LeadPages is a simple way to create beautiful websites quickly without needing any coding knowledge. All you have to do is upload your website files, add your images, text, videos, etc., and then preview it to see how it looks. Then, you can tweak it whenever necessary. Unlike WordPress, LeadPages doesn't come packed with tons of plugins. However, it does provide plenty of useful options that you can apply to your site's layout.

11. Convertkit

ConvertKit is a highly versatile SaaS application used by thousands of bloggers, podcasters, affiliates, and ecommerce merchants. It offers a lot of flexibility in terms of customization, allowing you to create unique layouts for every single campaign. Another advantage is that it's compatible with almost all browsers and operating systems.

12. Infusionsoft

Infusionsoft is a leading enterprise-level email marketing platform used by entrepreneurs and large organizations alike. Aside from being able to integrate with dozens of 3rd party applications, it also offers lots of advanced features such as multi-channel selling, conditional logic, smart tagging, etc.

13. Act-On

Act-On is a solid alternative to Infusionsoft. It's been around longer and boasts better UI. Besides, it's cheaper than Infusionsoft, although both are paid solutions.

14. Ontraport

Ontraport is a relatively new player in the market. While it lacks certain features compared to its competition, it still scores high marks thanks to its ease of use. It offers a huge library of pre-built templates and responsive themes. Additionally, it's very flexible, giving you complete control over nearly every aspect of your newsletter. Finally, it's extremely affordable, costing less than $20 per month.

15. Movable Ink

Movable Ink is a premium email marketing service offered by MailChimp. It differs significantly from its competitor, mainly due to its ability to handle big volumes of emails. Movable Ink offers a ton of features including multiple account setups, automatic segmentation, automatic reply bots, custom fields, etc.

16. AWeber

AWeber is another top email marketing platform preferred by experts. It's known for providing a wealth of features including email delivery tracking, auto-replies, multi-lingual capabilities, campaign reports, etc. It's also pretty cheap considering how extensive its functionality is.

17. Vertical Response

Vertical Response is similar to iContact in many respects. Both offer a lot of flexibility and power in designing your campaigns. Although Vertical Response is slightly pricier, it's backed by a stellar reputation.

18. Madmimi

Madmimi stands out from the crowd for its simplicity and effectiveness. It's considered the simplest and easiest email marketing platform available today. It's ideal for beginners and nontechnical individuals.

19. Drip

Drip is another email marketing service loved by digital marketers everywhere. It offers a number of useful features including autoresponder sequences, email templates, and list segmentation.