E-mail templates are one of the biggest allies of sales teams while prospecting and, somehow, they don't always get the love and dedication they deserve. Nailing a great template might take time, effort, and experimentation; but its rewards are worth it. A great template doesn't feel like a template, but more like a genuine communication between professionals.
Many factors come into play while crafting a template and you must always keep those in mind: buyer persona, tone, stage of the sales funnel... Yes, we know, the deeper we get into this subject, the harder it looks. But worry not, with these tips you will create outstanding e-mail templates that will keep your conversion rates optimal:
1. Your subject line needs to hit the sweet spot
We cannot emphasize this enough: if your subject line doesn't make it, everything else doesn't matter. The subject line is the key to capturing the attention of your leads and encouraging them to open your e-mail (especially if there hasn't been any previous contact). There is a whole science around it, but here are some essential tips to help you come up with a good subject line:
- Keep it short and sweet
- Personalize it (you can use variables for this)
- Offer value (what can your product or service do for this lead?)
- Be original
- Avoid clickbait (even if it gets you a good open rate, this is a no-go)
Your subject lines aren't written in stone. You can keep refining them along the way, so we recommend you carry out A/B experiments.
2. Your introduction will set the tone
Don't neglect the introduction. While a simple "My name is [name] and I'm the [position] at [company]" can cut it, you might be wasting an opportunity to go the extra mile. We're not advising by any means that you turn the introduction into a slog of 1000 words, but why not drop some extra substance in there? Here are some ideas:
- Mention if you know anyone else at the lead's company
- Explain a recent win from your company
- Show that you know the company you're talking to
3. Personalize it
Even though we've already mentioned it when talking about the subject line, this is such an important aspect that it deserves its own category. Personalizing your e-mail templates is key to engaging the lead and getting rid of the "oh-I'm-reading-a-template" syndrome (yes, we just made up this syndrome). The best way to personalize your templates and avoid switching apps and making mistakes is by using variables.
4. Format it
Oftentimes, the format of e-mails is neglected. If your template contains a lot of information, you have to make it easy for the recipient not only to read it, but to scan it quickly looking for specific information. Our Smart Email Editor includes plenty of options to format e-mails nicely, don't let a plain e-mail be a dealbreaker.
Some formatting tips:
- Highlight keywords using bold letters
- Use our H1 and H2 title formats to structure the e-mail
- Include links
- Avoid flashy formatting
5. Include social proof
The opinions and reviews of other customers you've worked with have the potential to sell your product much better than the most compelling copy you can come up with. And that's why you should have several testimonies available that you can include in your templates. Our Smart Email Editor includes a button to format and highlight quotes so that they don't get lost in the mix.
6. Pain points (and how you can solve them) should be the protagonist
Pain points should never be left out of your templates. This is a tricky one because you cannot fully templatize those (pain points should be specific to the company you are prospecting). However, you should leave some bullet points prepared to fill them in before sending the e-mail. Something like this:
I have identified three aspects of your business where our product could be of great help:
- [pain point #1]: [solution #1]
- [pain point #2]: [solution #2]
- [pain point #3]: [solution #3]
7. Close with a powerful (and actionable) call to action
If a lead reads through your e-mail template (congratulations on that!) then it's time to move them into the next step. While CTAs are an everyday thing for salespeople, it's easy to make rookie mistakes now and then, so here are some basics to make sure that your CTAs always deliver the desired effects:
- Be clear
- Ask for one single thing
- And make that thing specific and easy to execute
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