How to Warm Up a Cold Email List

Just because it’s getting colder outside doesn’t mean your email prospects should be too. In fact, now is the perfect time to start warming up your email lists in preparation for the holiday season.

But what does ‘email warmup’ mean, and how can you do it? Keep reading to find out!

What is a Cold Email List?

A cold email list is a lot what it sounds like – a collection of email addresses that you haven’t had any prior contact with. They might be leads that you’ve collected from a trade show or through your website’s contact form. Or maybe you found them through a Google search or on social media. Regardless of where they’ve come from, the single commonality all addresses on a cold email list share is the fact that you haven’t built a solid relationship with them yet.

3 Reasons Why Existing Email Prospects Go Cold

It’s worth noting that existing email contact lists can go cold too – not just ones with leads that you’ve never reached out to before. And when this happens, it can be just as frustrating (if not more so) than a complete cold list. After all, you’ve already put in the work to build a relationship with these email subscribers, so it can be disheartening when they suddenly go MIA.

There are a few reasons this might happen:

1. They’ve lost interest in what you’re offering – Over time, people’s interests change, and what they once found valuable might not be so anymore. This is especially true in fast-paced industries where trends come and go quickly.

2. They forget who you are – If you haven’t contacted your email list in a while, it’s likely they will have forgotten who you are. And even if they do remember you, it’s doubtful they’ll remember what you’re offering.

3. They never really cared in the first place – It’s possible that someone subscribed to your email list but they were never really interested in what you had to say. Maybe they were curious about your product but never had any intention of buying it. Or maybe they subscribed just to get a freebie that you were offering and had no intention of ever reading your emails.

Cold Email Lists? Warm Them Up With These Six Tips

Just like how email lists can go cold, there are also a number of things you can do to try and warm them back up again. Here are six of the most effective:

Introduce (Or Reintroduce) Yourself and What You Have to Offer

You can’t just assume that people will recognize your name or want to take action on your offers out of the blue. Creating actual sales relationships requires time, effort, and multiple interactions. So if you’re starting from scratch with someone, or restarting with someone who has gone cold, it’s important that you reintroduce yourself and what you have to offer.

A good way to do this is by sending a short email that outlines who you are, what you do, and how you can help your prospect. This doesn’t have to be a long, formal message – in fact, it’s better if it isn’t. Just a brief note introducing yourself and what you do will suffice.

Offer Them Something Valuable

In order for people to want to hear from you, you need to offer them something valuable in return. This could be a helpful blog post, an exclusive discount, or early access to a new product. Whatever you choose to offer, make sure it’s something your prospect would actually find valuable and would be willing to trade their email address for.

Use Evocative CTAs

While they get overlooked a lot, calls to action are one of the most important aspects of any good piece of marketing copy. They bring messages to a clean close and channel everything said so far into a specific, desired action.

And in the case of cold email lists, CTAs can go a long way toward getting leads to take action. You just have to make sure your CTAs are effective, which means they need to be clear, direct and evoke some kind of emotion. They can also be personalized, which is a great strategy to use if you have the data to do so.

Make it Easy for Them to Respond

When people are given too much work, they’re likely to put it off or not do it at all. This is especially the case with unsolicited emails – who are you to say they need to do something right now?

This is why it’s important to make responding as easy as possible for your recipients. If you’re asking them to take a specific action, include a link that takes them directly to where they need to go. And if you’re giving them multiple options (e.g. click here to learn more, click here to buy now, etc.), make sure those links are easily distinguishable from one another. The easier you make it for people to respond, the more likely they are to actually do so.

Send Timely Reminders

Sometimes all people need is a little nudge in the right direction to get them to take action. If you’ve been trying to engage with your email list but haven’t had much success, try sending timely reminders about whatever it is you’re trying to promote.

This could be a reminder that an offer is about to expire, that there’s only a limited number of items left in stock, or that a sale is about to end. Whatever it is, make sure it’s something that would prompt your prospect to take action within the next day or two.

Ensure Your Email’s IP Address Is Warm

If you’ve been sending emails to a cold list and not getting many responses back, it’s possible that your IP address has been flagged as spam. This can happen if you’re using a new IP address or if you’ve been sending a lot of emails in a short period of time.

To avoid this, it’s important to “warm up” your IP address before you start sending emails to your entire list. This involves sending a small number of emails at first, gradually increasing that number over time, and making sure the content of your messages is high-quality. By taking these steps, you can make sure your IP address doesn’t get flagged as spam and that your emails actually reach people’s inboxes.

Whether you’re trying to engage with a cold email list or promote a new product, these six tips will help you get the most out of your email marketing campaign. Just remember to keep your messages valuable, relevant, and actionable, and you’ll be sure to see results in no time!Need a little help? Growbots offers the perfect solution for email marketing success. Our platform makes it easy to find and contact your ideal customers, warm up addresses, personalize your messages, and track your results. Try Growbots today and see how easy it is to take your email marketing to the next level!