7 Figure Automation Research

State of Cold Email: Key Findings

Introduction

Today’s information-empowered buyers have high expectations. They expect sales and marketing reps to personalize cold emails to their specific business needs. Yet, they receive vague and generic emails that are not personalized or relevant. Here’s why.

More than ever, business development leaders are turning to sales engagement platforms to help drive their outbound sales efforts. These platforms enable business developers to send personalized emails at scale, but they’re often abused because business development teams don’t have a clear process to follow, or enough time to properly execute.

Sales engagement platforms’ role in driving pipeline growth is increasing in importance. The most productive teams have well-orchestrated touch patterns, streamlined business processes, data analytics and coaching. The organizations that capture market share will be those with a focus on fewer, more meaningful interactions, rather than a spray and pray approach.

In a world where technology has leveled the playing field, the competitive advantage has become the ability to turn insights into strategic value messaging. 7 Figure Automation recently partnered with ZoomInfo and Tenbound to survey more than 130 technology executives and looked at the current state of cold email to help business development leaders identify opportunities in their cold email strategy.

Here are the top 5 key findings from the survey:

  1. 60% of respondents prefer to engage with salespeople over email. Email is still the most popular sales channel by far, because it’s more efficient and less time consuming.

  2. 49% of respondents say that emails about new tools and technology get their attention, and 48% say events and webinars get their attention. Email is how many busy executives learn about emerging trends and technologies.

  3. 31% of respondents would reply to a cold email if the seller’s messaging was relevant to their specific business needs. However, only 13% said that emails had to be personalized to them individually. Sellers need to balance personalization with scale to maximize results.

  4. 41% of respondents delete all/almost all of cold emails (or mark them as spam) because they are generic, vague or not relevant to their business needs. The majority of sellers do not put effort into segmentation or personalization. Also, email content matters more than email length.

  5. 48% of respondents would schedule a meeting with a salesperson who sent them a cold email, if it was relevant or specific to their business problems, needs or interests. Sending the email is only half the battle. Sellers need to do their research in order to get email replies.

Key Finding No. 1

60% of respondents prefer to engage with salespeople over email. Email is still the most popular sales channel by far, because it’s more efficient and less invasive.

Recommendations Business Development leaders should calculate the percentage of pipeline that’s being generated from cold email efforts. If the percentage of revenue is disproportionately lower than other channels, consider re-evaluating your market segmentation strategy, the personas being targeted or the sales messaging.

Key Finding No. 2

49% of respondents say that emails about new tools and technology get their attention, and 48% say events and webinars get their attention. Email is how many busy executives learn about emerging trends and technologies.

Recommendations Business Development leaders should work with marketing stakeholders around common objectives to address gaps in strategy and collateral. Marketing and sales teams have an opportunity to help each other meet business objectives by aligning on go-to-market strategy and messaging.

Key Finding No. 3

31% of respondents would reply to a cold email if the seller’s messaging was relevant to their specific business needs. However, only 13% said that emails had to be personalized to them individually. Sellers need to balance personalization with scale to maximize results.

Recommendations Business Development leaders should work with marketing stakeholders and business development reps to identify target personas that share similar characteristics and develop messaging that focuses on their shared priorities and challenges. This will enable them to use personalization at scale.

Key Finding No. 4

41% of respondents delete all/almost all of cold emails (or mark them as spam) because they are generic, vague or not relevant to their business needs. The majority of sellers do not put effort into segmentation or personalization. Also, email content matters more than email length.

Recommendations Business Development leaders should enable business development reps to personalize cold emails by implementing technology and process. Leaders should also have a way to track and analyze personalized emails for relevance and results. Many organizations are turning to engagement tools and conversational intelligence platforms for these use cases.

Key Finding No. 5

48% of respondents would schedule a meeting with a salesperson who sent them a cold email, if it was relevant or specific to their business problems, needs or interests. Sending the email is only half the battle. Sellers need to do their research in order to get email replies.

Recommendations Business Development leaders should collect data and insights from customer interviews, online surveys, reviews, social media, and recorded call data to understand the Voice of the Customer. This allows them to collect insights, adjust messaging templates and enable sellers with email snippets that can be used to quickly tailor messaging to meet buyer expectations.