Cold Emails: How Founders Can Gain Early Users & Press
The strategy has a bad reputation, but when done right, it’s super effective
Who says cold emails don’t work? I’ve implemented them into my strategy, and I’ve got :
- Investment pitches
- Working with some big brands
- Building beta list
- Getting press releases
Before diving into best practices for cold emailing, a little background. Last year, when I was building WorkMap, everything was done, and I was approaching the launch date. The only thing left was a plan to bring in new users consistently.
I had a very small list of beta users, around 20+ who showed interest, and I thought starting with them would be enough. So the day came. I launched it, did some social media call out, and sent the emails.
How many people actually signed up? 2.
That was bad because,
- they didn’t add any content
- it showed the new users that the product wasn’t that effective or valuable for them because no one was using it.
This led me to build an outreach plan for both my potential users and the press. I decided to take other tactics and approaches to encourage people to use it. One of the hardest yet the best performer was cold emailing. I tried for a month & increased the signup to 256, and 1000+ pieces of content were added.
Cold emailing was on my agenda, but along with that, I tried to build an email list. Even if people forget to log in after a few days of using it (in my case, it was true, because it was still a scrappy version with a lot of bugs and underperforming features), I sent them an email every week with the content that was added on the platform and a reminder to visit at least once a week.
This was working but acquiring users was still low. Cold emailing is a good approach, but it’s not scalable.
I’ve deconstructed a framework for the cold outreach to strangers, which was more beneficial than any other marketing tactics and created opportunities for myself that never would have occurred. I use this for both getting users and press.
Why cold emailing?
Cold emails often explicitly push something on potential buyers with whom you don’t have prior contact or communication. This tactic is cheaper in cost, effective in terms of conversion, more interactive, provides high-quality resources, and opens up communication with potential clients.
Sending a cold email doesn’t mean you need to be that invasive salesperson or a frustrating spam emailer. Product hunt is very well known about how it began with cold emails, and many other companies started with cold emails — Storefront, Uber, etc.
Founders in the early stage product usually don’t focus on cold emailing because it doesn’t scale, but in reality, it helps you get the initial users and build connections.
This is how this cycle goes: First, you cold email them, which the recipient either responds or ignores. Once they respond, they are likely to do what you’ve offered (ex. link back your article on their website) which means their readers will read your article → readers will share to their network → that brings traffic to your website → build social media following → get more leads or sales or clients → you win your end goal.
This cycle goes on, and maybe forever, because you’re building accountability for the long run.
Start with a plan
My goal is to get more press exposure, mentions on relevant websites or publications and gradually open new opportunities.
Before moving forward, set specific objectives and goals you want to achieve from cold emailing:
- To get more backlinks,
- Reach out to the press and journalists,
- Get beta testers for your product,
- Sell something,
- Build up social media share,
- Freelance client or contract.
Finding people
I started with creating a notion template where I carefully note the possible person’s name, email address, relevant links, social media and why I should contact them.
It is recommended to contact influencers or people within the same industry or niche. Try reaching out to people who have more audience than yours and to those who have a true loyal community (even with small numbers).
Find people who write similar articles like yours (or work on the same market). Research such people, hunt their email address or social media & ultimately prepare for a cold email.
There are two ways I reach out to potential people:
- Through email
- Social Media
Most of the time, after doing some research, you’ll find the person’s email but, if not, reach them out on social media. Additionally, you can find emails through the website they write on.
Lately, you can also try out email finder tools, but I haven’t tried any yet, so I can’t say much about their effectiveness.
Crafting the email
Before I take you to my workshop, I would like to clarify that no particular format will work for you and me. The context will be different, the way you approach will be different, and the result you’ll get will also be different.
So, here are the elements to make your cold email actually work. Start by asking yourself what motivates the recipient:
- Be personal. Don’t start with “To whomsoever it may concern.” Specify the recipient directly by their name.
- Do the research and personalize the context. If you genuinely like something about the recipient or what they have done or are doing, appreciate and acknowledge it. Learn more about them, their social media profile, and what they have published before. You can also take a further step and connect with them on social media before the emailing. If you’re already exchanging a few tweets, they’ll keep you in mind or get a little familiar with you.
- I send around 5 to 10 emails per day but not more than that. As they are personalized, I get at least one response per day. You don’t have to spend too much time researching them. Find something that resonates with you, and you’re good to go.
- Have a simple direct format: who I am and what I do → why I’m contacting you → what I’m politely asking you to do.
- Always be respectful. Use phrases like “Thanks a lot”, “It would mean the world to me”, etc.
- Don’t overdo the subject line. It should straightforwardly tell the recipient what the message is about and mention the topic they are familiar with.
- It’s a plus point if you’re able to find something common. Again whomsoever you talk to, learn enough about them.
- The best thing I’ve ever done, which got me the most success, is making the email about them and not myself. Even though in the end I want them to do what I’ve asked, it always starts by giving.
- As a founder, if you’re looking for traction, know the problem they can encounter and explain how your solution can resolve the problem. Next, ask them for an intro or if they are interested to learn more about it.
Here’s the example: So I’m looking for articles where the author can include my newsletter link. When sending the email, what I’ll do is, help make their work a lot easier. I will share a list of other newsletters that I appreciate and believe can benefit their readers — this way, the author doesn’t have to do any other work and will highly appreciate my efforts.
One other thing which you can try.
Whenever you mention someone in your article or any resources, send them an email about it or just call out on social media. Trust me; they want to know that you have mentioned them. People often link back to me, and I never get to know about it. If I know that they’ve mentioned me, I would happily give them a shoutout.
This way, you also build connections.
Follow up
Most chances are that the person is very busy and forgot to reply. It happens 90% of the time. If you’re reaching out to a person, you have no idea how many emails they might be getting in a day. But if you follow up, there is a high chance of getting a response.
There can be any reason that they couldn’t respond at the first attempt. Plan the sequence and don’t just settle on one follow-up. If you don’t get the response in 3–4 days, send another follow-up and repeat this 3–4 times.
So make sure to follow up and write a quick email acknowledging how busy and important they are while politely asking to consider your email one more time.
What to avoid completely
- Never ever make a cold email long. It shouldn’t take more than 1–2 mins to read it. If I get 200 emails a day, I don’t have time to read the complete story & then respond to each and everyone; rather, I would cut to the right part. Be direct but also genuine.
- Don’t joke. That’s the worst thing cold emails can include. When you don’t have any personal connection with the recipient, how can you possibly think they will get you jokes?
- Don’t try to be a bot or too sale-y. Again, the more you personalize the email & try to be a human, the better the outcome.
In the end
I’ve sent many cold emails. Some were great, and some were not. After spending some time analyzing the context, here’s what I’ve found:
- They take a lot of time to research
- For every purpose, the format will be different.
- Even if they are cold, making them personalized will help you get a better response.
- Don’t waste their time; make it short and sweet.
Thanks for reading.
👋 PS: Ritika is a founder, product marketer and advisor for early stage startups, find more here or connect with her here. If you’re a first time founder looking for curated resources, download here. If you enjoyed this post, read the past issues here.
