Email Marketing vs Cold Email: Know the Differences!

Marketing with email is one of the best forms of digital marketing. It involves sending emails to prospects and cultivating relationships with customers. Statistics show that most adults in the US use email (Statista, 2017). 85% of them use email more often than search engines and social media combined. Email marketing has a wide reach, making it an ideal marketing medium.

The difference between cold emailing and email marketing is not widely known. That’s why we’re going to explore that in this article.

Email Marketing vs Cold Email: A Basic Comparison

Taking a cold email campaign and turning it into a successful email marketing campaign turns first-time buyers into repeat customers. Email marketing is more than just cold emails. 

As cold emails are intended to reach out to prospects, email marketing also aims to build brand awareness, trust, and loyalty, without regard to whether the recipient is a prospect or a current client. Knowing the difference between cold email and email marketing is essential.

Email marketing vs. cold emailing: An example

Below is a sample cold email:

The following is an example of a marketing email:

Benefits of Marketing Email vs. Cold Email

Email marketing has an ROI of 4200%, which is quite amazing. Each dollar spent on email marketing will generate $42. 

Cold emails have been successful for scheduling meetings or starting conversations for 78% of decision-makers. 

Let’s analyze their advantages-

Email marketing benefits

• Businesses and contacts can build trust by using email marketing. Consistent communication will make subscribers feel connected to the brand.
• This information provides insight into how engaged your recipients are. 
• Through this information, you can funnel down marketing qualified leads into sales qualified leads.
• Leads can be converted into paying customers using email marketing.

Cold Email benefits

• You can expand your business’ reach by sending cold emails. 
• Cold emailing can help you build your email list.
• Cold email marketing is a great way to get prospects in the sales funnel, which is crucial to getting the sales process started. 
• Rival prospects convert better with cold emailing.

Distinctions in Recipients

Email marketing campaigns begin with the creation of an email list. To entice customers, companies usually give away something for free. In addition to product updates, they offer newsletters to build an email list.

Email marketing aims to reach audiences who have already used the product or service and want to receive emails from it, such as you. In this way, they are intrigued by the brand.

If they signed up for a free trial, accepted your newsletter, or filled out your order form, then you can claim they chose you. If they wish to unsubscribe from your email list, they can do so at any time.

Using cold emails is the first step to attracting new customers who do not know about the brand and have never engaged with it before. A cold email, on the other hand, is an email sent by a business to a potential customer who has never been in contact with them before.

Cold emails are beneficial for networking by letting potential customers learn about the product or service. As a result of the network creation, leads are generated, which is the first step in the sales process. If the lead generates interest in the product, the seller can follow up and close the sale. 

Cold email outreach allows you to choose the recipients you want to reach. Such recipients aren’t already subscribers. However, they did not opt for a free trial. You surprised them by sending them emails. Marketers must send cold emails in such a way that their surprise is pleasant. 

A Distinction In Purpose

Most marketing emails direct recipients to other resources, such as blogs, websites, PDFs, and podcasts. By providing valuable information, subscribers are kept in touch. This will encourage them to reach out to you when they need your help. 

When you send cold emails, you look for people and see how your product or service can meet their needs. 

The primary purpose of cold emails is to initiate business-to-business conversations that can lead to a long-term partnership or a business deal. The intention is to get a response here. Sending a cold email aims to get a response, and that is the goal. 

Marketing emails are part of the marketing process, not the sales process. Marketing and sales processes are linked, but you cannot expect to boost sales by sending emails to cold prospects for email marketing.

A Difference In Personalization

A cold email must be personalized. In the absence of this aspect, cold emails might seem tone-deaf to the recipient. Businesses must research and assemble a list of prospects, then draft emails indicating the company’s interest.

The cold email is more personalized if it is addressed by name rather than “Hello Prospect” instead.

It is important to provide quality content in marketing emails since subscribers chose you, so they will have high expectations. As long as the emails have some personalization, like “Hello, Sara” or “Hi, Chris”, they will understand that your emails are automated.

The Difference In Form

The brand’s logo is used in marketing emails, as well as bright fonts, colours, and attractive images. Other links can be accessed via buttons. There are times when marketing emails are straightforward. Nevertheless, all of them contain a link that will take recipients to a blog post, a website, or download content.

Cold emails, in contrast, are always straightforward. The emails should look like those that one receives from friends and family. A cold email should be as simple as possible, preferably with plain text and a few sentences. Instead of the links, it should ask the recipient a question or make a request. 

The difference in the volume of emails sent

When you develop a marketing campaign, you would want to send emails to your entire subscriber list every time the campaign is launched. Ideally, you would want to have a list of 1000 subscribers. Personalized content can be segmented to a degree, but in an email marketing campaign, you will send thousands of emails at once.

Cold email campaigns, however, require you to build lists of fewer prospects at a time. You should do research and gather specific information on every prospect before sending them an email. The process takes a lot of time and research.

Therefore, cold email campaigns have fewer than 100 prospects. Additionally, each prospect would receive their initial email followed by eight follow-ups. In addition, cold emails have personalization elements to make the prospects feel like their emails have been tailored to them. 

Email marketing is an essential difference between cold email campaigns and email marketing since the former usually involves sending thousands of emails, whereas the latter might involve just 50.

Differences in the frequency of Sending

Marketing emails are meant to keep the brand alive in the minds of the recipients forever, so they must be delivered regularly to their inboxes. You should also send the emails regularly since subscribers already know that the emails are automated. 

In contrast, recipients of cold emails never expected you to send them emails, so they would receive them less frequently. Following-up emails must also be sent individually. Do not use automated tools to send them.

To make cold emails appear personal, you should not send them every third day or week.  

Email marketing vs. Cold emailing: Common mistakes

The following mistakes should be avoided when cold emailing:

1. Focusing on product features instead of benefits

It is important to explain the benefits of using the product or service in a cold email. In addition to solving a major problem, the product should offer something unique.

Rather than listing all the features of the product/service, the email should emphasize only its benefits. Cold emails should be brief and direct. Emphasize that your time is valuable.

2. CTA (Call-to-action) Not Mentioned

Calls to action are usually included in cold emails. In this part, the seller specifies exactly what the recipient needs to do, whether that’s to reply to the email or to provide feedback. The recipient may not respond if you don’t mention a CTA.

3. Mentioning complicated CTAs

It is best to keep the CTA simple to avoid offending recipients. The recipient should not find the call to action demanding. Multiple CTAs will only confuse. 

The use of multiple calls-to-action in cold emails can confuse prospects:

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Here’s how you can use CTA to your advantage:

4. An email body that is too long

A concise and compact email copy is essential. Long paragraphs take too much time to read. Whenever you contact a prospect, you need to get right to the point and let them know how your product or service will help them. Grab the recipient’s attention as soon as possible. 

5. ‘From’ name missing

Potential customers should not suspect your identity if your cold email includes your credentials. Despite conducting research and knowing information about recipients, the recipients are unaware of what you do.

The recipient will feel that they have been addressed by a person if you include a ‘from’ name, and they will be more likely to respond.

Common Email Marketing Mistakes-

6. Too many graphics and photos

You can include graphics in your email campaign, but you shouldn’t overload the email with them. This can cause the recipient to lose interest. You should include a variety of graphics in your email to make it appealing.

7. Lack of communication

Most email marketers send too many emails or do not keep in touch with their contacts. Keep your emails short, or they will lose interest in you. Automate your process to keep a desirable email frequency. 

8. Being unresponsive to mobile devices

Users of mobile devices should be able to easily view email content. Quality and loading times must be satisfactory. Creating mobile-friendly emails is a must since many people check their emails on their smartphones and tablets. Over 67% of email recipients use a mobile device to check their inboxes.   

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