Mass Email Is Dead, Try This Modern Strategy Instead [SlideShare] – Info Sales

My name is John Sherer. And I spam my prospects. At least, I used to.

You’re likely thinking one of two things: “What a monster. I can’t believe he did that.” or “How the heck did he ever stop?“

Unfortunately, I didn’t stop mass email marketing until it stopped working. And, at that point, it’s too late and you’re left with no money.

So, today I’d like to share the evolution of my email prospecting strategy and how it went from old school robotic to modern and strategic, with a series of different email templates.

Want to skip straight to the SlideShare? No problem, click here.

The Old Mass Email

I used to mass email my leads three times a week, which generated enough appointments to consistently fill the top of my pipeline. The old mass email looked something like this:

This mass email worked for two reasons:

1. It included a valuable piece of content
2. It included a request to connect

But then one day it stopped working. I have a few hypotheses as to why:

1. Maybe it was the generic opening
2. Or the assumption the prospect had a horrible website
3. Or putting all the work on the prospect to find a time to chat

Whatever the cause, prospects stopped opening my emails — and that was a problem.

The “Personalized” Mass Email

Personalizing the greeting

I knew it was time to start personalizing my emails. So, I went crazy and … sent the same email as above but opened by greeting each prospect by name.

You’re probably not shocked to hear this didn’t work.

Customizing the time

Next, I tried customizing the time. In this case, the email still stayed the same, but I suggested a specific time for us to talk. It looked a little like this:

By now, you know what’s coming: this still didn’t work.

My conclusion was “personalized” mass email didn’t work on my prospects either. Looking back, it’s not all too surprising they could see right through my copy-and-pasted templates.

The Non-Mass Email

I was still confused. After all, for the past few decades, prospects just like these had been responding to mass emails. And now, all of the sudden, adding a name wasn’t enough, adding a company name wasn’t enough. Basically, any one-word adjustment just wasn’t enough.

Then, it hit me. Prospects don’t want “personalized,” they want “tailored,” “focused,” and “value.” So, how did I respond? By giving my prospects what they wanted. Here’s what that new email looked like:

I sent these emails one at a time — no more mass email for me. And it worked. It still works. And here’s why:

1. I open with a custom event in the prospect’s life
2. I connect their expertise with my/HubSpot’s own
3. I provide a specific timeframe to chat

Suddenly, my prospecting emails started working again. Collectively, our team tracked these emails to see which ones were opened. Then, we followed up immediately.

Now we don’t have to robotically send mass emails. And we’re not just filling the top of our pipelines. We’re moving people through them.

So, start sending and tracking valuable prospecting emails to see what works best for you. While your at it, try increasing your email prospecting response rate by 1400%. And find almost anyone’s email address (without being creepy) here.