5 Mistakes that Derail Your Cold Email Strategy

Summary:

• Many email strategies aren’t targeted enough. Build a well-defined prospect list based on criteria like industry, role, or pain points.
• A bad sender reputation can stop your emails from being delivered. Verify your email addresses, personalize your messages, and send emails consistently in smaller batches.
• Poor subject lines send a lot of emails to the trash. Use A/B testing to find what works best, personalize subject lines with names or industries, and pique curiosity to increase open rates.
• People don’t want to read essays in their inboxes. Focus on a clear structure: introduce yourself, highlight a pain point, offer a solution, and include a simple call-to-action to engage busy prospects.
• Don’t ask for everything right away. Start with low-barrier requests like scheduling a short call instead of overwhelming prospects with major asks upfront.

Cold emailing can open the door for you to start more conversations with prospects, generate sales leads, and ultimately close deals. But for this to work, you have to do it right.

Unfortunately, sometimes it can feel like those emails go unnoticed or get ignored. Or perhaps they generate a trickle of replies, but nothing that compares to your lofty expectations.

If your cold email strategy is not producing the kind of replies you hope for, the answer isn’t to give up—it’s to figure out what you’re doing wrong and improve. Here are some common mistakes you're likely making. Avoid them and you'll be rewarded with high potential new prospects to pull into your sales funnel.

How PhoneBurner Can Give Your Email Outreach a Boost

We designed our dialing platform with features that help you reach prospects more effectively—by email as well as through phone calls. Here are a few ways you can use PhoneBurner for better email outreach:

• 200+ integrations let you connect PhoneBurner to popular apps—use Zapier to set up seamless outbound email and more!
• Connect to Salesforce and other popular CRM tools (or use built-in features) to use the most relevant data anytime you email a prospect.
• Pair voicemails with emails for a powerful combo that can boost callbacks and email replies. Use PhoneBurner to send both in 1 click.

Start your free trial of PhoneBurner here to see how it can supercharge your email strategy firsthand—then keep reading to learn about common mistakes to avoid when using these tools to reach out to prospects.

Mistake #1 - Not Targeting Properly

A successful cold email strategy stems from targeting the right people with the right message. Start by creating a well-defined prospect list based on specific criteria, such as industry, job title, or pain points.

For example, if you’re selling software for small businesses, you might want to focus on owners or decision-makers in companies with fewer than 50 employees. You might also use platforms like LinkedIn to refine your search, ensuring your prospects match your ideal customer profile.

Quick Tips for Better Targeting:

• Research prospects to understand their specific challenges.
• Segment your list based on industry or role to tailor your messaging.
• Use a CRM like Salesforce to organize and update your prospect data regularly.

Everything else—subject lines, messaging, and call-to-action—will be more effective when grounded in a well-targeted list.

Mistake #2 - Bad Sender Reputation

Sender reputation is a number between 0 (bad) and 100 (good) that email services use to determine if your email is “spam” or not.

Having a good sender reputation is extremely important to keep your deliverability rate high, which means people will actually receive your emails.

Whether you send cold emails one by one or use automated software, you should be aware of what email service filters look for when they filter incoming mail.

Otherwise, not only can your cold emails be sent to the spam filter, but you could damage your domain reputation and capabilities in the future.

Factors Affecting Sender Reputation

Here are some factors to keep in mind that can negatively affect your sender reputation:

High bounce rate

Having a high bounce rate can really derail your cold email efforts. The first type of email bounce is a soft bounce, which is when the problem is temporary (e.g. inbox full). You can’t necessarily prevent these types of bounces.

However, the second type of bounce is a hard bounce, which is when the address has been rejected by the destination server (the email doesn’t exist). Most hard bounces can be prevented by running your emails through a verification service such as BriteVerify or Mail-Tester.

Spam complaints

As you probably already know, if your recipient marks your email as spam, then this will negatively affect the future deliverability of your emails. It’s the same for phone calls.

Related: Why You’re Marked Scam Likely, and How to Fight Back

In either case, personalization matters. Your email should not look like a spammy marketing message. It should be written from a person (not from [email protected]) to a person—with a personalized message.

Volume & consistency

Sending all your weekly emails at one time is going to send some red flags to the email services. So don't blast 500 emails all at once. Slow and steady wins the race.

That doesn’t necessarily mean you have to write 500 emails by hand. Using PhoneBurner’s workflow automation features lets you send targeted emails based on easily customizable templates in just a couple of clicks, which makes it easy to email consistently and at volume without sacrificing a personal touch.

Related: The Ultimate Guide to Sales Follow-Up Emails

Too many recipients

You can avoid this by sending your cold emails to each recipient separately, not hundreds in one go. Most automated cold email services (including our email tools) will allow you to do this. In addition to being less spammy, you will have the best results from cold emails when you send to one person at a time.

Mistake #3 - Not Testing Subject Lines

Subject lines are critical because they’re the first thing your prospect sees. A good one hooks their curiosity; a bad one sends your email straight to the trash.

Tips to Improve Your Subject Lines:

• A/B Test Regularly: Create two versions of the same email with different subject lines. Send them to small, equal-sized groups and measure open rates to determine which works better.
• Personalize It: Use the recipient's name or reference their company (e.g., “Quick idea for [Name’s] team”).
• Create Curiosity: Pique interest without being too vague. For instance, “This helped [Industry Peer] grow 20%” or “Are you facing this issue in [specific area]?”

Track what works and refine your approach as you collect data. PhoneBurner’s reporting tools can help.

Mistake #4 - Too much content

Your prospects are busy and won’t read an essay. Keep it concise and to the point.

Here’s a better structure for your cold emails:

• Introduction: Briefly introduce yourself and your company.
• Pain Point: Address a problem they’re likely facing.
• Solution: Offer a glimpse of how you can help.
• Call to Action: Suggest a simple next step, like scheduling a quick call.

Example Email Template

Subject Line: “Quick solution for [Pain Point]”

Body:

“Hi [First Name],

I noticed your company is [specific detail about their business or pain point]. At [Your Company], we’ve helped similar businesses [specific result or benefit].

Would you have 10 minutes this week to discuss how we could help you achieve similar results? Let me know your availability!”

Best,

[Your Name]

This format keeps the email focused while showing value and encouraging the recipient to take action.

Mistake #5 - Asking for Too Much Commitment

Just because a prospect opens and reads your email, doesn't mean they're suddenly captivated and ready to ink a deal.

Your goal should be to hit upon a pain point or highlight something that would benefit them, and to open the door to a next step.

An open-ended, "Do you have a few minutes to discuss this week?" is a great one. Keep it simple. Don't overwhelm. Don't ask for too much.

Related: Make the Sale: How to Prime Prospects with the "Yes" Ladder

Use PhoneBurner for Stronger & More Targeted Email Outreach

Cold emailing can be an extremely profitable customer acquisition strategy for your business—you just need to make sure you are doing it right. Remember: with cold email volume is rarely the key. Instead, focus on targeting, and then send a carefully crafted, personalized email that resonates.

Avoiding the mistakes above is critical to the success of your campaign—but so is using the right tools to make your email strategy efficient. PhoneBurner’s one-touch email follow-ups can streamline your efforts and ensure that you and your agents are always able to send timely and targeted emails after calls. Start your free trial of our platform now and see the difference it can make for you.