Cold Email

Cold Email Doesn't Work: 7 Key Methods To Solve It

Cold Email Doesn't Work: 7 Key Methods To Solve It

Cold Email Doesn't Work: 7 Key Methods To Solve It

22 sep. 2022

22 sep. 2022

Table of Contents

    Cold Email doesn't work | Breakcold


    What elements can cause Cold Email to doesn't work?

    Cold email doesn't work when you have low open rate, bad reply rate, bad targeting and/or bad offer.

    Low open rate

    A low cold email open rate is anywhere below 40%.

    Some people who unfortunately send cold emails with an email marketing software because they don't know the difference between cold email vs email marketing even have open rates between 1 to 5%.

    Cold Email doesn't work Open Rate | Breakcold

    Showcase of cold email open rates

    When it comes to sales representatives, they often have open rates around 20% because they simply send too many emails per day.

    Bad reply rate

    A bad cold email reply rate is anywhere below 5%.

    Bad reply rates are directly link to the quality of your email copywriting, the quality of your offer and targeting.

    Cold Email doesn't work Reply Rate | Breakcold

    Showcase of cold email reply rates

    Bad targeting

    Bad targeting happens when you don't master your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) also known as buyer persona.

    If you target the wrong people, even with the best offer and best cold emails in the world, you will fail.

    Cold Email doesn't work Targeting | Breakcold

    Example of how to target better when doing cold emailing

    Bad offer

    A bad offer in cold emailing means that your sales pitch is weak or that your offer is inferior to competitors.

    Cold Email doesn't work Copywriting | Breakcold

    How I feel when I had my good results with cold emails

    7 key methods to solve situations where cold email doesn't work

    Does cold email work? Yes and we'll show you how to fix it if doesn't for you right now.

    1. Set up SPF, DKIM & DMARC

    Long story short, SPF, DKIM and DMARC are email authentication settings, DNS records precisely, that need to be done in order to improve your email deliverability.

    If you're using Gsuite for example, SPF and DKIM are set up by default so you only have to take care of DMARC.

    Cold Email doesn't work SPF DKIM DMARC | Breakcold

    DMARC is the most important setting

    This is the procedure to set up DMARC:

    • go to your email sending domain

    • go to your DNS records

    • click on add custom record

    • select TXT

    Cold Email doesn't work DMARC | Breakcold


    • host is = _dmarc.[your-domain], not @ like the image below

    • value is like the image

    Cold Email doesn't work DMARC | Breakcold

    Don't use the "@" as host like the image

    2. Set up Custom Domain Tracking

    People rarely send cold emails from their Gmail or Outlook inbox if they are salespeople or startup co-founders trying to close more B2B sales.

    They tend to use a cold email software. The problem with these softwares is that you track your open rate with an invisible pixel that you share with other users of the platform.

    Cold Email doesn't work Custom Domain Tracking | Breakcold

    Example of custom domain tracking with Breakcold

    By sharing this pixel, you expose yourself to lower open rates. The goal is to use your own pixel to track the open rate.

    This is the procedure to set up Custom Domain Tracking:

    • go to your email sending domain

    • go to your DNS records

    • click on add custom record

    • select TXT

    • and copy paste the information given by your cold email software

    Note: you can also decide to deactivate the tracking of the open rate once you know that you have a good email deliverability.


    3. Set up Email Warm Up

    If cold email doesn't work, email warm up is your savior.

    Email warm up is an email deliverability method where emails are automatically sent to other people to increase your email deliverability. Emails are automatically removed from the spam folder and so on.

    Cold Email doesn't work Email Warm Up | Breakcold

    This how look an email warm up tool

    To set up email warm up, do the following:

    • go to Breakcold

    • connect an email account

    • set up email warm up

    • wait 14 days to 21 days before sending cold emails again

    • let the email warm up runs while you have campaigns running

    4. Use a secondary domain dedicated to cold emailing

    Sometimes, you send cold emails from a domain that is already blacklisted or labeled as spam by blacklists.

    Your goal is to take a fresh start with a brand new domain that has an extension finishing in .com or .io but nothing fancy with .zy or .xyz.

    Cold Email doesn't work Secondary Domain | Breakcold

    Create a professional email address using Gsuite or Outlook

    5. Send reasonable amounts of cold emails per day

    If you are a spammer, you won't have results with cold emailing. Make sure to know the difference between cold email vs spam and send a feasible amount of emails per day.

    Cold Email doesn't work Send Low Volume | Breakcold

    Use softwares with email rotation features to send cold emails at scale without problems

    30 to 50 emails a day per email domain should be a maximum for Google and Outlook algorithms to not take down your domain authority and putting your emails to the spam folder.

    6. Work more on your offer

    Maybe you did everything above right already. In that case, your offer is the problem. Here a few tips:

    • keep your sales pitch to 1 or 2 sentences maximum

    • use numbers in your value proposition

    • use case studies from past clients to show your point in a PS line

    Cold Email doesn't work Working on offer | Breakcold

    An example of a cold email with an original sales pitch I've made

    7. Review your prospecting list and niche down your targeting

    One of the biggest problems of people who don't have results with cold email is that they don't niche down.

    Cold Email doesn't work ICP | Breakcold

    You need to categorize your prospects like this image

    For example, you need to go from sending cold emails to startups to sending cold emails to B2B fintech startups in downtown New York.

    That way, you'll be able to personalize at scale your cold emails and trust me, they will work.

    Over de auteur

    Arnaud Belinga

    Breakcold Youtube Channel

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