Thread by @GrowthTactics

THREAD: Learn exactly how to grow your startup through cold emailing.

We've sent thousands of emails for our clients. Here are our top learnings:

Why cold email? It's the lifeblood for some early-stage startups.

Save cash: Trade time for early sales—cash flow to get off the ground.

Targeting: Personalized messages to the *exact* people you want to reach.

Access: Most decision-makers still manage their own email inboxes.

Cold emailing is usually most profitable for B2B companies.

BUT cold email is often the best way for ALL startups to build early traction, not ads or hacks.

The truth: Most cold emails aren't great.

But there is a way to get people to respond and buy from you.

Cold emailing could work for:

1. Agencies who charge $2000+/month per client.
2. Many B2B SaaS companies.
3. Very expensive physical goods (like equipment or medical devices).
4. EdTech companies that sell high-margin digital products.

Elements of a great cold email:

• Clearly indicate why you're reaching out and how you'll add value.
• Address a major objection upfront.
• Add a personal touch so it seems real
• Your first email should ask for interest, not time. & derisk their interest by providing value

Finding leads:

The best leads are those who are using a competitor and are *dissatisfied with them*

• You know they're motivated to solve the problem that your business solves—they’re already paying for a solution

• They're unhappy, so they'll consider better solutions.

How do you find them? Look for:

• Negative comments from customers on their YouTube channels
• Unhappy users in their support forum posts
• Dissatisfied customers who tweet-mention them

More: Look at the logos on competitor landing pages or poach names from sales webinars

You can also find leads with tools:

To find leads for ecom companies: Use ContactEcom

To find leads for most other business types: Use KleanLeads

Know the person but can't find their email? Use Hunter io

A note on cold email strategy:

• Write 2-3 high-level versions of your email ahead of time
• You'll A/B test them later to figure out which one resonates

Writing emails:

1. Provide a reason for reaching out
2. Proactively handle the key objection
3. Add a personal touch to prove it's not spam
4. One clear CTA per email
5. Derisk it. This is important: Offer to provide value regardless of whether they buy

Here’s an effective way to run your campaigns:

1. A/B test the 2-3 email versions you created (~100 emails/version)
2. Analyze reply rate & booked meetings rate. Then send the winning email to the rest of your list
3. Continuously iterate on your emails

Follow ups

Some suggest following up your first email w/ 5+ more

Here's what we do

• Follow up once after 3 days
• Again after 7 days

After 3 unanswered emails, you go from persistent —> pest

We believe the brand damage from spamming exceeds the benefit of a few more sales

Tools for sending emails:

PersistIQ: Well-rounded tool with a free trial

MixMax: Cheap w/ Gmail integration

Mailshake: Best for email beginners

Lemlist: Similar to Mailshake w/ better personalization and email deliverability

Important measurements to track:

• Labor spent per purchase
• Open rate
• Click-through rate
• Response rate
• Purchase rate

The power of cold email:

Get it right and you can effectively drive action from people as seemingly out of reach as @mcuban

h/t @mrsharma for a great email

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