Email Content
Writing your email templates can be hard! Here are some quick tips and recommendations to get you started.
Writing emails that connect can be difficult and stressful - that's why we give you access to our team of trusted copywriters to help you craft that perfect introduction.
But if you're up to the challenge and ready to put your skills to the test, check out our advice below to help keep you on the right path to get your emails opened and noticed.
Subject line
Keep it short. Less than 10 words and 30 characters ideally.
Think about how much will show on a mobile device notification or desktop notification. That might be all you have to try and grab the prospect's interest to open the message and learn more.
Try and tailor the subject line to your prospects. This could be as simple as using their name or company name in the subject line, or could pose a problem they are likely to have:
Quick chat with {{FIRST_NAME}}
{{COMPANY}} x Outbase introduction
Struggling to find leads {{FIRST_NAME}}?
Initial email
To keep it super simple, we've broken down our formula for the perfect prospecting email below:
| Tips | Avoid | |
|---|---|---|
Greeting | Include their name with the {{FIRST_NAME}} variable to keep it personal. | “Hello” - use ANYTHING else! How about using “Good {{MORNING_OR_AFTERNOON_BODY}} ” instead. |
Softener/Opening line | Relate to the prospect and try to personalize this. E.g. Hope your {{WEEKDAY_SHORT}} is off to a great start, and if not at least you’ve got some good coffee nearby! | Generic comments E.g. Hope you’re having a lovely day. |
Introduction and rationale for the contact | Keep it short and sweet, remember that they’re busy too. E.g. If, like others in the {{COMPANY_INDUSTRY_CLEAN}} space, you’re currently struggling with your sales engagement strategy, then I think Outbase can help. | Long sentences and statistics. Diving straight into your product/service without explaining why you’re contacting the prospect. |
Body | Add enough information to intrigue them for a phone call. E.g. We specialize in helping {{COMPANY_SIZE_CLEAN}} businesses, like yours, fill their sales pipeline by starting conversations with the right prospects for your business. | Being too vague or using too much jargon. Being too detailed about what you do and how you do it. |
Call to action | Be specific and include a day, time, and length. Don’t ask for too much time, starting by asking for a quick 10-15 min chat works better than trying to book an hour demo straight away. | Not giving a definite time. |
Sign off | Be polite. Make sure your phone number is in the signature. | A bulky signature with multiple pictures, links and unnecessary information. |
Once you’ve written your copy, it’s time to review it… Our top tips to keep in mind are:
Accessibility. How easy is your email to read? Have you used any long words or unnecessarily complicated language? If you’re unsure reread your copy and ask yourself, would a fifth-grader (10-11-year-old) understand this, ask a colleague to have a look over it, or even better, ask someone outside your company if they understand it!
Word count. Try and keep this between 100-250 words - remember, it’s not an essay!
Paragraphs. Your structure can affect how a prospect views your copy, 2-5 paragraphs are ideal.
Check your spelling. Is your spelling on point? Use our inbuilt Check Wording feature to check English (US) spelling or another spell checker.
Spam and duplicate words. Try to avoid where possible any spam terms and/or using the same word multiple times. The Check Wording feature can help you identify these.
Outbase's built-in Check Wording feature can check most of the points above (excluding Accessibility). When writing your template click the Check Wording menu (tool icon) above the Variables tab to get your template "score".
For more details on the Check Wording feature, see the Email Templates section of our User Guide.
Want to know more? Our How to write the perfect prospecting email blog post covers this in more detail with some fancy data and stats!
Follow ups
Happy with your initial email? Fantastic! Let’s look at following this up…
At Outbase, we recommend the following when it comes to follow up emails:
Include your previous messages as a thread. This makes the process feel more personal and mimics the human process of following up on an email by going into your sent box and then clicking forward to follow up with the prospect, with the previous messages included as a thread.
It’s not necessary to include your signature in follow ups. If you’re including the messages as a thread, your signature should be included with the initial message.
Keep your follow ups short and sweet. Especially if you’re including messages as a thread, then your original message is always included, tease a bit more detail is needed, but remember the prospect is busy, so don’t repeat yourself.
Wait 6 days between sends. Our wait times are based on working days, so by doing this you reach out on different days each week, which is great when you don’t know what day(s) your prospect is likely to have busy days (or freer days!).
We advise adding three follow ups to your campaign sequence:
Follow up 1: The nudge | You’ve sent 1 email and they haven’t responded? Chances are they missed it, or they’ve been busy. Acknowledge this and keep it brief. Think along the lines of: Just following up on the below as I know how hectic things can get. Worth a chat {{LATERTHIS_OR_EARLYNEXT}} week? |
Follow up 2: The “are you the right person?” | Still not replied? We’re sure your targeting is perfect, but just in case, let’s check if someone else might be responsible for this. Maybe something like: As I haven’t heard back from you I just wanted to check if you’re the right person at {{COMPANY}} to be reaching out to? |
Follow up 3: The break-up | The last chance saloon email! Let the prospect know this is the last time you’ll be reaching out, then if they’re not interested they’ll know that no action will mean no more contact. But, also a great time to see if someone else in the company might be worth reaching out to, or if there’s a better time to follow up, for example by saying: This might not be on your radar right now, but let me know if it’s worth me reaching out again in a few months/next quarter. |
Still looking for more inspiration? Head over to our blog to learn more about building your perfect prospecting campaign from our team of experts.
Last updated