{"id":289,"date":"2017-06-13T07:18:20","date_gmt":"2017-06-13T12:18:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blog.kmbrian.com\/?p=289"},"modified":"2020-12-04T19:05:00","modified_gmt":"2020-12-05T01:05:00","slug":"venngage-cold-email","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/kmbrian.com\/blog\/venngage-cold-email\/","title":{"rendered":"How Venngage Uses Cold Email for Content Promotion"},"content":{"rendered":"

Building and sharing epic content on social media was once a reliable way to earn exposure for your brand and drum up publicity. But today\u2019s content promotion landscape is saturated – in 2016, <\/span>89% of marketers<\/span><\/a> said that email is their primary channel for lead generation<\/a> – and it now requires methodical and relentless outreach to get your content seen and shared.<\/span><\/p>\n

That\u2019s good news and bad news for businesses looking to kickstart their own content promotion. While there are no shortcuts to <\/span>content promotion<\/span><\/a>, it also means your hard work and efforts will take the lead over those who wander and lose interest. And fortunately, the statistics on cold email and email marketing are still showing impressive results.<\/span><\/p>\n

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I wrote an article for <\/span>Forbes<\/span><\/i> earlier this year on the topic of ROI and email marketing, and in it, I shared eye-opening results from a report by the Direct Marketing Association: email marketing yields an average <\/span>ROI of 4,300%<\/span><\/a>. So if you\u2019re chasing link shares and content promotion exclusively on social media, you\u2019re missing out. <\/span><\/p>\n

So what does a successful cold email content promotion campaign even look like? And where do you start?<\/span><\/p>\n

Not enough businesses share their cold email and content promotion strategies, but it\u2019s incredibly helpful to see real-life examples at work. That\u2019s why I recently reached out to Nadya Khoja, director of marketing at <\/span>Venngage<\/span><\/a> (and a <\/span>Mailshake<\/span><\/a> customer), to get a look at the cold email outreach techniques<\/a> that are driving their success. <\/span><\/p>\n

Here\u2019s how the infographic creation company is building links, social shares and business relationships to promote their content – one cold email at a time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Using Buzzsumo to Track Down Reporter\u2019s Emails<\/span><\/h2>\n

Venngage\u2019s cold email outreach process starts with identifying highly relevant articles and tracking down the people who wrote them by their Twitter handle or email address. <\/span><\/p>\n

Venngage relies on <\/span>Buzzsumo<\/span><\/a> to help pull relevant info together, and looks for articles with a high level of traction and plenty of social shares:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Nadya explains that Venngage uses a virtual assistant to help put all of the emails and relevant information together in a list. However, they also know the importance of getting the actual email right the first time – that\u2019s why they cross-reference the completed email list using a tool like <\/span>Rapportive<\/span><\/a> to make sure it\u2019s correct:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Image: <\/span><\/i>Rapportive<\/span><\/i><\/a><\/p>\n

Nadya emphasizes the importance of researching your recipients and keeping your pitches relevant. “It’s important to do your research,\u201d she says. \u201cJust because someone included the term ‘infographic’ in an article they wrote doesn’t necessarily mean they want to include <\/span>your<\/span><\/i> infographic in an article.”<\/span><\/p>\n

Nadya also avoids using reporters\u2019 personal email addresses. She feels pitching business to a personal address is the equivalent of spamming, and dilutes Venngage\u2019s efforts. <\/span><\/p>\n

Getting as Specific as Possible to Improve Response Rates<\/span><\/h2>\n

Venngage\u2019s techniques are pretty successful for content promotion. Nadya estimates that they see an 80% open rate and roughly a 20% response rate from their cold email outreach. Venngage also improved their cold email campaign results – as mentioned above – by getting as specific as possible with the pitch and using a highly targeted list of reporters writing on that topic. After fine-tuning their process, Venngage saw a 10% follow-through rate on reporters using their infographics. <\/span><\/p>\n

But it doesn\u2019t end there. Just because 90% of the prospects on their outreach list may not use their infographics<\/a> in an upcoming article, Venngage still sees reporters sharing their content on social networks. Nadya attributes that social sharing success to building relationships through cold emails and sticking to highly targeted correspondence that offers value:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Avoiding Spammy Pitches<\/span><\/h2>\n

Nadya believes that it\u2019s crucial to avoid sounding spammy and wasting people\u2019s time. Steer clear of sending emails that offer product sales that can \u201chelp your business,\u201d and instead focus on relationship building from the start with a personable approach. <\/span><\/p>\n

She also advises marketers to really think about what they respond to in their own inboxes. What subject headings and pitches pique your interest? Chances are high that those emails are written by thoughtful people who value your time and engage with you like a human being. \u201cI definitely recommend showing people you’re interested in talking to them and meeting them – and getting to know them as a person – more than just trying to get something out of them,” Nadya says.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lloyed Lobo, co-founder of <\/span>Traction Conference<\/span><\/a>, shared a similar sentiment on <\/span>HubSpot<\/span><\/a>. \u201cIn general, I send casual personable emails like I would email a friend,\u201d he says. \u201cPeople do business with people, yet many of us tend to be mechanical when sending those initial emails.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In addition to making sure Venngage\u2019s contacts are highly relevant and receptive to cold emails in the first place with the BuzzSumo technique, Nadya always lets reporters know they can click \u2018reply\u2019 and opt out of her list. This also helps reduce the perception of spamming. Ultimately, Nadya makes it easy to say yes – or no – during her email outreach campaign.<\/span><\/p>\n

Leveraging Email Tools to Speed Up the Cold Outreach Process<\/span><\/h2>\n

In the beginning, Venngage did all of their cold outreach manually, but it didn\u2019t scale very well. Speed matters: the faster you can send out cold emails to a list of content promotion leads, the sooner you can start building up links and shares.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now Venngage relies on tools like <\/span>Mailshake<\/span><\/a> to help speed up the process and stay organized – all while keeping their emails sounding authentic. This tactic keeps the flow of cold email outreach steady with the ability to quickly follow up or make notes on who is interested and who isn\u2019t:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Following Up for Success<\/span><\/h2>\n

Venngage\u2019s <\/span>real<\/span><\/i> cold email success doesn\u2019t necessarily happen during the first or second attempt. The company really sees their strongest results in the follow up, and that follow up is a key contributor to securing content promotion. <\/span><\/p>\n

But Venngage\u2019s tactic is really about eliciting any kind of response – even if it doesn\u2019t result in successful content promotion placement. As Nadya says, \u201cAs long as we can get that initial reply, that’s the most important, so we can gauge how to reply back and find ways to work together that are mutually beneficial to Venngage and the reporter we’re working with.\u201d <\/span><\/p>\n

Nadya also leaves her follow-ups a little open-ended to prompt reporters to ask for more information and keep the conversation going:<\/span><\/p>\n

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It’s easy to get frustrated when you’re getting no responses to any of your outreach attempts, but in reality, you could crush your competition just by following up. Consider that it takes an average of five cold call attempts to close a sale, yet <\/span>70% of salespeople give up after they don’t get a reply to the very first email.<\/span><\/a> Be in that 30% that follows up, and you\u2019re almost guaranteed to increase your success rate. <\/span><\/p>\n

But that doesn\u2019t mean bombarding someone with emails. Avoid talking about yourself or asking how they can help you – keep your follow up all about the recipient, and pack those emails with value. <\/span><\/p>\n

Using Cold Email as a Relationship-Building Tool<\/span><\/h2>\n

At the end of the day, cold email is ultimately a relationship-building tool that should be used on an ongoing basis. “It’s definitely a stepping stone to developing relationships,\u201d Nadya says.\u201d I don’t really see cold email as being just a one-time deal.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

And she\u2019s not the only one who thinks so. <\/span>Dmitry Dragilev<\/span><\/a> of Criminally Prolific successfully used cold email to get his startup acquired, launch a six-figure consulting business, and become friends with <\/span>Tim Ferriss<\/span><\/a> and the Winklevoss twins. \u201cDon\u2019t be a sales guy,\u201d Dragilev <\/span>writes on his blog<\/span><\/a>. \u201cBe human. Show that you care about the people you email. Tell them about your shared passions and interests. Remember that your objective is to build relationships, not just close deals<\/a>.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There are also other ways to employ cold email that go beyond asking someone to share a piece of content or a link. Nadya also uses cold email as a vehicle to warm people up and ask them to meet for coffee. She\u2019s also used it to land quick phone calls with influencers she wants to build relationships with and eventually get a \u201cyes\u201d from. She knows influencers are bombarded with email pitches and requests all day, so her emails asking them to meet in person or chat by phone stand out in their inbox.<\/span><\/p>\n

Venngage\u2019s hard work in building relationships to get their content promoted has paid off. Take a look at some of their latest stats on one of Nadya\u2019s recent blog posts, <\/span>10 Visual Content Marketing Statistics to Know for 2017<\/span><\/a>:<\/span><\/p>\n

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Conclusion<\/span><\/h2>\n

Venngage knows that success in using cold email for content promotion isn\u2019t a short game. They approach every email with a relationship-building mindset. And ultimately, that mindset and methodical process is a more sustainable approach to content promotion than spamming everyone you come across, or posting over and over again on social media.<\/span><\/p>\n

There is plenty Venngage does right in their cold email outreach<\/a>, like curating highly relevant lists of reporters and influencers from the start. I will also add that anyone who\u2019s using cold email for content promotion should also avoid these common mistakes:<\/span><\/p>\n