Quick Guide to Writing Engaging Outreach Emails and Getting More Replies 

It’s no secret that the digital world is growing at a rapid pace. From social media platforms like Instagram and TikTok to Web marketing and eCommerce, there is no way a person could possibly keep up with it all.

However, you don’t have to be highly knowledgeable about every aspect of the digital world in order to thrive and succeed in business these days; as long as you’re well-versed in the basics, you should do fine. 

And one of the strategies that have proven highly effective for online business marketing, mainly email marketing, is outreach emails.

Email outreach campaigns, also known as “cold emailing,” are one of the most effective ways to get new clients and foster partnerships with other business owners.

When done right, outreach emails can bring significant ROI and help you grow your business. But keep in mind that they must be properly executed to draw high-quality leads

The following guide gives you practical tips on creating engaging outreach emails, including examples of fully-engaging emails and templates you can use. So, let’s jump right in.

What Are Outreach Emails?

Email outreach is a communication strategy where emails are sent to potential business partners or cold contacts with a B2B or B2C purpose, depending on the target audience. In general, outreach emails aim to promote business and either find new customers or establish partnerships. This process involves a lot of time, effort, and resources, so it’s important to have good open and response rates as well as generate positive ROI. Therefore, writing excellent copy followed by A/B testing is essential.

Why should you do outreach?

Email outreach is one of the best marketing tactics for increasing online presence and generating quality leads for businesses. This can help you generate traffic, build a strong online reputation for your brand, create backlinks for your website, and a lot more.

email outreaches may be used to achieve the following objectives:

  • Influencer outreach
  • Guest posting requests
  • Backlink requests for better SEO
  • Brand collaboration outreach
  • Affiliate recruitment outreach
  • Sales outreach and business proposals

Now, let’s dive into some best practices you should follow when you do your email outreach.

6 Steps to Creating Amazing Outreach Emails that Get Replies

Knowing how to craft an effective email is fundamental as you use email marketing to benefit your lead generation and outreach efforts.

However, answering that question of what makes a good email can be tricky. Nevertheless, there are a few simple tactics you can use to get the results you’ve always wanted.

The following are six steps to help you develop highly engaging outreach emails to improve your lead generation program.

1- Create an Interesting and Straightforward Subject Line

If you want to persuade people to read your emails, the subject line is your first chance to do so. Subject lines can either convince people to click on your message right away or convince them to delete it without even giving it a second glance.

A general rule of thumb is to aim for a simple and straight-to-the-point subject line that is also captivating all at once. Make sure that you offer detailed information about what you can provide instead of being vague and leaving cliffhangers.

Here are a few tips to help you to create an eye-catching subject line 

  • Arouse curiosity by asking a personalized question about the brand
  • Use humor but don’t cross the lines
  • Leverage statistics and infographics
  • Use emojis to stand out and tell a story

According to studies, subject lines that are questions receive about 10% more opens than the average.

email subject lines statistic
Image Source: yesware

In this sense, we are appealing to emotions. We develop an urge to know the answer whenever presented with a question. That’s why questions generate so many opportunities.

2- Do Your Research and Get Personal!

As we’ve all learned over the years, your outreach campaign is as good as the information you have on your clients and prospects. That’s why we recommend that you take the time to research their business and personal profiles and find common ground that will help you start a conversation with them.

According to a report from Adestra, including the recipient’s name in the subject line increases the open rate by 22.2%

email outreach research statistic
Image source: Propeller

So you better find out your prospect’s personal information, such as the names of the individuals, their company, their work, and their accomplishments, and use them in your favor.

Use this information in your emails to ensure your prospects know you mean to contact them specifically and not like they’re part of an automated sales list.

It might seem tedious, but don’t forget that knowledge is power, and you can use it in your favor! 

Here’s a good email outreach example that uses personalization and name-dropping perfectly:

email outreach example
Image Source: ianchew

3- Keep Your Pitch Brief and Clear

In order to send a cold email to a company or person in your industry, you need at least some general idea of what you want to say. After all, this is what using outreach emails is all about – sending an offer and having a clear plan regarding your potential collaboration. 

According to the yesware team’s study of email templates, the most successful emails (for both opens and replies) have subject lines between one and five words.

email outreach research

In any case, it’s best to get to your point straight away and create a concise and straightforward but direct proposal. 

Whether you want them to contribute to your survey, request a quote, or simply suggest a backlink to one of their articles, keep it short and clear about your intentions rather than being vague.

4- Give Your Targets Clear Value

At the end of the day, one important thing to remember when preparing an outreach email is that this is a two-way street. It is easy to become consumed by one’s own needs and goals – but this is something you should avoid at all costs. 

It is important to focus on being mutually beneficial instead of just pushing your agenda when you are sending emails. Your collaboration should add value to the recipient’s position.

email outreach research for efficiency
Image Source: Salesforce

An example would be a link exchange building backlinks, project collaboration suggestions, or any other information that may be helpful in the future for the other side. 

This could even be as simple as offering them valuable marketing and niche-related insight or providing them with any other helpful advice and related data.

 5- End with an Eye-Catching CTA

A call to action in an outreach email is a short, simple phrase that usually appears at the end of your message that should encourage the other person to take action.

Since you’re asking for their attention, it’s up to you to give clear, specific directions for what to do next.

After reading your email, it’s never a good idea to leave your recipient wondering, “What’s next?”. 

Give them something to act on after finishing your email but remember to be clear and straightforward. Avoid confusing your email contacts by giving too many options. Instead, there should be one key action you want the reader to take in each email you send. Next, tell them what to expect when they take that action.

Ask them something directly; it could be to book a meeting or to subscribe to get regular updates. As long as they do something to stay engaged, that’s all that matters.

6- Send Follow Up Emails, But Don’t Be Annoying

Make sure to follow up after sending your email outreach. But remember that there is a fine line between a good follow-up and driving your contacts crazy with so many emails. Quite frankly, no one wants to view their inbox cluttered with dozens of spam-like annoying emails repeatedly soliciting their assistance. 

Researchers have shown that sending more follow-up emails can triple your response rate, but it has to be done correctly. So, keep your emails well-spaced to avoid overwhelming recipients, and remember to pause the sequence if a lead responds.

You might have different reasons to do a follow-up on your previous emails, like:

  • Alert a recipient to a previously sent email
  • Request information, a reply, or a response
  • Remind someone of an important time or date (like for an event)

It is always a good idea to follow up on leads after cold emailing them. Keep in mind, though, that a follow-up email is meant to serve as a prompt, a reminder, not to start a conversation but to reactivate it and elicit a response.

The most effective follow-up emails are short, sweet, professional, and (most importantly) to the point. 

3 Examples of Highly Engaging Outreach Emails

1- Harpoon Brewery 

Harpoon Brewery engaging outreach email example

With its timely email, Harpoon’s customer delight campaign feels like it’s coming from a close friend, which is why it’s so effective. It’s personalization that makes this campaign work. It was indeed a perfect timing (birthday) and personalized salutation that ensured this email was sent at the right time to the right person.

2- Dropbox

Dropbox engaging outreach email

This Dropbox re-engagement email campaign with its short and sweet subject line is the perfect example of a good “come back to us!” email outreach.

It’s funny, with a clear call to action, and it just wants to remind the recipient that the brand exists and can still offer value. Sending these follow-up or reminder emails might include an incentive for recipients to return to your service, such as a limited-time coupon.

3- Buzzfeed

buzzfeed engaging outreach email

The confirmation email from Buzzfeed illustrates well how you can use double opt-in to keep your sender’s reputation intact and your email deliverability high.

The email marketing example shows Buzzfeed thanking new subscribers for joining and contacting them to verify their identity. This call-to-action is simple, clear, and it’s in bright color, so the new subscriber can’t miss it.

In addition to being entertaining and engaging, it offers accidental subscribers one way out with the Unsubscribe button at the end of the email.

Conclusion 

In sum, while most of the tips we provided in this post should help you increase engagement with your email outreach, there are always exceptions. 

The truth is that the art of successful pitching can’t be boiled down to a standard formula—there is no silver bullet, no one-size-fits-all approach that would work for everyone. 

However, all of us have to work with limited resources and against time constraints back in the real world. Therefore, we recommend you keep our list of outreach tips in mind.

Therefore, we recommend making these tips a standard practice for your email marketing campaigns and A/B testing your templates to see which is most effective.


Frequently Asked Questions


How do I start an outreach email?

Start by researching and customizing your subject line. Make the email short but hyper-personal, show humor, and be relatable. Give the readers a clear value of linking back to your site and include an eye-catching call to action.


How can I improve my email outreach?

Here are a few extra  tips to improve your email outreach:

  • Target the Right Leads
  • Do Extensive Research to Know Them Better
  • Create a Captivating Preview Message.
  • Try to Keep it Short and Interesting
  • Personalize Your Emails
  • Add Value to Your Pitch
  • Reference Your Competitors.
  • Improve Your Subject Line

How long should an outreach email be?

Studies suggest that the ideal length for an outreach email subject line is between 50 and 125 words. Emails with this length received a response rate of more than 50%. Similar studies have also found that emails with approximately 20 lines of text, or about 200 words, are more likely to be clicked through.


How do you make the perfect outreach email?

  1. Create an Interesting and Straightforward Subject Line
  2.  Do Your Research and Get Personal!
  3. Keep Your Pitch Brief and Clear
  4. Give Your Targets Clear Value
  5. End with an Eye-Catching CTA
  6. Send Follow Up Emails, But Don’t Be Annoying

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Mert Aktas

Mert Aktas

Mert is the Marketing Manager of UserGuiding, a code-free product walkthrough software that helps teams scale user onboarding and boost user engagement.