Tips on Working with a Cold Email Outbound Agency

by Ayhan K. Isaacs in March 4th, 2022
Tips on Working with a Cold Email Outbound Agency

After going through the rigorous process of looking for your ideal cold email outbound agency, you can only rely on their expertise to run your email marketing campaign. But it doesn’t mean you cannot get involved in the process.

While they will do most of the work, a lot of your inputs are crucial to the success of your cold email marketing campaign. In any way, you will always have to bump into each other during the process. You and the team should be comfortable in addressing feedback and recommending strategies.

You have to set an environment where you can collaborate and cooperate, so both are looking and going in one direction. Here are some cold email outbound agency tips. 

1. Get Your Facts Ready:

Your chosen B2B cold email outbound agency will perform a cold email marketing audit before showing you their plans. Provide the information related to the previous cold email marketing campaign. They will look into your funnels. Show them your previous emails, your list of emails, and the tools you used.

facts

Their audit will help them diagnose what went wrong with your previous campaign. This way, they can make a more definitive plan to improve them.

2. Set Clear and Realistic Goals:

Every campaign needs a specific goal. You don’t want them to be walking on a blurred path. Let them know your vision. Do not let your team go prospecting without seeing their target.

Set a measurable number of prospects reached, interested leads, qualified leads, or booked appointments or demos for a certain period, like weekly. This way, you can get them to work on a specific goal and report to you in your specified period. 

Documenting their work helps you both know if they are falling short or exceeding your set target. Of course, ensure that you give them realistic goals. Setting up a sky-high target that is realistically unattainable can only lead to failed expectations and campaign failure.

3. Define Your Client Persona:

Set up criteria for your ideal client. Look into your past clients or have a vision of your desired type of client. What are the qualifying factors for your ideal clients?

client persona

Take note of the following:

  • Company size
  • Industry
  • Funding
  • Location

As much as possible, narrow it down, so you can make a more specific client persona. Your criteria will help your marketing team to filter out your ideal client. Moreover, you also must be clear on the characteristics to exclude in qualifying your cold email outbound leads.

4. Provide the Necessary Tools:

Unless the agency requires a specific tool, you can use your existing tools. Show your existing tools and let them see the entire process. Sometimes, the crucial information gets lost in the process because of using the wrong tool and settings.

Sometimes, they will have to make a few tweaks to get the flow of information running smoothly. In any way, make sure you provide the tools needed for your campaign.

You want your tool to have the following functions

  • Email automation
  • Email verification
  • Analytics
  • A/B testing
  • AI integration

Remember, not every tool is the same. Ensure you are working with an agency that has experience with the tools you are currently using. Sometimes, your tool does not fit to achieve your goal. An expert marketing agency can make better recommendations to improve your process. Nevertheless, provide the tools if you are willing to invest in a well-equipped cold email marketing campaign.

5. Let Them Fill Up the Funnels:

Your cold email outbound agencies have previous connections and lists. These pre-qualified leads can shorten your time approaching businesses to become your client. All you need is to communicate and ask them how their current list can help your business campaign. 

fill up the funnel

6. Set Up a Brand Tone for Your Emails:

They say first impressions last. Establish a brand tone when communicating to your prospects through emails. You have to be clear on this point so the agency would relay this instruction to their copywriter.

To set up a brand tone, be specific as you can: professional, cheerful, casual, straightforward, etc. This will be how your message voice will sound as a sender. 

Also, encourage inputs from the copywriter to see what works best, especially for the first email you will send.

7. Require A/B testing:

A/B testing is an important cold email outbound agency process that they should not leave out. If you have been sticking out with only one set of email copies, your conversion rates might suffer. This process goes by making a few tweaks on your subject lines and email body, and finding out which ones work. 

A/B testing

While the agency you hire carries out the entire process, you must set this as a requirement. And they should support this process with a report documented in the email outreach tool.

You’ll be surprised how A/B testing can ramp up your conversion rates.

8. Monitor the Progress of Your Campaign:

After finalizing your marketing campaign, all processes will be the agency's work. You will have to rely on their expertise. In this stage, your contribution is merely observation and calling them out. Inform them when you find something in the emails is off.

This is the reason why you must set your goals. In this process, you want to track how they work to achieve them. Keep healthy communication so they can absorb the feedback constructively.

9. Always Keep a Copy of Their Reports:

You should own the information used in the entire campaign: KPIs, email copies, and reports. For email addresses sourced by your verification tool, discuss how they will use the information of the businesses listed and how to keep it confidential.

A reliable cold email agency will provide you with comprehensive documentation of the progress. If possible, provide cloud storage for your campaign files. These reports will be references to your future campaign.

Conclusion:

The key to a healthy working environment is communication. Set your specific goals, and ask them what to expect from their service. Know their entire process and be involved. Provide the resources and tools needed and observe. 

Here is one of the effective cold email marketing tips we can share: appreciate their efforts. After all, this is the team that will help you acquire more clients.

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