Millennials are the generation which witnessed the great transition of technology – from walkie-talkie sized phones to pocket sized screens that pretty much do everything.
They are the generation that grew up with technology and so, without any surprise, are addicted to it.
According to a survey by Adobe, those aged 25 to 35 tend to spend over 6 hours a day checking their emails. Similarly, over a third of this population reported that they prefer checking their work email first thing in the morning – even before getting out of bed!
It is therefore, safe to say that whether at home or office, millennials have a strong urge to check their phones and emails. This also makes them a great audience for cold outreach – namely, cold emails.
Additionally, with the US workforce slowly being dominated by millennials – over 35% – you really can’t hope to find success in sales by skipping this generation.
Heard of the term ‘inbox zero’? It refers to responding to an email or message as soon as it is received – and can be perfectly used to describe how millennials communicate.
So what’s the takeaway here?
Well, it is safe to say that the generation of millennials has some distinct habits when it comes to work. It is estimated that they easily spend more than a 4th of their working hours checking their emails.
This squarely places them as prime members for a specific lead generation strategy – cold outreach.
So, without further ado, here are 4 tactics for cold emailing millennials:
Don’t Be Obvious
Although it is said that if you are short and concise with your emails, people will respond better. This is not always the case – sometimes it is better to take another approach and start off slow.
If you are cold emailing and you write things like “we know through research” etc. you are stating a fact and there is no room left to incite curiosity or the reader’s interest.
Remember, millennials are constantly looking for new and upcoming strategies to excel in their work, so it’s best to catch their interest with carefully crafted messages and compelling subject lines as opposed to approaching them with a one-liner.
The point here is that you need to engage your audience. Cold emailing millennials is very similar to door to door selling or phone selling; they can cut you off by hanging up the phone or shutting the door.
Similarly, if the email isn’t interesting enough, a busy millennial will just delete it and go on to the next one. So the trick is to write a well-balanced, custom email which generates curiosity, but doesn’t take ages to come to the point.
Personalize Your Email
When cold emailing millennials, keep in mind that you are addressing individuals and not groups.
For example, a good practice when sending cold emails is to start off with the person’s name. Its human nature to appreciate personalized notations – use it in a positive way to ensure that your message is seen.
Start off with something light like a “Hey Bob, I am writing to you because I know you focus a lot on group work when leading a project and that is what we aim at doing as well” instead of “We know how you can best excel at leadership.”
Read: 5 Cold Email Templates For Generating Warm Leads
Mention Common Contacts And References
Sometimes giving a reference can do wonders in getting your message across. It’s always nice to hear about a mutual friend/colleague and in case of millennials, can get you through the front door figuratively.
Hence, if there is a mutual connection you share with them, it is best to mention it right away such as in the subject line as well as in the main body. This will automatically increase chances of your message being read and replied to.
For example, you could say “Your friend Bob told me that you are looking for investment opportunities and would appreciate some help”.
Set Up Drip Campaigns For Following Up
It’s inevitable that x percentage of your cold emails won’t be opened or read in the first go. This happens due to multiple factors, email deliverability, soft bounces or just due to getting lost in the clutter of emails an average person receives in a day.
Read: 4 Tips to Ace Email Deliverability Check and Sender Score
However, it can be said that cold emailing millennials is majorly a numbers game.
Remember how a third of millennials check their emails before even getting out of bed? Well, even if they manage to skip your first email, repeated reminders (with carefully crafted and personalized messages) are sure to catch their attention at some point.
Another point to remember when cold emailing millennials is that how you start off your message will determine how you close it. So, if you want the recipient to read till the end, write something engaging and of interest.
Next time you are cold emailing millennials, be sure to tap into that “inbox zero” bracket so your emails are top priority for them to read whether at home, in the subway or watching a movie.
Words we live by: The team at Cloudlead believes in the importance of freshly researched leads with the right analytics and sales intelligence on prospects. We provide B2B data to customers based on their ideal customer profile with a combination of human analysts and machine learning tools – ask us for a demo today!
