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You've finally found winning subject lines that aren't hooking your prospects in and getting them to open your emails. But if you don't have an enticing email intro in place, they'll quickly archive your email, mark it as spam, or simply return back to their inbox. A great opportunity squandered.
So much emphasis gets put on crafting winning subject lines when the opening line you use is just as important - if not more important! The opening line sells the reader on the rest of your email. It's what gets them down to your offer - and hopefully, acts as the catalyst for a booked appointment.
That's why today, we're going to cover everything you need to know about email opening lines. We'll cover why this is so important (backed up by data), and we'll share some of the things we see email marketers and lead generation agencies doing wrong.
Then, we'll share some of our favorite email introduction examples with you that you can implement in your old cold email strategy. If you are tired of your emails achieving decent open rates, but low click rates, you aren't going to want to miss this one.
After we share some of our favorite examples with you, we're going to teach you something invaluable - how to craft your own email opening lines on autopilot. Opening lines that actually work. We've got a lot to cover, so let's dive right into the importance of email opening lines.
Why The Email Opening Line Is So Important
Why does the email intro matter so much? You may be starting your emails with a quick, formal greeting still - and it is potentially costing you leads.
"To whom it may concern," or "Hey there!", followed by an introduction of yourself, may seem like an easy, generic way to greet prospects when you're sending out mass cold emails.
But they are surefire ways to end up being disregarded. After the subject line, the opening line is the first thing they'll read.
In most inboxes, the opening line follows the subject line. That means that while your subject line may play the biggest role in getting f, the opening line is a determining factor too. If your email subject line doesn't quite sell them on an open, the email greeting might.
And once they get into your email - meaning they've opened it - your initial email opening lines are going to be put to the test. If the first few lines of your body don't sell them on the rest of the email, you've lost the battle.
Imagine this scenario:
You've done all the right things to generate a list of prospects that actually want and need your offer. You have done the hard work of crafting subject lines that get them to open your email. But the first few lines of your email are lackluster. The prospect bounces, and you miss out on a surefire sale.
Or what about this one - you're trying to get a job, and you have all the qualifications and experience necessary. You've found the right person to get in touch with, and you send them your cover letter via email. If your opening line doesn't persuade the decision-maker to even open up the email or download your cover letter, you never stand a chance at winning the job.
As you can see, coming up with the best email opening lines possible is incredibly important. It can make all the difference between cold emails that actually result in leads, which then result in sales - and a frustrating loop of failure and disappointment. Which would you prefer?
Let's move on.
The Two Biggest Mistakes Email Marketers Make In Their Opening Lines
Before we unveil some of the best email opening lines we've seen in recent times, we want to explain what not to do in your cold email opening line(s). The two biggest mistakes we see email marketers make are a lack of personalization and making it all about themselves.
Laying the foundation for what your email introduction should look like will set you up for long-term success. By avoiding these two mistakes, you'll be leaps and bounds ahead of your competition.
Why?
These mistakes may not even be mistakes at all - they are pure laziness. Adding personalization and shining the spotlight on the reader takes time.
Let's start by talking about the importance of personalization.
Lack Of Personalization (An Obvious Sign Of Mass Cold Emailing)
Far and away the biggest mistake we see people making in their opening lines - along with their subject line - is a lack of personalization.
Yes - cold emailing is a numbers game. You have to send out hundreds - if not thousands - of emails to generate sales. But that doesn't mean you should just fire off the exact same cold email template to your entire list.
These days, adding personalization to your email message, subject line, and intro text is incredibly easy. You can insert properties in your email system to plug in people's names, business information, and more. We recommend you add some form of personalization to the subject itself along with the email greeting. This shows the reader that you are trying to get in touch with them in particular.
But, simply plugging in their name and business name isn't enough these days. If you really want to go above and beyond, there is more work to be done.
Find something specific to them that you can reference. Maybe it is an award they won recently or an accomplishment their company has made. Something we see work really well is making it seem as if you're a fan of their work. This greatly lowers their guard, shifting the focus from "oh, not another cold email" to "yes, let's talk about me!".
Let's discuss.
Talking About Themselves Instead Of Shining The Spotlight On The Reader
What is the first thing you think to do when sending a cold email to a new prospect?
If you're like most email marketers, you probably want to quickly introduce yourself and explain why you're even emailing them in the first place. After all, you've got their attention - better sell them quickly before you lose it! Right?
Wrong.
This is another huge mistake we see email marketers make. They try and talk about themselves in the opening line. Consider this example below:
"Hey, [name]! My name is Jason and I help businesses like yours with [insert offer]...".
If the person you're emailing is a high-profile decision-maker - or anyone with an email inbox, for that matter - they see something like this daily, if not multiple times a day. Do you really think you're the first person to offer them a product or service?
Contrary to popular belief, you shouldn't attempt to sell your prospect on your service in the email at all. You're trying to sell them on the next step - be it a phone call, a clicked link to a demo of your product, a response to your email, or an appointment booked, whatever.
Instead of talking about yourself and your product/service in your first line, shine the spotlight on the reader. Introduce yourself, and then explain how you know them. Maybe you've been following them on Twitter for business insights - your first line could reference this. Or, maybe you're a lifelong customer of their brand - you could talk about how they've changed your life.
Whatever you do, this is the #1 way to get your full email copy read. People love having their tires pumped - so add some personalization and make the prospect feel as if you reached out to them in particular because of something they've done. Then, slowly ease your way into what you can do for them.
Some Of The Best Opening Lines To Use In Emails & Direct Messages
Now that you know the two biggest factors determining how effective your email greeting and first lines are, let's get into the fun part. We're going to share two of the best email introduction examples that use the fundamentals we just discussed above.
To really create the best email opening lines, you need a good grasp of what makes a good email intro. So, don't just copy and paste these into your own email. Instead, examine the fundamentals. If you can see what makes these email introduction examples so great, you can pull the fundamentals from them to come up with your very own, original opening lines.
Before we start sharing these with you, we quickly want to highlight that there are certain opening lines you should use in certain scenarios. The biggest determining factor in which subject line you should use is where you know the prospect from, or where you're connecting with them.
While this guide is mainly about the best email intro lines, these opening lines can be used on any platform - LinkedIn, social media DM's, etc.
Let's start with a great first line for if you're trying to connect with someone you know from a group, mastermind, or other business correspondence.
For The Warmer Prospects
If you already have some sort of connection to the prospect, they aren't as cold as you may think. Even if you haven't met them or talked with them personally, you have common ground you can use in your opening lines. Here is an example if you found someone in a Facebook group:
"Hi [name],
I just finished reading your most recent post in our group [name of group]. It sounded like you've been struggling with [pain point] - that is something I too used to battle. Here is what we've been doing that may help you..."
From there you would go into a quick breakdown of your offer, and ask if they'd like to learn more or see it in action. This example is for a Facebook group, but it can work for a LinkedIn connection too, or someone you follow on Twitter. You'll just need to tweak it to remain authentic and seamless.
For Cold Prospects (At Larger Companies)
If you are reaching out to a larger company with no real connection to the brand, you can still add some personalization and shine the spotlight on the prospect. You just need to do some quick research. Look up recent news about the company. Better yet, find news about the company that directly references the person (read: decision-maker) you're reaching out to.
Maybe they rolled out a new feature on their SaaS. Or, maybe they just secured funding (great because it means they have money to pay you now!). Whatever the case, you can weave this news into your first lines to achieve better open rates and click rates. Here is how it can look:
"Hey [name],
As a longtime [business name user/customer/fan], I wanted to personally congratulate you on [milestone/new feature/exciting company update]. I'm sure that the next part of your journey will include [educating their audience on a new feature, reaching the next milestone, implementing funding]. Have you considered...."
Here, there are all kinds of ways you can spin the email intro to match the news you found about them. You just have to get creative. For example, if your offer is email marketing, and the company just rolled out new features - you can sell them on hiring you to create flows educating and upselling the new feature. Or, if the company just secured funding, you can explain how you'll help them get the most out of their email marketing budget.
Use QuickLines To Generate Winning Email Opening Lines!
As you can see, building winning opening lines is actually not rocket science. It just requires some research skills and dedication. Yeah, it is way easier to just stick to the basic personalization of "name" and "business name".
But actually getting into the trenches and writing opening lines that show you did your homework? This shows the prospect that you're serious about helping them. It also helps lower the sales guard and makes your conversation with the prospect far more authentic. And as you may know, authenticity is everything.
But you don't have to do all this manually. With the help of Quicklines email AI writer, you can let technology do the heavy lifting for you! Our software helps you write high-converting first lines faster. You'll spend less time writing, more time closing deals. Doesn't that sound great?
Our AI uses deep social scraping coupled with trained AI-powered generation to deliver highly-personalized first lines in under 3 seconds. The results speak for themselves. With a 150% increase in positive responses and a 4.3x increase in meeting booked rate, we've helped marketers like you generate over $4.7 million.
Say goodbye to writer's block, and say hello to a cold emailing sequence that boasts the conversion rate you always wished you could achieve.
