How to Get started with Email Marketing
Step-by-Step Guide
This guide is designed to help you build a solid foundation for your cold email campaigns and set up the tools and systems required to succeed. Whether you’re new to email marketing or looking to optimize your strategy, these actionable steps will guide you through the process.
1- Email Infrastructure
The Importance of Building the Right Foundation
Creating a successful cold email lead generation system is like constructing a house—it requires a strong base. Skimping on setup, tools, or strategy will likely lead to poor results. Investing in the right infrastructure and taking the time to set up properly ensures long-term success.
- Outlook (Microsoft)
- Cost: $6/month per mailbox
- Safe for long-term use
- Reliable support and extensive documentation
- Google Workspace
- Cost: $6/month per mailbox
- Quick setup
- Lots of resources available
Setting Up Email Infrastructure
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
- Purpose: SPF helps to prevent spoofing by specifying which servers are authorised to send emails on behalf of your domain.
- Setup: Add an SPF record to your DNS settings that includes the IP addresses of your sending servers.
- DKIM (DomainKeys Identified Mail)
- Purpose: DKIM adds a digital signature to your emails, verifying that they haven’t been altered and proving they come from your domain.
- Setup: Generate a DKIM key pair (public and private) and add the public key to your DNS. The private key will be used by your email server to sign outgoing emails.
- DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting, and Conformance)
- Purpose: DMARC protects your domain from phishing attacks by specifying how your domain handles emails that fail SPF or DKIM checks.
- Setup: Add a DMARC record to your DNS, specifying your policy (none, quarantine, or reject) and where to send reports.
- MX (Mail Exchange) Records
- Purpose: MX records direct email traffic to your email server. They are essential for receiving emails.
- Setup: Point these records to your email server’s address, ensuring emails reach your inbox.
- TXT Records
- Purpose: TXT records can contain various text-based information, such as SPF data or verification for services like Google or Microsoft.
- Setup: Add a TXT record with any additional verification information required by your email provider or other services.
- CNAME (Canonical Name)
- Purpose: CNAME records map one domain name to another, often used to set up subdomains or for custom links, like click tracking for email links.
- Setup: Use CNAME records to route subdomains to specific services or servers as needed.
Email Warm-Up
Before sending your first email, you need to establish your email accounts’ reputation. This process, known as email warm-up, ensures your emails avoid spam filters and land in recipients’ inboxes.
Recommended Tools:
VoyCiv Email
Automate the entire warm-up process, mimicking natural email activity -among other tools and services-
Instantly
Offers automated warm-up features that gradually build up email reputation
SmartLead
Provides customizable warm-up processes to ensure your emails have high deliverability
Snov io
Offers a free email warm up for 1 mailbox
Start by sending just 3-4 emails/day per account, gradually increasing to 40-50/day with reply rate of 50-80% over 3-5 weeks. Avoid skipping this step, as poor warm-up will result in low deliverability and wasted effort.
Once you’ve completed the initial month of warm-up, you can gradually scale down to 30 emails per day.
2- Building a Targeted Lead List
Building an effective lead list is fundamental to launching a successful cold email campaign. Here’s a basic approach for those new to lead list creation, along with some of my recommended tools for maximum efficiency:
Direct Targeting and Data Enrichment Tools
Building an effective lead list is fundamental to launching a successful cold email campaign. Here’s a basic approach for those new to lead list creation, along with some of recommended tools for maximum efficiency:
Apollo
Sales database that helps you find decision-makers’ contact information
Phantom Buster
Excellent for scraping data from social platforms like Facebook and LinkedIn
Lead Sniper
Provides unlimited data access, making it a versatile option for thorough lead generation
Warpleads
Get unlimited downloads for a flat fee. Cost-effective option for large-scale data collection
Growman
For Instagram data extraction, a free chrome extension that gather contact details from Instagram profiles
3- Crafting the Cold Email Copywriting
In cold outreach, the primary goal of your first email isn’t to make a sale—it’s to start a conversation. Whether positive or negative, a reply boosts your sender’s reputation, improving deliverability and keeping your emails out of spam folders. Here’s why this approach is essential:
Engagement Boosts Deliverability
Every reply you receive signals to email providers that your emails are engaging and relevant. This helps you maintain a good sender reputation, which is critical for keeping future emails in the inbox.
Curiosity Over Selling
Your first email should be focused on sparking curiosity rather than pitching your service. If you immediately try to sell, you risk turning the prospect off before you’ve even started a conversation. By withholding some details, you encourage the recipient to reply and ask for more information.
Crafting for Open Rates and Replies
- Open Rates: Use a subject line that piques curiosity without revealing too much. Keep it short, relevant, and personalised.
- Reply Encouragement: Ask a question or make a statement that invites a response. The goal is to prompt engagement and get a reply—not to close the deal in one email.
What to focus on?
- Subject Line: Short, personalized, and curiosity-driven.
- Body: Focus on your prospect’s pain points and pose a question to spark interest. Avoid overloading them with details.
- Call-to-Action: Keep it simple—ask for a reply or feedback.
4- The Right Sending Platform
A reliable and well-designed sending platform is critical for ensuring your cold email campaigns are both effective and scalable. The platform you choose will directly impact deliverability, ease of use, tracking capabilities, and campaign performance. Here’s what to consider when selecting the best option for your cold email needs:
Recommended Sending Platforms
VoyCiv Email
A scalable platform designed for high deliverability and unlimited contacts, tailored for MENA marketers.
Instantly
Popular for automating email outreach with built-in warm-up and A/B testing features.
SmartLead
Offers multi-mailbox rotation and advanced personalization for enterprise-level campaigns.
Built for Cold Emails
Traditional email marketing tools like Mailchimp and Constant Contact are not designed for cold outreach. These platforms often have restrictions on contact uploads and strict anti-spam policies that can hinder your campaigns. Instead, opt for a platform specifically tailored to cold email use.
VoyCiv is built exclusively for cold email marketers. Unlike other tools, it has no arbitrary limits on the number of contacts or mailboxes, making it ideal for scaling campaigns.
Key Features to Look For in a Cold Email Platform
Here are the must-have features to ensure a successful campaign:
- Customizable Sending Schedules: Avoid spam filters by spacing out your emails and simulating human-like sending behavior.
- A/Z Testing Capabilities: Test subject lines, email content, and call-to-action strategies to find the highest-performing variations.
- Personalization Options: Use dynamic placeholders like names, companies, and pain points to create tailored messages that resonate with prospects.
- Deliverability Monitoring: Ensure your emails land in the inbox, not spam folders, by tracking sender reputation and bounce rates.
- Reply Management: Automatically sort and track responses to identify leads and keep conversations organized.
- Scalability: Ensure the platform can handle multiple campaigns across dozens or even hundreds of mailboxes.
Cost-Effectiveness for Scale
Unlike many platforms that charge extra for additional contacts or campaigns, VoyCiv offers a flat pricing structure, allowing you to focus on your results without worrying about costs spiraling out of control as you grow.
Why VoyCiv Stands Out
- Optimized for Cold Emails: Every feature is designed with cold email campaigns in mind, ensuring higher deliverability and better results.
- Unlimited Contacts: Say goodbye to limits that slow down your growth. Add as many contacts as your campaigns require.
- Scalable Infrastructure: Manage multiple domains and inboxes without worrying about technical bottlenecks.
- Intuitive Interface: Spend less time learning the platform and more time reaching your audience.
Exclusive Discount
Use the code “FIRST20” at checkout on VoyCiv to get 20% off your first 3 months!
This is your chance to leverage a top-tier cold email platform at a discounted rate, designed to help you achieve high deliverability and better results.
Recap: Initial Steps to Get Started
Final Thoughts: Why Cold Email Deserves Your Attention
Ready to Get Started?
Let’s set up your first campaign and drive results.