Cold emailing can be a powerful tool for growing your SEO business, but it’s common to face challenges like fluctuating email open rates. If you’ve noticed your open rates dropping from 60-70% down to 25-30%, especially when prospecting in new states like California, you’re not alone. Many marketers experience this, and it can feel frustrating. However, with some careful adjustments and a solid approach, you can still achieve strong open rates and generate quality leads consistently.
In this article, we share insights from a proven cold email campaign and explain how to keep your email outreach working well. We’ll cover how to check your email health, understand open rate patterns, and set up your cold email campaigns for success. Whether you’re just starting out or have been emailing for a while, these tips will help you keep your SEO lead generation rolling.
Table of Contents
Email Open Rates: What to Expect and How to Track Them
One of the first things you need to know about cold emailing is that open rates can vary depending on many factors, including your target location, your email content, and your email account’s health. For example, a cold email campaign targeting one state might see open rates between 60-70%, but when you switch to a different state, like California, open rates might drop to 25-30%. This is normal and doesn’t always mean your campaign is failing.
When reviewing your campaign’s performance, it’s important to look at your email sequence as a whole. In many cold email campaigns, the open rates don’t stay the same across all emails sent. Typically, the very first email in the sequence gets a decent open rate, but interestingly, the fourth email often gets the highest open rate. This might seem strange since the subject lines are usually similar, but it’s a pattern we’ve seen consistently in many campaigns.
For example, in one campaign we recently ran, the fourth email in the sequence had an open rate as high as 83%. That’s much higher than the initial email, which might only get around 40-50%. Understanding this pattern can help you stay patient and keep your campaigns running without making quick changes based on early results.
How to Calculate Your True Open Rate
Sometimes, your open rate might look lower than it actually is because of how your email tracking is set up. For instance, if you have open tracking disabled for part of your campaign, your open rate data will be incomplete. In one case, after looking at six months of data where open tracking was off for the first half, the overall open rate was 42%. But when focusing on the last few weeks with tracking enabled, the open rate was actually closer to 60%. This shows the importance of consistent tracking for accurate data.
Keep Your Email Account Healthy for Better Deliverability
One of the biggest reasons open rates drop is because your emails aren’t landing in the inbox. Instead, they might be going to spam or getting blocked altogether. To avoid this, you need to keep your email account’s health score high.
A health score is a measure of how trusted your email account is by email providers. If you use a good warm-up system to slowly build your sending reputation, you can keep your health score above 95%. When your health score drops below 95%, you might start seeing lower deliverability and fewer people opening your emails.
Here’s what you can do to maintain a strong health score:
- Use email warm-up tools that send small amounts of emails and interact with them to build trust.
- Avoid sudden spikes in sending volume. Increase the number of emails you send gradually.
- Keep your email lists clean. Remove invalid or bounced email addresses regularly.
- Monitor your email reputation using tools provided by your email service or third-party services.
By following these steps, you’ll improve your chances of hitting the inbox and getting higher open rates.
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Setting Up a Winning Cold Email Campaign
Running a successful cold email campaign isn’t just about sending emails. It’s about building the right infrastructure and following a proven process. We’ve been running a 12-week program called DHA Phase One, designed to help SEO businesses set up everything they need for effective cold emailing. This includes:
- Building and organizing your prospect lists.
- Setting up email sequences with carefully crafted messaging.
- Ensuring your email accounts are warmed up and healthy.
- Tracking your results and optimizing based on data.
In our current program, we have 11 members working through these steps. While some started emailing a few weeks ago, others just began last week. Despite the staggered start, all three members who have started emailing are already getting inbound replies. This shows that when you follow the right steps, cold email outreach can produce real results fast.
Remember, cold email success takes patience and consistency. If you follow a proven process and maintain your email health, you will see steady progress in your lead generation efforts.
Why Cold Email Works for SEO Businesses
Over the past four years, cold emailing has been a major driver of growth for multiple SEO-related businesses. It’s a reliable way to reach new prospects, start conversations, and book appointments. Unlike paid ads or other marketing methods, cold email allows you to personalize your outreach and target very specific niches or locations.
With cold email, you can:
- Directly reach business owners and decision-makers.
- Test different messages and offers to see what resonates.
- Scale your outreach gradually while maintaining quality.
- Generate inbound replies that lead to conversations and sales.
When done right, it’s a powerful lead generation method that complements your other marketing efforts.
Frequently Asked Questions About Cold Email Open Rates
Why are my email open rates dropping in a new location?
Open rates can vary by location due to different market dynamics, competition, and how familiar prospects are with your outreach. It’s normal to see some drop when moving to new states or industries. Keep testing and refining your message for each audience.
How can I improve my email open rates?
Focus on maintaining a high email health score by warming up your account and cleaning your list. Also, pay attention to your subject lines and experiment with your email sequence. Sometimes the fourth email in a sequence gets the best open rates, so don’t give up after the first email.
What is an email health score and why does it matter?
Your email health score measures how trustworthy your email account is to providers like Gmail or Outlook. A high score means better deliverability and more emails landing in the inbox. Scores below 95% can cause your emails to go to spam, lowering open rates.
How many emails should I send per day?
Start small and gradually increase your sending volume. For example, sending 50-75 emails per day is a good starting point. Avoid sudden spikes in volume to keep your health score high.
How long does it take to see results from cold email campaigns?
Results can vary, but many people start seeing inbound replies within a few weeks of consistent emailing. Patience is key—stick with your sequence and keep monitoring your results.
Final Thoughts on Cold Email Success for SEO Lead Generation
Cold emailing remains one of the most effective ways to generate leads for SEO businesses. While open rates might fluctuate based on location and other factors, maintaining a strong email infrastructure and health score will keep your campaigns working well.
Remember to monitor your open rates across all steps in your email sequence, especially the fourth email, which often performs better than expected. Keep your email accounts warmed up and your lists clean to avoid deliverability issues. And most importantly, follow a tested process like the DHA Phase One program to set yourself up for success.
With steady effort and smart management, cold email can help you build a steady pipeline of SEO clients and grow your business over time.