Consumers are changing how they interact with media—what does that mean for advertisers, and how are they responding? MediaRadar is here to help you navigate ad sales with the latest tips and data. 

For ad sales reps, an email is often the first touchpoint when reaching prospects. Like most of us, however, prospect email inboxes can be chaotic and overflowing. 

So then, the question becomes, how do you stand out amongst the others in such a hectic advertising environment?

If you’re struggling to catch the attention of your ideal prospects, try these five quick tips for getting your sales email opened and read. 

1. Know who is on the other side of that email.

If you’ve been in sales or marketing for a while, you already know that you need to start with your endgame in mind. But for some reason we always need the reminder. 

In sales it can be tempting to play the numbers game: For every 100 emails, about two emails are opened, according to GetResponse’s Email Marketing Benchmarks Report (2020). This means you have to work quickly and get those emails sent now. 

It’s true that you need to hustle, but to bump up your sales email open rate, the most effective strategy is to seek out high quality leads first. Prospects that fit your customer profile precisely aren’t just more likely to open your email, but to read and respond as well. 

High-quality leads trump low-quality leads. 

In order to ensure high-quality leads, make sure to refine your lead scoring process and keep your contact database clean. 

In the media industry, key contacts, buyers and other leaders change constantly. If you buy email lists from most data companies, you’re likely to find a significant portion of the contact information incorrect and outdated. 

At MediaRadar, we don’t provide you with outdated data.

MediaRadar updates its entire contact database every three months via phone and direct email.

On a contact’s profile, you’ll see a “Recently Verified” checkmark for contacts updated within the last 30 days. Plus, our platform has a concierge button. You can request information on a contact and expect an answer within 24 hours. 

More importantly, we give you a contact’s previous work history to help you leverage existing relationships for an introduction.

2. Have a clear why and call-to-action (CTA) to guide you.

There are several reasons why a salesperson could be emailing a prospect: to schedule a meeting, to follow up from a previous interaction or to ask a question about the prospect’s challenges.

Before you can create effective copy for your subject line, email body and the CTA, you need to identify just one purpose for the email. What is the desired outcome? 

Once you’ve determined the purpose of this email, you can work on the content.

Need inspiration for determining a meaningful “why” for your email. Consider the following questions with your marketing and sales teams together:

• What questions do you often receive from prospects during your sales process?
• What often causes prospects to hesitate purchasing from you?
• What challenges do your prospects consistently face? What content do they search to find answers to their questions?
• What successful emails have you sent before? What did their content and subject lines have in common?

After you have brainstormed together with your marketing team, you can identify gaps and opportunities in your email sequencing and strategy. 

3. Focus on your subject line as much as your body copy.

The subject line is one of the biggest factors that determines how professionals prioritize their email. Be clear and to the point, while catching their eye.

Don’t be afraid to put some time into your subject line. It could easily take just as much time to write the short subject line as the rest of the email. 

​​Typically, a 5-10 word subject line is a good standard to aim for. The words “Introduction” plus your company name and/or their company name, the phrase ‘Quick request,’ or ‘Trying to Connect’ have been effective for many sales people, according to Steli Efti, co-founder and CEO of CRM Close.io.

Quick questions can also grab the prospect’s attention. 

4. Don’t neglect the preview text.

While your subject line is arguably the most important part of the email, it’s also important not to neglect the preview line that appears after the subject. Whether it’s in Gmail, Apple Mail or Outlook, email recipients will see a little preview of what is about to come.

This is the first thing that follows your subject line. It’s the first place where you can provide some backup to your amazing subject line, and to give your prospect a little more context into what they’d see if they were to click.

The preview text is a great place to be yourself, maybe include a teaser, or something memorable that will make your prospect open your email.

When in doubt about what to write, always remember to be concise, reduce friction and, when appropriate, make the call-to-action clear.

5. Be personal—in a genuine way.

Personalization has come a long way over the last few years. It’s more than just adding a prospect’s first name in a template and hitting send. And it’s more than a suggestion, it’s an expectation. 

“Companies that grow faster drive 40 percent more of their revenue from personalization than their slower-growing counterparts,” reports McKinsey in their Next in Personalization 2021 Report.

Ways to personalize emails include:

• Making it easy to navigate online purchases based on personal history
• Offering relevant and personalized services
• Custom messaging and promotions tailored to the prospect’s needs
• Celebrating major milestones in the prospects professional and personal life
• Sending triggers based on personal behavior

With social media, we can see when people get promotions, have birthdays or celebrate other major milestones. We can celebrate that with them in their emails. Try it out in your subject lines if you think it’s appropriate. 

MediaRadar can send you alerts when there is a new decision maker at one of your accounts. 

You’ll also see when your accounts have new representation, key players have received a promotion or even when an agency contact has been added for a brand you care about. This is the perfect time to introduce yourself.

You can also create a target list of prospects that are new to their position in the last 30, 60 or 90 days or more. Use this target list with an introductory email campaign to ensure you are connecting when your prospects are navigating their new role.

Make sure your email is personalized from the very beginning to the end. 

Emails that come from a team email or a “noreply” email address are much less personal, and are typically less likely to be clicked. Make sure that your “from” name and email address are your name and email address. 

Curious about other ways to increase your ad sales without a ton of extra work? Read one of our latest trend reports on the topic here.

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