How to Warm Up Prospects Before Sending Them a Cold Email?

I’ve noticed that I’m more likely to respond to a cold email if I had a chance to see the sender’s name or photo somewhere else before. That allows me to suppose that there’s a way to boost open and reply rates of my cold email campaigns by making a warm basis for my cold emails. I’ve came up with a list of ways to warm up prospects’ list before sending them cold emails and follow-ups. These simple actions may seriously increase your open and reply rates. Check them out, give them a try.

Twitter

Twitter is great for some warm-up action. It’s not as personal as Facebook and it’s a place where businesses promote their content and communicate with their customers and marketing partners. There are at least 5 actions perfect for pre-outreach warm-up activities.

Follow

This one’s quite self-explanatory if you’ve been on Twitter. The result is that your prospect will be notified that you followed them not only in Twitter notifications, but also via email (unless they’ve switched off the email notifications). In other words, they can see your name and face right after you click the ‘Follow’ button on their profile.

Retweet

This one requires more work, because you’re not supposed to tweet whatever there is on their profile. You should retweet something business-related, not a personal tweet for sure. Ideally, it should be something connected to the topic that you’re going to refer to in your cold email. Just like in the case of the follow, the notification about the retweet is the point you’re counting on.

Like

You can like your prospects’ tweets. This is even a more subtle action than the retweet, because their tweets are not displayed on your profile, but they still get a notification that you liked their content.

Tweet with a mention

Be careful with this one, don’t overuse it. It makes sense only if you have the right context and you can write something customized. That’s because many automation tools on Twitter use it, so the users learned to ignore totally generic messages including a direct mention of their username.

Add to a list

Twitter allows you to add other user’s profiles to Lists. Once you do that, the user gets a notification that they’ve been added to your list, along with the name of the list you created – so you can get creative here, don’t name the list “List#3”, use the name to flatter the recipient or catch their attention, as in “Marketing Experts”. Ideally, the name of the list could somehow refer to the context of the email that you’re going to send later.

LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a powerful tool in sales. I know sales people who base their entire process on the platform. But using LinkedIn activities in combination with emails can be even more powerful. Here’s a few ideas on the warm-up actions to perform there before launching your cold email campaign.

Visit their profile

If your prospects are active LinkedIn users, they probably have a premium account which allows them to check who has viewed their profile without limits. So first, make sure your profile on LinkedIn is complete and makes you look reliable – let them like what they see. And next, visit your prospects’ profiles and let them see your name and face before you send them an email.

Like, share, or comment on their update

If you find out that they posted on LinkedIn an update related to your topic, you can like or share it, or even add a comment under it. Make sure you don’t write anything worthless and generic. Be specific. Try to come up with a short commentary that will show them that you actually found something interesting in their post.

Comment on an article they’ve published

This is an interesting way to build up a context for your cold email intro. Read an article your prospect published on LinkedIn, and leave a comment under it. But again, avoid generic one-liners like “Great article!”. Everyone can post a comment like that without reading anything more than just the title. Show them that you did read the article and that it had some impact on you. By being specific, you show them that you did your homework.

Answer their question in a group

LinkedIn groups allow you to find people with certain interests or field of expertise. If you are a member of the same groups as your prospects, you may comment on their posts in the groups. That’s not the easiest way of warming up, but if you manage to perform this kind of warm-up, you may be able to start a valuable conversation with them even before you decide to move on to the email.

Invite them to Connections

Yes, I’ve listed this at the end of the LinkedIn warm-up activities. And I did it on purpose. I’m getting many request to add someone to my connections. I believe, however, that I’m not getting even a half of the number the “big fish” LinkedIn users are getting. I’m not accepting all of mine, so I don’t suppose my prospects will accept, or even check out, all of theirs.

So yes, it is a way to show up to your prospect before you reach out to them. But if you’re sending such a request, make sure you add a custom message giving them a reason to actually notice your invitation and accept it.

For me, that’s a begining of direct messaging. And I’m not sure this should be done before sending your prospects your first email. But I think this may work, if only you keep the invitation message relevant and valuable. If you decide to go for that, make sure you won’t actually scare your prospects off instead of attracting their attention.

Their blog posts

If your prospect has written a blog post, you can show them that you got interested in their content and that you appreciate their hard work. Because writing blog posts is a hard work. And everyone appreciates a little act of appreciation when it comes to their blog posts. 😉 Appreciation builds positive attitude, which is gold in outbound outreach.

Comment on their blog post

So the first thing you can do is obviously comment on their post. And, for the third time, don’t leave them a “Great post! That’s it.” kind of comment. If you learned something new from the post, let them know what it was. If you have a question to one of the issues mentioned in the post, ask them the question. Just point to the part you liked the most in the post. Just be specific and use the comment to show them that you actually read their piece and that it really brought something to you.

Share the blog post on social with a direct mention on social

You can also combine the blog and social media to share their post directly from their blog. Most bloggers use plugins to enable their readers easy sharing on social. So use the plugins if they’re embedded on the blog. And if they aren’t, which is really rare, but sometimes does happen, you can use a Chrome extension like Buffer to make a quick share on your own, directly from their site.

The important thing in sharing blog posts via social media is that you directly mention the author in your share. This way, they’ll get a notification from the social platform that you shared their content. And remember it’s about them noticing you.

Write your own post and refer to theirs

This isn’t something that will give you a chance to directly ping your prospects before sending them an email. But you can lay a solid foundation for your cold email introduction. Every blogger will appreciate a free backlink. So this may be the first reason for them to get interested in you and what you have to say. In cold email, it’s important to give something before you expect to receive somethig in return. Mentioning their work in your own content is a good way of giving from the very beginning.

Angel

Angel List is not such a popular place for building first B2B relations as LinkedIn, but that may be just the reason you can use the platform to draw your prospects’ attention. Think about it: how many invites do they get on LinkedIn? And how many invites do they get on Angel?

Follow their company

If you’re prospecting on Angel List you can follow the companies who match your ideal customer profiles. This won’t trigger a direct email notification, but they will see your face and name on the list of their followers.

Ask for adding to connections

Just like on LinkedIn, you can invite your prospects to join your list of connections. There is no space for customized message here, but you optionally can specify the type of your relation. Depending on their notification settings, the prospect will get an email notification about your invitation instantly, at the end of the day, or at the end of the week.

Product Hunt

Just like Angel, Product Hunt probably wouldn’t be your first idea of a platform for starting B2B relations. But that may be its advantage if you aim at being noticed. What can you do on ProductHunt as a warm-up?

Follow them

On ProductHunt, you can search not only for awesome products, but also for people. Moreover, you can follow the people. Unless they haven’t switched off ProductHunt notifications, they will get an email directly to their mailbox showing them your face, name and giving them a convenient way to jump directly to your ProductHunt profile.

Here’s how to follow them:

And here’s what they get:

Upvote their products and add a comment or a question

If your prospect has featured their product, you can upvote it or even go further than that and post a comment or a question considering their product. Some honest interest will definitely draw their attention. Plus, they will definitely get notified about your comment, so if you ask a smart question, you can start a conversation even before jumping to email.

Facebook

Facebook seems quite a personal platform to me, but maybe that’s because of the way I use it. Many companies, freelancers and influencers use Facebook for marketing and creating new business, though. So if your prospects operate on Facebook, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t follow them there. Here’s a few ideas on pre-outreach warm-up actions on Facebook.

Like their fanpage

If they have a company fanpage, or a content fanpage where they share some business related news and ideas, you can go there and like the page. They will be notified that you did that, and they will see your name and profile photo.

Join their group and contribute to it

Facebook groups are a powerful tool to smoothly start new business relations. You can join a group your prospect set up, or is a member of to show up to them before you drop them a line. You can also ask questions and add comments to other members’ posts in the group, and use that to start a conversation on Facebook before taking it over to email.

Display pre-targeting ads to them

This is not my idea. I wish it was. I found it some time ago on the karmaCRM blog and I found it absolutely brilliant and worth trying (haven’t tried it yet, but I’m definitely going to soon). Here’s what the action looked like in short: basically, their idea was to display ads on Facebook to a very narrow and specific audience who were their previously collected list of prospects for outbound outreach.

They’ve construced ads that weren’t supposed to encourage the prospects to click on them, but only get familiar with the karmaCRM brand. This Facebook pre-targeting campaign brought them amazing results in the outreach campaigns (75% open rates, 21% reply rates). You can read about the details in the original post.

Bonus: Tips for warming up prospects

Make a hot lead out of a warm one with our tips:

• Engage on social media. Follow, like, and comment on posts to show genuine interest and establish familiarity with warm prospects. Regular interactions help nurture a warm lead and align your presence with your target audience’s interests and needs.
• Join relevant groups. Be part of social media or industry-specific groups to engage in meaningful discussions. Address pain points that resonate with your target market, sharing relevant insights and positioning your product or service as a solution.
• Create content that speaks to your prospects’ challenges. Use social media marketing to share articles, industry reports, and case studies that demonstrate your understanding of their pain points. This builds trust and can turn cold leads into warmer leads.
• Customize your outreach. Personalized cold calls and emails tailored to individual lead criteria show active listening and a genuine interest in solving their problems. Addressing their specific pain points and offering solutions aligns with effective lead nurturing.
• Balance sales and marketing efforts. A unified approach from sales and marketing teams ensures consistent communication throughout the sales cycle. This collaboration boosts your ability to convert warm leads into hot leads, creating a seamless transition through the sales funnel.
• Utilize a well-rounded strategy. Combine social media marketing, content creation, and pre-targeting ads to reinforce familiarity. This helps establish your brand at the very beginning of the sales process and strengthens connections during outreach efforts.
• Leverage active listening. When communicating with warm leads, ensure that your sales reps practice active listening. This approach uncovers deeper insights into their pain points and positions you to offer relevant solutions during phone calls or follow-ups.
• Highlight shared interests. Referencing mutual connections or shared interests in your cold email or conversation builds rapport. This personal touch can make your sales efforts more relatable and effective in nurturing warm leads.
• Offer value upfront. Before a direct sales pitch, share resources or information that aligns with your prospect’s marketing strategy or pain point. Providing valuable content positions you as an ally and supports smoother engagement in future interactions.
• Use targeted ads for visibility. Pre-targeting ads can subtly introduce your brand to prospects before direct outreach. This approach supports lead generation by familiarizing warm and hot leads with your brand and enhancing your marketing efforts.
• Monitor lead activity. Keep track of how warm leads engage with your outreach efforts, whether through social media or content. Not all leads behave the same, so adapt your sales strategy to fit each lead type for optimal results.
• Follow a structured process. Ensure your sales team follows a step-by-step approach that nurtures leads from cold leads to hot leads, incorporating personalized outreach and continuous engagement. This consistency helps develop more warm prospects.

Key points to remember

• Warm prospects are more likely to respond positively to outreach efforts.
• Warm leads cold calling strategies differ from cold calls and focus on creating connections.
• Sales and marketing teams should use social media marketing for lead generation and nurturing.
• Lead nurturing involves active listening and delivering relevant insights that address pain points.
• Cold outreach benefits from pre-engagement, turning a cold lead into a warmer lead.
• Marketing efforts should align with the sales process to nurture more warm leads.

What’s in it for you

Those simple actions, done in a smart way and at the right time, can be really powerful boost for your outreach results. I’m not saying it’s a good idea to perform all of them for each of your prospects. If you did that, you would probably look a like a stalker. And you definitely don’t want that to happen.

The key is to discover where your prospect group hangs out, and be there to show up to them naturally. And to take it into another level, remember to keep your social media accounts active.

I know it seems like a lot of work to do before you send your campaign. And it is indeed. But you can actually weave those action into your list building process and warm up your prospects while collecting the data you’ll later use in your cold email campaign.

Hope this helps. Once you have your list collected and your prospects warmed-up, you can upload your list to Woodpecker and send them not-so-cold emails with automated follow-ups.

FAQ on warming up prospects

Check out the answers.

What are warm prospects?

Warm prospects have shown genuine interest in a product or service but haven’t reached the commitment stage yet. With Woodpecker, you can effectively nurture these warm leads through targeted, personalized cold email campaigns. The tool allows you to automate follow-ups and tailor your messaging based on previous interactions, making it easier to convert warm prospects into paying customers by maintaining consistent engagement.

What is warm-up in the sales process?

Warm-up in the sales process involves activities that prepare prospects for outreach. This includes building familiarity through social media marketing, relevant insights, and creating content that aligns with their pain points. Directly engage on social platforms and develop a basis of recognition through thoughtful pre-outreach activities, such as social media interactions. Then, you can employ cold email capabilities using Woodpecker to effectively reach out to these warmed-up leads.

What is the warm-up strategy?

A warm-up strategy involves actions that build a connection with warm leads before sending cold emails. This includes following them on social media, liking and commenting on their posts, and joining discussions to nurture warm leads and create familiarity in the sales cycle.

What are hot prospects?

Hot prospects are highly interested individuals ready to buy and actively looking for a product or service that fits their needs. Unlike warm leads, hot leads have moved further down the sales funnel and show strong readiness to engage with a sales rep.

What is the role of lead nurturing in sales?

Lead nurturing in sales bridges the gap between cold leads and warmer leads. It involves consistent engagement that aligns with the target audience’s pain points, helping to generate warm leads through personalized content, phone calls, and social interactions, making sales and marketing teams’ efforts more effective.