12 Million Outreach Emails Analyzed: Here’s What We Discovered
At IncRev, we’re passionate about helping businesses succeed with SEO and digital marketing. That’s why we conducted an in-depth analysis of 12 million outreach emails to uncover what really works for email outreach campaigns.
Our groundbreaking study, in partnership with Pitchbox, examined everything from subject lines to personalization to follow-up sequences. The results provide actionable insights that can significantly boost your outreach success rates.
Key Findings from Our Email Outreach Study
- Only 8.5% of outreach emails receive a response
- Long subject lines (36-50 characters) get 24.6% higher response rates
- Follow-up emails double response rates
- Emailing multiple contacts boosts responses by 93%
- Personalizing subject lines increases responses by 30.5%
- Personalizing email body content lifts responses by 32.7%
- Wednesday is the best day to send outreach emails
- Including social profile links may improve response rates slightly
- Sequences with multiple contacts and follow-ups perform best overall
- Emails about guest posting, roundups and link building get the highest response rates
Let’s dive deeper into each of these key findings:
The Vast Majority of Outreach Emails Are Ignored
Our data shows that a staggering 91.5% of outreach emails receive no response. This aligns with previous case studies and highlights just how challenging cold outreach can be.
At IncRev, we’ve found that taking a highly targeted, personalized approach is crucial for breaking through the noise. Generic, mass outreach simply doesn’t work anymore.
Longer Subject Lines Outperform Short Ones
Surprisingly, our analysis revealed that longer subject lines of 36-50 characters get 32.7% more responses than short subject lines.
Why? Longer subject lines allow you to be more specific and descriptive about the content of your message. This helps recipients understand what to expect, making them more likely to open and engage.
For example, “Quick question about your latest blog post” performs much better than a vague “Quick question”.
Follow-Up Emails Significantly Boost Response Rates
Our data shows that sending just one follow-up email can increase responses by 65.8%. Sequences with 3 or more messages perform even better.
At IncRev, we typically recommend a 3-part outreach sequence spread over 7-10 days for optimal results. This allows you to stay top-of-mind without being overly pushy.
Reaching Out to Multiple Contacts Improves Success
Emailing several contacts at the same organization boosts response rates by 93% compared to single-contact outreach.
For larger websites and companies, it’s often unclear who the ideal point of contact is. Reaching out to multiple relevant people increases your chances of getting through to the right decision-maker.
Personalization Makes a Major Difference
Our study found that personalizing both subject lines and email body content leads to dramatically higher response rates:
- Personalized subject lines: 30.5% more responses
- Personalized email body: 32.7% more responses
Even small personalization touches, like using the recipient’s first name, can make a big impact. At IncRev, we take personalization to the next level by thoroughly researching each prospect and crafting highly tailored messages.
Wednesday is the Best Day for Outreach
Our data shows that Wednesday has a slight edge as the best day to send outreach emails. Saturday had the lowest response rates.
Overall, weekday emails performed 23.3% better than weekend emails. However, the differences between weekdays were fairly small.
For most campaigns, we don’t recommend overly stressing about send day. Focus on personalization and follow-ups instead.
Social Profile Links May Help Slightly
Including links to social profiles in email signatures correlated with a 9.8% lift in response rates. LinkedIn and Instagram links seemed most impactful.
While the effect is relatively small, social links help humanize your outreach. They show you’re a real person, not just another faceless cold email.
Multi-Touch Campaigns Perform Best Overall
Combining multiple contacts with multi-message sequences leads to the highest overall success rates – 160% higher than single emails to single contacts.
At IncRev, we’ve found this multi-touch approach to be extremely effective, especially for high-value prospects. It allows you to stay persistent while reaching different potential decision-makers.
Certain Outreach Topics Get Higher Response Rates
Our analysis looked at response rates across different outreach topics:
- Guest posting: Above average
- Roundups: Above average
- Link building: Above average
- Sponsorships: Average
- Infographics: Below average
Interestingly, guest posting and roundup invitations still seem to resonate, despite some experts claiming these tactics are “dead.”
Key Takeaways for Improving Your Outreach
Based on our findings, here are the top ways to boost your outreach success:
- Personalize every aspect of your outreach
- Use longer, more descriptive subject lines
- Always follow up (2-3 times)
- Reach out to multiple contacts when possible
- Focus on high-value topics like guest posts and roundups
- Use a multi-touch approach combining the tactics above
At IncRev, we leverage all of these data-backed strategies to create highly effective outreach campaigns for our clients. Our personalized, persistent approach consistently generates excellent results across industries.
Conclusion
Email outreach remains an incredibly powerful tactic for link building, PR, and business development. But as inboxes get more crowded, it’s crucial to take a strategic, personalized approach.
By applying the insights from our study of 12 million outreach emails, you can dramatically improve your response rates and campaign success. Focus on providing value, building real relationships, and staying persistent.
If you need help crafting and executing a winning outreach strategy, the team at IncRev is here to help. Our data-driven approach and years of experience allow us to consistently deliver outstanding results for our clients.
Frequently Asked Questions
What’s a good response rate for cold email outreach?
Based on our study, the average response rate is 8.5%. However, highly targeted and personalized campaigns can achieve 20%+ response rates.
How many follow-up emails should I send?
We recommend 2-3 follow-up messages spread over 7-10 days. This provides multiple touchpoints without being overly aggressive.
Is it better to personalize subject lines or email body content?
Both are important, but our data shows slightly higher impact from personalizing email body content (32.7% lift vs 30.5% for subject lines).
What’s the ideal subject line length?
Subject lines between 36-50 characters performed best in our study, with a 32.7% higher response rate than short subject lines.
How can I improve my outreach response rates?
Focus on personalization, use descriptive subject lines, always follow up, reach out to multiple contacts, and craft compelling, valuable messages.
