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I began accepting payment for my SaaS product in August of 2016, and at the time, I chose Stripe because it seemed to be what every SaaS platform was using. Back then, I didn’t care about pricing, as I suspect was true of most new non-venture-backed SaaS platforms. The priority during a launch to get users, and to see if those users will pay. Whether you’re paying 2.5%, 2.9%, or 3.2% in credit card processing fees doesn’t matter at that point. Getting users to pay you, and to pay you anything, is the priority.

Three years later, my product is earning enough revenue that it has become my primary source of income, and so understanding and negotiating my Stripe fees is far more important than it was at launch time. When I signed up for Stripe initially, the standard across-the-board pricing was 30 cents plus 2.9% of every transaction. That was the industry standard, as even Braintree was using that identical fee structure. Stripe, however, has gone through some almost unnoticeable pricing changes in the last three years. They have done so in a sneaky manner, however, to the point where most companies don’t even notice. In fact, if you try Googling for stories on Stripe’s price increases, you won’t find much substance.

The biggest increase came when Stripe announced their new “Billing” product in May 2018, which was the product specifically meant for subscription-based companies that need recurring billing. But the thing is, Stripe had always supported recurring subscription billing, so the “new” product they announced was confusing to me. After “Billing” was launched, Stripe’s actual fee structure became 30 cents plus 3.3% (instead of 2.9%), but the way it was stated on their pricing page was intentionally confusing. I was so shocked at this dramatic price increase that I inquired with Stripe’s support, assuming I was delusional and misinterpreting something. But Stripe’s support team confirmed my worries — that they had, in fact, increased their rate by an additional 0.4%, which sounds inconsequential but is actually a 12% rate hike. Fortunately, I would be grandfathered into the 2.9% rate since I had been on the platform before this announcement.

I tweeted to @Stripe about this issue, and they responded by putting me in touch with a product manager.

The conversation was then taken to email, and this email conversation is where I first mentioned a request for a discounted fee structure based on my charge volume.

Stripe email

And the email chain continues…

Stripe email thread continues

There’s a long list of things that bug me about this email thread. While the support reps are perfectly nice and professional, the situation requires a deeper look into what Stripe is doing.

My Gripes about Stripe

  1. This conversation is from mid-2018, yet their pricing page, even today, remains deceptive. If you’re a small SaaS platform and you go to their Pricing page, you’ll see this:Stripe pricing page
  2. You’ll probably think that you’re going to be charged 30 cents plus 2.9%. You’d be wrong. Because if you scroll further down, you’ll see a “What’s Included” section with nine items, and then a “More” section, which I interpret as “even more is included.” What that really means is, “requires ‘more’ of your money.” There you will see the “Billing” product which mentions “recurring subscriptions,” and if you’re operating a SaaS platform, of course you’ll need that. But to see that there’s an extra charge associated with it, you have to CLICK that, and when you do, you see this:Stripe billing pricing
    What, only 0.4%? So I could charge $100,000 in a month and only pay $400? Of course not, silly. It’s actually 2.9% plus 0.4% on top of that for the recurring billing feature. Why Stripe won’t just come out and say “We’re charging 3.3%” is a mystery I’ve spent more than a year trying to uncloak. I may never solve it. 
  3. This next point is unrelated to fees and negotiation, but I hate it when generally smart companies suck at naming their products. Stripe offers a litany of confusing product names: “Integrated,” “Billing,” “Sigma,” “Radar,” and “Payments.” WTF?! Isn’t Stripe’s core product about helping businesses charge their customers’ credit cards? So is that “payments?” Or is that “billing?” Either would be a suitable name. And what is “Integrated?” Hi, my name’s Ajay. I have a product called “Integrated” I want to sell you. Want to buy it? No, of course you don’t. Product names should easily indicate what the product does. If I told you I had an email marketing product called “Promotions,” would you know what it helps you do? Hopefully. Or how about a product called “SMTP Tester” or “Link Checker?” Here’s what Stripe should be naming their products:
    Payments –> Core
    Radar –> Fraud Prevention
    Sigma –> SQL Reporting
    Billing–> Recurring Billing

Why I started negotiating Stripe fees in the first place

The pricing of my SaaS product ranges from about $9/month to about $20/month. We also have annual pricing, but most of our users are on regular monthly pricing. Let’s use $9/month as an example. With the 30 cents plus 2.9% fee structure, that $9 charge nets me only $8.44, because it costs 30 cents plus 26 cents to process the payment. So, the 30 cents is actually the greater of the two costs in this transaction, and therein lies the problem. Because GMass is a low-cost monthly service, the 30-cent transaction fee takes a big bite out of our revenue. When a $9 charge is turned into an $8.44 net, we’re effectively paying a 6.2% credit card processing rate.

One way I could address this is simply by pushing our users toward purchasing annual subscriptions. Then there would only be one single 30-cent transaction fee for a customer every year. However, I prefer monthly subscriptions over annual fees, and my company is a reflection of my own values. So, I’d rather eat the extra cost and let users subscribe monthly, which is what they also prefer. Additionally, I find that a lot of SaaS platforms offer annual subscriptions in an absolutely sleazy way, by disguising the annual fee as a monthly fee.

For example, a pricing page might say “$10/month” in prominent type, and then in super-fine print at the bottom, say “*billed annually.” So you’re actually paying $120/year as one upfront payment, not $10/month over 12 months. I’ve argued with people on Reddit about this issue, and while most of them disagreed with my hardcore stance on the subject, I remain resolute in my thinking.

My first attempt at negotiating fees

I sent this email into Stripe’s support address:

Stripe Support email 1

I received this response, indicating I need to be at $100,000/month consistently to be considered for a rate reduction.

Stripe Support email 2

Fair enough. I figured I’d wait until I exceeded the $100,000/month target for processing and then ask again.

In reality, I ended up waiting long after we surpassed this threshold. I don’t know why. I thought about contacting Stripe almost every day, but it often got pushed to the back-burner in favor of other top-line growth initiatives. Plus, I  just had a feeling that I wouldn’t get very far.

My second attempt at negotiating fees

In August 2019, I finally sent this email to Stripe asking for a rate reduction, after far exceeding the previously-stated $100,000/month minimum:

Stripe Support email 3

I received this response:

Stripe Support email 4

So what I’m being told is, if Stripe gives me a break on that 2.9% fee, then the following will also happen:

  1. I’ll have to pay fees on refunds.
  2. I’ll have to pay an extra 1% on international transactions. (It turns out about 35% of GMass’s business comes from international users.)
  3. And, now, the most significant change — and this is mentioned last, when it should have been first — is that I would now become un-grandfathered, meaning whatever that 2.9% is negotiated down to, I would also have to pay the additional 0.4% for “Stripe Billing.” So basically, if the rate is negotiated down to 2.8%, then I would pay more under my new plan (2.8% + 0.4%). The base rate would have to be under 2.5% for this to make even a remotely sensible option.

After two video chats with a Stripe rep, one where she wanted to learn more about my business, and the other, after she had gone to her “Deal Desk” supposedly to advocate on my behalf, this is the plan I was offered:

  • 2.2% instead of 2.9%
  • 30 cents/transaction remains
  • 0.4% surcharge for “Stripe Billing” since I’m a recurring billing SaaS company
  • 36-month contract requiring me to bill through Stripe exclusively
  • Pay fees associated with refunds that I don’t have to pay now
  • Pay an extra 1% for international transactions

So, the core of it is that I’d now be paying 2.6% instead of 2.9%, but I’d also be locked in for three years, have to pay an additional 1% on 35% of my customers (the international ones), and pay new fees associated with refunds. The only thing that matters in this whole negotiation is whether this new fee structure would actually save my money based on what we are billing right now and, unfortunately, the Stripe rep — shockingly — could not tell me that.

Not wanting to spend the time to do the analysis myself, and knowing that if I switched, I’d only be saving a few hundred bucks/month and be locked in for three years, I’ve decided to reject the offer and remain on my existing grandfathered pricing plan. Of course, there’s no guarantee that the grandfathered pricing will remain in effect forever.

Final Thoughts on Stripe

While it may seem that I dislike Stripe, the platform has plenty of redeeming qualities, including a great UI and an even better API. It’s likely the easiest platform to integrate with and start billing customers, although I can’t be certain because, for my product, I’ve only used Stripe. Kudos to the brothers who built Stripe. (If you are reading this, please don’t kick me off your platform.) I just wish that the issues I have explained above could be addressed better.

Resources

Here’s a Quora question about Stripe negotiation.

The story of Gun.io’s Stripe negotiation.

Here’s another Reddit thread I started a while back:

Has anyone had success negotiating with Stripe or another payment provider? from startups

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According to a recent study, the average professional receives about 121 emails per day.

That’s a lot of noise to push through if you want to be heard.

The truth is, if no one opens your email, those prospects don’t become leads, contacts, or customers.

In other words, without achieving that first step — getting your emails opened — everything falls apart.

Whether you’re asking for seed funding, eCommerce capital, or real estate investment, you want your email to be read.

So, how do you craft a great cold email subject line? 

By that, I mean the kind of subject line that doesn’t just generate clicks, but also promises something which is paid off in your email — as opposed to being clickbaity and pushing prospects away.

In other words, the kind of subject line that gets people to read your email and take action.

You might have some experience with cold email copywriting and merely need some new examples to inspire you. Or maybe you’re new to cold email and want to know best practices.

Then again, maybe you have experience but need something for a particular situation and want an easy solution that fits in well with the other parts of an effective email that gets responses.

In this article, I’ll cover all kinds of common scenarios and show you the perfect templates and specific subject line examples to help you generate clicks and conversions through cold emails.

For instance, I’ll show you how to:

  • Generate that first touch
  • Use the power of mutual connection
  • Or, if you don’t have that connection, speak with relevance
  • Give an immediate indication of value
  • Communicate a sense of urgency
  • Create email subject lines when you’re not getting a response after numerous attempts

But first, what makes a great cold email subject line?

One that gets someone who has no idea who you are, to click and take action?

Cold email subject line best practices

I could spit a bunch of subject lines at you, crafted specifically with cold email in mind, and call it a day.

(We’ll do that anyway in the next section.)

BUT what’s the point if you don’t know why those subject lines work?

Rather than lob a bunch of examples at you and hope they fit your situation and work when you need them, I’m going to cover some cold email subject line best practices first.

The goal is not that you’ll read tons of awesome examples, but that you’ll have examples and the know-how to put together a great subject line for cold emails on your own. Or, tweak the ones I’ll show you below to make them perfect for your situation.

Here are a few best practices to help make your cold email subject lines better:

1. Whatever you do, don’t use clickbait subject lines

According to a study by Convince & Convert, 69% of people who report emails as spam send those reports based on the subject line alone.

Every time you put yourself out there online, whether it’s a cold email campaign, networking, or creating content for your target market, you’re making a promise.

That promise could be to learn how to get their videos to rank higher in YouTube’s search results, how to manage their team more effectively, or how to be more productive in the morning.

No matter what that promise is, you’ve crafted a subject line or headline that tells that person to expect a particular type of value.

When you break that promise, you push those people you’re trying to attract as far away from you as possible.

43 Cold Email Subject Lines

43 Cold Email Subject Lines

“Headline thinking” isn’t just a problem for blogs and online publications. It has a lot to do with what makes an effective email subject line.

That’s because you don’t want a subject line that just makes someone open your email. Ultimately, you want them to take action, whether that’s responding or clicking on your link.

When you use a clickbait subject line, the recipient opens your email and sees that you’ve broken the promise — and that takes the olive branch of trust they’ve just extended to you and snaps it in half because you failed to deliver what you suggested with your subject line.

You don’t merely want them to open up your email; you want them to read through your email and feel good about the interaction. Trick them, and they’ll be quick to hit delete and move on.

2. Keep your subject lines short

Long subject lines can work in some cases, but with 55% of working professionals reading emails from mobile, it’s usually not worth the risk.

The average mobile screen can fit only five to eight words per subject line:

43 Cold Email Subject Lines

By keeping your subject lines short, you have the best chance to grab that majority of readers who see your subject line on their mobile devices:

43 Cold Email Subject Lines

Of course, it’s about more than mobile. Traditionally, professional and sales-related emails tend to have longer subject lines, while personal emails to friends and colleagues tend to be short and more conversational.

If you want your emails opened, you need to emulate the kind of email they’d get from a colleague or friend. Do that by making your subject line appear welcoming and non-threatening (and then follow it with an outreach email that gets results).

By the way, if you’re using cold emails for a job search, remember that hiring managers may be reading your message on their phone, so again, keep the subject line short.

3. Offer something enticing

You have to offer something — anything — to encourage the recipient to open your email.

It could be something clearly valuable such as important results, but also it might be something less obvious such as a mutual connection — when you’re a friend of someone they know, or when you follow the same interests on Twitter, for instance.

In both cases, you’re offering them something that makes opening your email enticing to them, whether it’s value, connection, curiosity, or something else entirely.

Mentioning results or stats related to your offering is valuable because they suggest they might be able to take advantage of similar results.

A mutual connection offers the promise of value because it tells them that you’re someone with whom they have something in common — a connection they would enjoy.

This is the crux of good cold email subject lines. They don’t know you, at least directly, so you need to find a way to entice them in your subject line.

This kind of subject line, as opposed to clickbait, promises something you can actually deliver, which then improves not only open rates but also response rates and conversions.

So, think about what you have to offer the person or people you’re emailing. What do you have to give? Make that subject line a promise of that enticing factor, and then make sure that your email delivers on it.

There are more best practices focused on how to craft the best cold email subject lines possible, but these are among the most important.

Be mindful of the promise you’re making to your recipients, keep it short, and make every subject line enticing. If you do,  your open rates will go through the roof.

(By the way, make sure you’re using a quality cold email software solution to do all this.)

43 Cold Email Subject Lines That Get Your Emails Opened Instantly (and When to Use Them)

Now that you have a clear understanding of what makes a great cold email subject line, let’s dive into some examples.

While it’s best to craft your own subject lines, because only you know exactly to whom you’re speaking, it’s hard to start without something to inspire you.

So, here are 43 of the best subject lines for cold email.

The sections below are organized by category so that you can find examples for relevant situations — subject lines for emails that will not only get opened but also compel your prospects to take action:

43 Cold Email Subject Lines

Showing a mutual connection

One of the best things you can do in a cold subject line is to show a mutual connection such as an ex-colleague or professional group in which you both have an interest.

You might not always be able to do this, but when you can, use it. It’s one of the single most effective subject line strategies.

(Taking advantage of anything you can to make a cold email a little warmer is the point of almost every strategy for writing subject lines.)

When to use it:

Roughly 92% of people trust recommendations from their personal network. If you can take advantage of the power of recommendation, it’s much more likely that you’ll get an open.

That means, if you can use it (although it won’t often be the case), it should always be the first strategy you choose for your subject lines.

And while you might not often have a mutual contact, you can frequently find something else you share to create a similar effect.

For example, you may have:

  • Worked at the same company at different points
  • Had a mutual friend or colleague
  • Lived in the same city
  • Gone to the same conference
  • Become part of the same Facebook group or other social media tribe

With that kind of mutual connection, you can create the immediate sense of familiarity that it takes to transform a subject line from cold to warm because you are generating trust.

Trust is the main challenge when communicating through cold email. By showing a mutual connection, you help create confidence and credibility — by giving your prospect something trusted to grab and hold.

Subject line examples:

  • “5 minutes for a drink after [Conference keynote]?”
  • “[Mutual contact] mentioned you”
  • “[Mutual contact] said we should connect”
  • “I noticed you on [Facebook/social group]. Can we connect?”
  • “Hey Mark, we met at [Conference]”
  • “A friend of [mutual contact]”
  • “Would like to connect– 5 minutes at [local coffee shop]?”
  • “Your comments on [social post] were insightful/inspiring”

 

43 Cold Email Subject Lines

Speak to your audience with relevance

What if you don’t have a mutual connection of any kind?

That’s the position in which most of us find ourselves, whether reaching out to expand your network, sending a prospecting email, or scheduling demos for your product.

In that case, there’s another way to make your cold email subject lines more personal than just adding their first name: relevance.

When to use it:

The Direct Marketing Association (DMA) found that segmented email campaigns can generate as much as a 760% increase in revenue.

That’s because personalization makes the recipient feel like the email was written specifically for them.

In fact, personalized messages generate 6x higher close rates compared to those without personalization– and it all starts with the subject line.

You can recreate this effect with your cold emails by identifying things to mention in your subject line that are relevant to the contact.

For example, their:

  • Industry
  • Professional interests
  • Personal interests, such as a favorite sports team or TV show, etc.
  • Opinions (even strong opinions, such as political views or other controversies, if you’re careful about it)

Segment your list so that the subject line is appropriate for each person. You should always personalize your emails using this subject line strategy whenever you don’t have any mutual connection.

Subject line examples:

  • “[Industry] has a real problem…”
  • “Most [professionals you’re targeting] make this mistake”
  • “Check out the best new [business] in [location]”
  • “It’s our job to develop our children’s eating habits”
  • “Live chat is the future — but everyone misses this one thing”
  • “I see business like my favorite movie, Rocky”
  • “Remote is the future of work, but it has its challenges”

 

43 Cold Email Subject Lines

Generate that first touch

What if you’re contacting someone for the first time and you can’t find any mutual connection or point of relevance?

Maybe you have a group of contacts from companies your manager believes are a good fit for your service, but you don’t have much more information, or you can’t figure out a good angle to personalize your subject line.

In that case, you’re just trying to generate that first touch and get their attention — somehow. In these instances, you can try humor, piquing their curiosity, or suggesting a mystery.

When to use it:

When you have nothing to pull from to personalize your email, focus on enticing your readers with mystery or humor.

There are a lot of strategies you can use to generate that first touch, even if it’s a simple “yes” to sending information or setting up a brief call.

Of course, humor is a great tactic because people love to laugh, and it’s an easy way to break down barriers.

Also, mystery and curiosity work because people are naturally inclined to want to find out more.

Then again, sometimes a simple subject line personalized with their name can do the trick.

No matter what direction you go with that first email, the idea is the same. This is the first email you’re sending, so it needs to be enticing enough that a busy human will open it.

Subject line examples:

  • “Quick question, Mark”
  • “Check this out, Jen”
  • “You’re not alone.”
  • “Steal this strategy (it’s our best yet)”
  • “You won’t believe this story” (This one is great if you can follow it up with an entertaining story that’s relevant to your offer/reason for connecting)
  • “You’re invited”
  • “Three went in, one came out…”

Provide an immediate sense of value

Showing a personal connection is powerful. But it’s not the only way to get people to open your cold emails.

Hinting at — or outright stating — the value you can bring your prospect even before they open your email is also quite effective.

Remember how many emails the average professional gets each day (121).

Every day, they’re wading through a sea of emails that float in from colleagues at work, newsletters and authorities they follow, cold emails from other companies, and now, your email. Without a sense of value, yours may be at the bottom of their list in terms of importance.

However, if you can show your email target that your message offers a value that is relevant to them, they’ll be much more likely to cut through that noise and open your email.

When to use it:

Value-based subject lines are especially useful if you’re trying to sell a product or service that already has great data to back up its effectiveness.

It’s your call whether you choose to focus on personalizing your subject line or communicating value.

However, if you’re trying to see who’s more interested in your new offer for something like retargeting, then making your subject line about value alone can provide you with more precise data than if you personalize your subject line.

Subject line examples:

  • “Did you know [competitor] ranks higher than you for ‘[keyword]’? This is why.”
  • “Our best resources for improving your team’s performance”
  • “There’s a better way to build a strong brand on social”
  • “We’ve studied the best [groups] in [industry]. Here’s what makes them different.”
  • “I’d like to help”
  • “Save [dollar amount/%] on [business expense]”
  • “X tips for turning around a slow season”
  • “A quick idea for improving [topic of interest for the prospect]”

Create a sense of urgency

According to a study by the PR firm, Citizen Relations, 60% of Millennial customers said they’ve made a purchase after experiencing FOMO (“fear of missing out”).

Millennials are now the largest generation in the U.S. workforce, which means your ability to connect with them will have a big impact on your outreach or sales — so it’s important to understand the power of scarcity in your subject lines.

Scarcity — in this case, used to create urgency — is a sales tactic as old as time. It’s still around because it works (and always has).

According to a report by Invesp, subject lines that create a sense of urgency have a 22% higher open rate.

It’s no surprise, then, that when marketing suite SumoMe revealed their ten most successful headlines ever, four were based on time scarcity:

When to use it:

First, you need to be careful not to ride too close to clickbait when using this technique, because you must build trust.

However, if your offer is authentically time-sensitive or in limited supply, any subject line that expresses that urgency or scarcity will work like a charm and should be used to its full potential.

There are also times when you can create a sense of urgency out of nothing.

For example, if you’re trying to network with an authority or potential customer, and an industry conference is coming up soon, you can use that impending event to create urgency.

If your first subject line was value-based but didn’t generate a response, such as:

You can send another email that says something like:

There are only 12 days left now, so next week, you can send a similar email to mention that your schedule is filling up for the event, now there are only “5 days left…”

While no one has to respond, this approach does create a sense of urgency, and if they’re interested, they’ll feel like there’s a reason to reply before the event.

Subject line examples:

  • “Just [number] seats left for [training]…”
  • “Are you ready for [event]?”
  • “Are you on track to hit your Q3 goals (I’d like to help)”
  • “3 days until [conference] (Can we talk?)”
  • “Jen — free for a quick chat next Monday, the 21st?”
  • “Next week only — watch me [do something] live”

When you get no response

It’s not a great feeling when your first — or first few — emails don’t get a response.

But it’s not the end of the world.

In fact, the old sales maxim of “it takes seven touches to close a sale” isn’t just a myth.

According to a study by RAIN Group, it takes about eight touches to book an appointment with a new lead.

A study published in the Harvard Business Review echoed this, finding that your chance of making contact doesn’t peak (90%) until the sixth attempt.

Still, it doesn’t feel good when you’ve released several emails and don’t have a single response.

If you’re about to retire a contact to your “no response” list, there are a few types of emails you can send that might finally generate that reply you’ve been looking for before you completely give up on the contact.

When to use it:

It’s important not to give up on anyone too early. You never know when they might finally be compelled to respond. That may have more to do with their timing than with your email.

Still, you can’t keep stringing things along if you don’t see any activity.

If you believe a contact isn’t going anywhere and you’re about to send it into your dead pile, why not send one last “Hail Mary” pass?

These can work well because they can often elicit a response, even if the person isn’t interested. At least that way, you know when someone isn’t a good prospect for you.

Keep in mind that these subject lines should be reserved for situations where you see diminishing returns to your follow-ups.

That means if 95% of contacts respond by the sixth touch, you should reserve these “no response” emails for the seventh or eighth email.

Subject line examples:

  • “Mark, did I come on too strong?”
  • “You okay, Jen?”
  • “It’s not you, it’s me” (This can work because it relieves pressure from the prospect, which may encourage them to reply — finally.)
  • “Thanks for your time, Mark” (This works for a similar reason: it clearly suggests this is your last attempt to reach out and can relieve pressure on a contact who isn’t interested, and at least they may let you know. Or, it can compel someone who is interested, but too busy to follow up, to shoot you a response with a quick explanation.)

Great ways to use scarcity as a last attempt when you’re getting no response:

  • “Ready to cross you off my list — one last try?”
  • “Reaching out one last time (Can you let me know either way?)”
  • “Closing the pilot program Monday, reaching out once more”

Give your cold email subject lines a boost: Final thoughts

Cold email doesn’t have to be stuffy and lifeless.

If you angle your subject lines the right way, they can suggest a connection, generate interest, or promise value (sometimes all three). And all of these are effective strategies for getting more clicks and responses.

Remember, the best subject line is the one you make your own. What kind of value can you offer?

  • Have you uncovered a relevant connection with the prospect?
  • Do you have something you believe they’d find interesting based on their bio or social activity?
  • Do you have real value you can offer to advance their career, build their business, or something else?

Think about what you have that you can provide to give the person you’re emailing, even if it’s as simple as feedback or a compliment.

Use the cold email subject line best practices we talked about earlier, in tandem with the templates and subject line examples above (and don’t be afraid to experiment), to take your subject line response to a higher level.

And when you’re ready to move past the subject line, take a look at 5 Cold Email Templates for Any Situation to learn how to structure the body of your emails. From there, you can get into how to start a cold email or how to start an email of any kind and check out other tips from our email copywriting guide.

And when you’re ready to actually start sending your perfectly-crafted cold emails, check out GMass. It works right inside your Gmail and is a powerful but easy-to-use way to compose, send, automatically follow up, test, and track your cold emails.

Run quick A/B tests to see which subject lines work better. Send follow-ups as replies to the previous message (or use new subject lines for your replies, but include the full prior conversation in the email). Schedule emails, personalize every detail, and get the results you’re after.

Get started with GMass for free by downloading the extension at the Chrome web store.

 

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How many times have you received an email that starts with “Dear *|FNAME|*”? It happens so often it’s laughable, and it’s a clear example of personalization gone wrong.

Have you ever created a new email campaign after copying and pasting from an old one, only to realize that you’ve now sent everyone the exact same unsubscribe link, which you discovered when [email protected] unsubscribed 200 times because everyone on your list clicked her (invalid) unsubscribe link?

Don’t be too hard on yourself.

Every seasoned email marketer has made mistakes. Below, I’ll detail the most common email marketing mistakes I’ve seen, and what our technology does to prevent them.

I won’t cover obvious email marketing mistakes such as not optimizing design for mobile users, not segmenting contacts, emailing people too frequently, and making grammar mistakes, because other writers have already covered those topics here, here, and here. It’s 2019, and by now, these should be obvious. In fact, the previous articles I just mentioned were written only for the benefit of SEO, not to teach you anything useful about email outreach.

But I digress. Here are the most common technical mistakes made in email marketing campaigns and how, at GMass, our software addresses them.

1. Personalization Failures

If you use a personalization merge tag that doesn’t belong, we’ll warn you when you try to send the campaign.

merge tag warning
GMass warns you if you use the wrong merge tags.

For example, if your spreadsheet column is “First”, but in your campaign you accidentally use type {Firs} or get the tag wrong altogether, like {FName}, GMass will notice that and alert you, allowing you to cancel your campaign. See this post for more information on our personalization warnings.

2. Copying/pasting click-tracked links from an old campaign

A common practice for email marketers is to copy a campaign they’ve already used and paste it into their email marketing app’s campaign builder as a new campaign. This is a terrible practice because if you’re using click-tracking, the links in the prior campaign have already been modified to be click-tracked. That means parameters have been added to the link to identify who clicked on what and to report this data back to you.

click-tracked link
This already click-tracked link will be auto-magically replaced with the intended URL, www.superwidgets.com.

So, if you copy and paste links from an old campaign into a new campaign, and then send your new campaign to 1,000 people, all of them will get the SAME click-tracked link that’s tied to just one person.

GMass takes care of this for you. If it sees click-tracked links in your campaign, GMass will fix it for you by replacing those links with original URLs and emailing you a report.

We used to stop you from sending the campaign, and forced you to replace the links yourself, but starting August 15, 2019, the software replaces the links for you.

3. Copying/pasting an old unsubscribe link into a new campaign

Similarly, when you copy/paste an old campaign into a new campaign, you run the risk of sending a single unsubscribe link that works for just one address to your entire list. This is what results in 200 unsubscribes for [email protected], rather than 200 individual unsubscribes from each of the 200 people who intended to unsubscribe.

unsubscribe link
This unsubscribe link was copied/pasted from another campaign and won’t work with this campaign. But that’s okay, because GMass will auto-magically fix it when the campaign is sent.

Once again, GMass handles this for you. If it finds an OLD unsubscribe link in new campaign, GMass will automatically transform it into a new unsubscribe link, and then let you know that it has made the change.

4. The deadliest mistake: exposing your list members to each other

Once, a frustrating aspect of using GMass was accidentally hitting the Gmail Send button instead of the GMass button. If you were to hit send with 200 email addresses in the To field of the Gmail Compose window, you would have broken the trust of those 200 members, since one giant address field would have been broadcast to all 200 people. The whole point of the GMass button is to turn that large “to” list into 200 individual emails, each sent to just one address.

send button
GMass warns you when you click the Send button by accident.

Still, users can make mistakes, and sometimes ours would click Send instead of the GMass button.

A couple of years ago, we decided to address this issue by hiding the blue Send button whenever GMass suspected the user intended to use the GMass button for their email.

However, hiding the Send button turned out to have its own error risks, because GMass could hide it only in certain cases.

Now, we have a better solution. If you click the Send button today, and you have more than a handful of email addresses in the To field, GMass will warn you with an alert that asks if you meant to click the Send button instead of the GMass button. And it gives you an option to cancel the send button instruction if you didn’t mean to use it.

Conclusion

So, there you have it — four of the most common email marketing mistakes and how GMass prevents you from making them.

Does your email marketing service stop you from making these mistakes? If not, you know what to do.

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It’s no secret that many cold emails are simply terrible — which is why they aren’t cold emails that get responses. If you have an inbox, you already know this because you’ve received tons of them. They don’t feel authentic, they have shockingly stupid subject lines, and they presume that you have nothing better to do with your time. That may be why only a quarter of recipients will open these emails.

There’s a reason that poor marketers don’t have success with cold email marketing. The average response rate for run-of-the-mill cold emails is less than 10%.

However, when done correctly, cold-email marketing can create tremendous results. For example, one B2B company was able to get a 57% open rate, 21% response rate, and 16 new B2B customers, all by changing a few elements in their cold emails.

That raises the crucial question: How do you write cold emails that actually get responses?

In this post, we’re going to give you six winning tactics for cold email copywriting for responses that will resonate with the reader, connect you with prospects, and ultimately generate more sales.

Ready? Let’s dive in.

Step #1 for Cold Emails That Get Responses: Get Into the Mind of Your Prospect

First and foremost, take the time to get inside the mind of your prospect. Consider their psychology and figure out their stress points.

Avoid throwing “everything” into an email and hoping that by sending out a large volume of emails, you’ll generate some sort of response. That doesn’t work when there are real people on the receiving end of your emails. They’ll see your message as spammy and reach for the delete key.

So how do you get into the mind of your prospect?

Remember that your job is to convince an individual, not a company. A human is reading your email, and most people make decisions based on emotion, not logic. When writing your emails, consider the emotional state of your prospects. What are their aspirations, job demands, stress points, and struggles?

When writing your emails, tap into those motivators. Help recipients see why working with you will alleviate their greatest obstacles or fears, as well as help them achieve their goals.

Also, consider the timing of your email. How does your prospect typically work? Are they checking their inbox all day, or do they look at email only in batches?

While you can’t know the answers for certain, you can time your email for best results. You’ll have a greater chance of getting to both types — frequent and infrequent inbox checkers — if you send your email early in the morning (6 AM-ish) to get their attention first thing in the day, or in the late afternoon, shortly before they head home.

Step #2 for Cold Emails to Get Responses: Target the Right Person

It’s essential to get your email in front of the right person on the first try. If you rely on others to forward your emails spontaneously to the right people, you’re kidding yourself, and the results will prove it.

You need to communicate with the one person who will benefit most from what you’re offering and who has the authority to make the decision to work with you.

If you’re reaching out to small businesses, contact the owner directly. If you’re reaching out to larger businesses, it can be tricky to find the right person. However, LinkedIn is an excellent at helping to find good targets.

Search for a specific job title within an organization, such as “VP of HR IBM,” and LinkedIn will give you a match. (For more help, check out our guide to LinkedIn prospecting for cold emailers.)

Once you have found the right name, you can use a tool such as Hunter.io or Voila Norbert to find your prospect’s email address.

If you’re not sure that the person you’ve targeted is the decision-maker or right influencer, you can include a line in your email that says something like, “If you’re not the one who is responsible for [your topic] at [company], could you put me in touch with the person who handles this?” That can increase your chances of getting in front of the right person even if you’ve targeted the wrong one.

Step #3 to Get Responses to Cold Emails: Craft a Compelling Subject Line

Your subject line is no different than the headline in a newspaper. Add interest so that people can’t help but open your email. It’s the most important line in your email because if you don’t get the subject line right, no one will read the masterpiece that follows.

There’s a reason almost 50% of emails are deleted without ever being opened. It’s because half of all email subject lines didn’t do their job.

So how do you craft the perfect subject line?

  • Make it specifically relevant to the reader. For example, let’s say that you know the reader is likely to be struggling with a certain problem. You could tailor your subject line to speak directly to that challenge. It could say something like, “7 Tips to Help with [challenging issue].”
  • Evoke curiosity. A subject line like “Quick question” is powerful because it creates a sense of curiosity in the reader. They want to know what your question is in case they can lend their expertise or opinion. They also know that because you used the word “quick,” your email will be short. (Make sure it is.)
  • Congratulations. If you know that your prospect has recently achieved something praiseworthy, acknowledge that in the subject line. People love to receive recognition for their achievements, and by doing so, you make it more likely that they’ll open your email.
  • Acknowledgment of expertise. This is a similar form of personal recognition with a slightly different flavor. If you know that your prospect is an expert in a particular area, highlight that expertise in the subject line. For example, you could say, “Your work [in X area] made me want to get in touch.”
  • Use a personal sender name. Hubspot’s A/B tests for email marketing showed that open rates increase when you add your personal name to the company name in the sender line, instead of just a company name alone.

If you need inspiration, consult our 43 Cold Email Subject Lines That Get Your Emails Opened Instantly.

Kyle Gawley of Get Invited puts it this way:

“I get loads of cold emails myself and one of the things that surprises me is that many of them begin with a generic “Hi” and fail to include my name.

Do I read past this? Absolutely not, it’s obvious that I’m just one of potentially thousands of people that are being contacted in a mass email campaign and this person has no idea who I am, what my business does or why I should buy their product. I’m just a number in an email database.”

  • Pay attention to your first sentence. Most email clients preview the first sentence of the email for the reader, in addition to the subject line. This means that your first sentence must be as compelling and interesting as your subject line, so use the same tactics to grab the prospect’s attention. (Have a look at our tips on how to start a cold email to get your messages off on the right foot.)

How long should a subject line be?Keep your subject lines within zones that promote high open rates. MarketingLand suggests these and other subject line tactics to boost email opens and responses.

Step #4 to Get Responses with Your Cold Emails: Introduce Yourself

Once you’ve hooked the reader with the subject line, it’s time to introduce yourself. This is your opportunity to explain briefly who you are and why that matters to the recipient. People want to feel like they’re talking to a real person, and they definitely do not want to feel like they’re part of an impersonal email campaign, so make a human connection.

How do you avoid being impersonal? It’s simple: Take the time to personalize your email by introducing yourself, telling your prospect what you do, and then getting to the point quickly. (“I’m Eric, an engineering audit specialist in Southern California.”) Don’t take up their time with a wordy introduction, as they probably won’t read it on their way to clicking the delete button.

Introducing yourself successfully is never more important than during a job search. If you’re looking for a new position, read our tips for job searches using cold emails.

Tip: You may want to consider including a photograph of yourself. This can go a long way toward making your email feel more personal, especially if you run a small business.

Step #5 to Write Cold Emails That Get Replies: Write Compelling Body Copy

After you’ve introduced yourself, it’s time to write the body of your email. Given that recipients will delete most emails in less than four seconds, you need to get to the heart of your request right away.

What makes compelling body copy? One proven formula is the Before-After-Bridge method.

Before-After-Bridge method

In the “Before” section, you talk about the prospect’s current problem. Maybe they’re not generating enough leads. Perhaps they’re having trouble getting conversions from their website. Or possibly their ROI on email marketing isn’t high enough. Whatever the case, this is your opportunity to highlight the problem that you can solve. Your goal is to agitate the problem enough so that the reader feels compelled to keep reading.

In the “After” section, you highlight what their world will look like once that problem is solved. Paint a picture of life after their pain-point disappears. Help the reader visualize freedom from their current discomfort once they reach the better world you’re offering.

Finally, in the “Bridge” section, show them how your solution can transport them to those greener pastures, from before to after.

For a deeper look at the Before-After-Bridge method, check out Yesware’s explanation.

Tip: To keep your emails feeling personal, use email tools to insert your prospect’s name or company name in natural-sounding places within the body of your message.

Step #6 to Get Replies to Your Cold Emails: Automate Your Outreach

Even if you use the best techniques, cold email outreach still requires that you send a lot of emails. One way to make your life easier is to use a tool like GMass to automate your follow-ups and track sales, etc. Set them up in advance and let the software handle distribution for you.

If you’re just starting out, don’t be discouraged if your first email gets too little response. Sales experts know that it takes anywhere from three to nine touches to get a prospect’s attention, so don’t be tempted to give up after one or two.

Tip: If you automate your email campaigns and follow-up responses in advance, you will be more inclined to complete the whole campaign, and less inclined to give in to early discouragement. In the end, you’ll have better results.

What are the most effective follow-ups?

  • Immediately after you leave a voicemail. If you try calling your prospect and don’t get an answer, send them an email immediately following your call. Because you’re reaching out to them both audibly and visually, you increase the odds of them calling you back.
  • Reference their behavior. If your prospect is opening and reading your emails, you can use that information in your follow-up emails. “I noticed that you read my last email and wonder if we could follow up with a call tomorrow.”
  • Craft your followup emails carefully. Your followup emails should be crafted just as carefully as your initial email. Don’t simply regurgitate what you said in the first email. Be just as compelling, interesting, and relevant in your followup emails as you are in your first email.

Cold Emails That Get Responses: Final Thoughts

Cold emailing is not just a task, it’s an essential investment in your success. So, it should come as no surprise that it takes work to do it well. Put in the time to create compelling outreach emails that get inside the heads of your target audience. Make a serious effort to craft an irresistible subject line and first sentence. And write powerful body copy.

It’s well worth the effort.

Done right, cold email outreach can generate huge results, so don’t wait any longer. If you need a head start, look at our highly effective cold email templates, which you can customize to your needs. You can begin today by using GMass to personalize your approach as you reach and follow up with your carefully selected prospects.

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You now have the option to expand an “alias” recipient list into the actual email addresses in the Compose window’s To field, and even download the recipient list as a CSV file.

If you’ve mail merged with a spreadsheet or built an email list by searching your Gmail account or even sent to a segmented list of a prior campaign, you know that GMass launches the Compose window for you and places an “alias” address in the To field, so that your campaign is ready to go. The “alias” address looks something like:

[email protected]

So in the Compose window you’ll see:

add email list to TO line

If the recipient list is fewer than 100 addresses, GMass will automatically expand the list for you, turning the “alias” address into the actual 100 addresses. If the list is more than 100 addresses, however, we don’t do this automatically, because it slows down the Gmail Compose window.

Now, however, if you wish to convert the alias address into the actual addresses, because perhaps you want to remove one or two, you can.

You will now be presented with the option to do so in the lower left corner of your Gmail window.

expand or download email list

Notice the second option which lets you download the full email list as a CSV file.

Those options will remain visible for about 10 seconds.

If those options disappear and you decide later that you want to see the individual addresses that are part of the alias address, you can type a command in the To field to trigger GMass.

  1. Type the command “[email protected]” into the To field, and the alias address will expand into its individual addresses.
    Type expand command
  2. Type the command “[email protected]” into the To field, and your browser will download a CSV file of the individual addresses and names.
    Type download command

Note that [email protected] and [email protected] aren’t real email addresses. They are “commands” that trigger GMass into doing certain things, in this case expanding the alias address and downloading your list as a CSV file. These “command” addresses will disappear from the To field immediately after GMass is done with its work.

 

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Networking emails help you build new connections and nurture professional relationships.

However, if the recipient doesn’t open your networking email, all your efforts are wasted.

To ensure that this doesn’t happen, you’ll need a killer networking email subject line — one that can capture the recipient’s attention.

In this article, I’ll share 30 networking email subject line examples you can use in different scenarios and offer five handy tips to help ensure that your networking emails convert.

Then, I’ll discuss how a powerful email outreach tool can streamline your networking email campaigns. Finally, I’ll answer some FAQs related to networking email subject lines.

This Article Contains:

(Click on links below to jump to specific sections)

Let’s dive in.

30 Networking Email Subject Lines That Are Proven to Work

Effective subject lines get your networking emails opened and enable you to convert digital networking opportunities.

In contrast, subject lines that aren’t personalized and sound spammy may prompt the recipient to ignore your message. Or worse, your email may trigger the recipient’s spam filter and head straight to the spam folder.

But don’t worry.

To help you stay clear of spam filters and boost your open rate, I’ll cover 30 proven networking email subject lines you can use right away:

A. Introductory Email Subject Lines

Writing introductory emails can be tricky.

Why?
The person you’re trying to connect with doesn’t know you yet, so they have no reason to open your email.

But if your subject line looks authentic and personalized, it will make an excellent first impression. And in such a scenario, there’s a decent chance that the recipient will open your email, even if you’re a new contact.

Now, let’s go over some introductory email subject lines that get your emails opened:

1. Reaching Out for Some Expert Advice on (Topic)

Everyone loves compliments.

That’s why being referred to as an expert on some relevant topic — for example, as a career expert in the tech recruitment space — is something your potential connection is bound to love.

People are usually happy to offer helpful advice (especially career advice), provided you ask nicely. Besides, asking for something adds a sense of urgency and increases the likelihood of a quick response.

In short, this subject line provides an easy way to get the conversation going and (possibly) gain some valuable insights on a topic.

2. Loved Your Recent Article in (Publication)

Many introductory emails come across as inauthentic.

“I am a big fan of your work, and I’ve been following you for a while” is now a well-recognized spam template.

However, referencing a specific piece of content (for example, a blog post) that the recipient wrote is a great way to come across as authentic. It shows that you’re genuinely interested in connecting with the contact and increases the likelihood of getting a response.

3. Fellow (Common Interest / Qualification) Looking for an Opportunity to Connect

If you’re on the lookout for networking opportunities, shared interests and qualifications present easy ways to connect with a contact.

Mention them in your subject line to establish some common ground to build the discussion.

However, when referencing common interests or qualifications, only use information readily available to the public — their industry, alma mater, Linkedin profile details, or even a blog post they wrote.

Don’t get excessively personal by digging through a recipient’s social media (for example, Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter) profiles and reference a picture they took at a party!

Other Effective Introductory Email Subject Lines

Here are a few more introductory subject lines that’ll work perfectly with your networking emails:

  • “Just Caught the Interview You Had with (Person’s Name)”
  • “I’m a Fellow Alum from (University Name) and Would Like to Connect”
  • “I’m a Fellow (Job Title) at (Company Name) and Would Love to Connect”
  • “Had a Quick Question about Your Article on the (Company Name) Blog!”
  • “I Love That (Thought, Idea, or Opinion) You Shared in (Publication)”

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B. Follow-Up Email Subject Lines

Chances are, you’ll have to follow up on your initial interactions (meeting request, informational interview appointment, or digital networking event invite) with a prospect.

Why?
Because you didn’t get a response from the recipient for some reason.

Dropping the prospect at this point could be premature.

Maybe they simply forgot to respond or are waiting for some other information. Whatever the case may be, a follow-up email is the perfect way to politely nudge them and keep the conversation going.

To enhance your follow up emails, here are three simple subject lines:

1. Hi (Recipient’s Name), This Is (Your Name)

This eye catching subject line reminds the recipient who you are.

Since you’re mentioning names, the recipient will know that this is a genuine email — even if they don’t remember you very well. Moreover, by keeping your subject line slightly vague, you’re encouraging them to open your mail to see what it contains.

2. Hi (Recipient’s Name), Just Following Up on Our (Call/Meeting) the Other Day

This subject line directly references a past conversation, a social media interaction, or an event with the recipient.

It’s a great way to instantly jog their memory of a previous interaction and even make a new meeting request.

3. Hi (Recipient’s Name), Enjoyed Our Last conversation — Would Like to Engage Again

This subject line refers to a previous conversation or phone call, letting the recipient know that you aren’t a complete stranger.

It also tells the prospect that you enjoyed your last conversation with them and are interested in building a professional relationship. This subject line sets your message apart from other unsolicited cold emails in their inbox.

Other Effective Follow-Up Email Subject Lines

Here are some great subject lines to use in your next follow-up emails:

  • “Would You Be Attending (Upcoming Event)?”
  • “It Was Great Meeting You at (Networking Event)…”
  • “Reaching Out Again to Connect and Talk about (Topic)”
  • “Great Meeting You at the Meet-Up. What’s Your Takeaway from the Event?”
  • “It Was Nice Meeting You, Here’s the Information I Promised”

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C. Number-Driven Email Subject Lines

Leading with numbers is a great way to interest a reader and provide a glance at what you’re offering. Quantifying the content on your mail, such as “3 ways I can…” or “The 5 Best…” is a simple way to get their attention.

You can add numbers to your introduction or follow-up email to make it look more enticing.

Here are a few simple number-driven subject lines:

1. The 5 Ways (Recipient’s Company) and (Your Company) Can Work Together

By mentioning “5 Ways” in your subject line, you’re being specific and creating a lot of curiosity. This is bound to get their attention and convince them to open your email.

Additionally, by mentioning the names of the companies involved, you add a layer of personalization and authenticity to the email.

2. 3 Things I Loved About Your Article in (Publication)

This is an excellent example of using numbers to supplement your introductory emails.

Sure, referencing previously written content is a great way to look authentic, but that’s not all.

By adding a number to your subject line, you’re letting the contact know what specific things stood out. It shows them that you thoroughly did your research — which leads to interest.

3. 5 Ways How (Recipient’s Company Name) Could Benefit from Better (Idea)

As you’re offering the prospect a means to gain something, they’re likely to consider your email seriously. By sharing how their company could benefit from your idea, you instantly pique their interest and entice them to open your email.

Other Effective Number-Driven Email Subject Lines

Here are four additional number-driven subject lines you can use today:

  • “Loved These 4 Insights from Your Recent Article in (Publication)”
  • “7 Things I am Hoping to Learn from Your Talk at the (Upcoming Event)”
  • “Found Your 6 Tips on Addressing (Pain Point) Very Useful”
  • “Would Love to Know More about the 8 Strategies You Discussed in Your Talk at (Event Name)”

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D. Mutual Connection Reference Email Subject Lines

Mentioning a mutual connection or acquaintance is an effective way to grab your recipient’s attention. While they may be reluctant to engage with strangers, sharing a mutual acquaintance can improve your professional networking prospects.

Here are some subject lines you could use to reference mutual connections:

1. We Met at (Event Name) with (Mutual Connection)

Here, you provide two points of reference to your contact — an event they attended (for example, a digital marketing event or a networking event) and a common acquaintance or coworker you know.

This referral contact helps foster an instant connection with the prospect.

2. (Mutual Connection) Suggested That I Introduce Myself

When you first introduce yourself to a new prospect, chances are that you might fail to get their attention.

This subject line is handy in such scenarios because it shows that the mutual connection trusts you enough to recommend you. And unlike cold emails with no previous context, referencing a common contact this way makes the recipient more receptive to what you have to say.

3. Do You Know (Mutual Connection)?

Instead of the usual pleasantries, directly referring to a common connection that your recipient knows will get their attention. This subject line shows that you’re straightforward and not a complete stranger. As a result, the recipient would be more open to a conversation.

Other Effective Mutual Connection Reference Email Subject Lines

Take a look at four more mutual connection reference email subject lines to use today:

  • “(Mutual Connection) Recommended You to Me!”
  • “Referred by (Mutual Connection) — Are You Available to Talk?”
  • “(Mutual Connection) Told Me You’re an Expert on (Topic). Hope You’re Open to a Discussion Sometime?”
  • “Referred by (Mutual Connection) to Get Your Opinion on (Topic)”

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Now that you have some outstanding networking email subject lines in your arsenal let’s look at some quick tips to make your professional networking emails even more effective.

5 Handy Tips for Networking Email Success

Here are five valuable tips to make your networking emails hit the bull’s eye:

1. Keep Your Subject Line Short

The primary goal of your networking email subject line is to get your recipient’s attention and encourage them to open your email. And you don’t need a long-winded subject line for that.

Besides, long-worded email subject lines come across as spammy and might trigger some automatic email spam filters.

That’s why it’s better to write specific and concise subject lines.

Ideally, your subject line should have a maximum length of 40 characters — making it readable on smartphones as well.

Pro tip: Use an online subject line checker to help hit the perfect length for your networking email subject line.

2. Time It Right

Your email needs to reach your recipient at the right time.

Most of your prospects want to start the day productively, and any non-urgent email may be overlooked or archived.

As a good rule of thumb, for maximum reach, you should send networking emails (or sales emails) between 8:00 PM and 12:00 AM — when they have the highest rates of opens and engagement.

Avoid sending emails at the end of the workweek and right before a holiday to avoid ending at the bottom of your recipient’s unread pile.

Fortunately, you can use an email outreach tool to schedule your emails in advance so that they go out at the most optimal times.

3. Personalize Your Emails

While sending emails for digital networking, you must directly reference your recipient to increase conversions.

You can do this through personalized emails that use personalized subject lines.

Mentioning details like a recipient’s name, job title, company, etc., is a great way to show your email recipients that you’ve handcrafted the networking, marketing, or sales emails for them. This makes it easier for you to forge a connection with the prospect and get a response.

And with the help of an email marketing tool, you can easily personalize the subject line and body of your networking email campaigns at scale.

4. Ask for Advice — Not Favors

Never directly ask the recipient for a favor whenever you write a networking email.

Why?
It’s obvious that you’re only emailing to get something out of them. Instead, opt for a slower, more organic approach, where you ask for advice and build a genuine connection first.

5. Conduct a Quality Check

As your subject line is the first thing a reader will see, it better be perfect.

There should be no spelling errors, no grammatical mistakes, and no unclear information — your writing should be flawless.

You can always use an online subject line checker to help you write a good subject line. A subject line checker rates your subject line on different variables like word length, engagement, and readability to ensure that it’s perfect.

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Given the significance of networking email subject lines, you can’t afford to mess them up.

To give your networking email campaigns the boost they need, you need a powerful email outreach tool like GMass.

How GMass Can Help with Your Networking Email Campaigns

Gmass

GMass is a powerful email marketing and marketing automation tool that helps you send email campaigns from the comfort of your Gmail inbox.

It’s got tons of features to boost your networking email’s open rate, click-through rate, and response rate in no time!

GMass is preferred by employees of large companies like Google, LinkedIn, and Twitter for its advanced outreach capabilities. The tool’s also perfect for you if you’re a casual sender, marketer, business owner, or startup founder.

Here’s how GMass can help you craft effective email campaigns:

To start using GMass, download the GMass Chrome extension and sign up for a free trial with your Gmail account.

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Next, I’ll answer some FAQs related to networking email subject lines:

3 Networking Email Subject Line FAQs

Here are the answers to three commonly asked questions related to networking email subject lines:

1. Why Are Networking Email Subject Lines So Important?

Everyone’s heard that a great subject line is vital to email success.

But why?
Here’s what research says:

  • 69% of email recipients send an email to their spam folder based on its subject line.
  • 47% of email recipients opened an email based on its subject line alone.
  • Personalized subject lines are 22% more likely to be opened.

Your email’s subject line plays a massive role in whether the networking email is successful or not. Your subject line can be the difference between making a valuable connection and getting blocked by a recipient.

2. What Does a Good Networking Email Subject Line Look Like?

An effective networking email subject line should be attractive and informative to grab your recipient’s attention and persuade them to open your email.

Besides being compelling and to the point, effective subject lines should speak to the prospect and inspire action. This not only increases the odds of your message being opened, but it also appears relevant to the recipient and enhances their reading experience.

3. What Should I Put in a Networking Email Subject Line?

The best networking email subject lines will have a personal touch that sets them apart from other generic subject lines.

Besides including the recipient’s name, add something memorable like an event where you met or the subject of a blog post they recently published. Cover all of these within about 40 characters, and you’ll end up with an excellent networking email subject line.

Go back to Contents

Wrapping Up

Crafting a professional networking subject line can be challenging, but it’s not rocket science.

Your networking email subject line should be concise, clear, personalized, and actionable.

And while there are several aspects to take care of when crafting your networking email subject lines, tools like GMass can help make things a lot easier.

With GMass, you can automatically personalize your networking emails, schedule them to go out at optimal times, send out automated follow-ups, and do so much more.

Sign up for GMass today to streamline your networking email process!

Ready to send better emails and save a ton of time?


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Need to send an email to multiple recipients?

Whether it’s an email marketing campaign or just a message to your club members, this post has everything you need to know about sending an email to multiple people at once.

In this article, I’ll show you how to send an email to a multiple recipient list with Outlook and Gmail.

However, both Outlook and Gmail have serious limitations in emailing multiple people.
That’s why I’ll even cover how to do it using a powerful email outreach tool.

Just follow this walk-through guide, and you’ll be sending mass emails in no time!

This Article Contains:

(Click on the links below to jump to a particular section)

Let’s get started.

Using the BCC field (Blind Carbon Copy) in Outlook and Gmail is an easy way to send an email to multiple contacts in your address book. The primary recipient will be unaware of the BCC recipient you’ve attached — which isn’t the case if you use the To address box or CC field.

The process for sending bulk emails is almost similar across services like Yahoo Mail, Hotmail, Outlook, and Gmail.

Here, I’ll discuss the steps for Microsoft Outlook and Gmail.

How To Send Email To Multiple Recipients Using Gmail

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to use the BCC field for sending an email in Gmail:

Note: The BCC method has serious limitations. If you want a far easier and reliable method, jump to this section.

Now on to the BCC method.

Step 1
Open your Gmail account and click Compose to open up the Gmail compose window.

compose

Step 2
Add your subject line and email text.

add subject line

Step 3
Add the primary recipient’s email address of your email in the To line.

If you have multiple addresses in your distribution list, use a comma to separate multiple addresses from one another.

Once you’ve done that, click on the BCC button at the right end of the To address box.

primary recipient

Note: If you want to keep your primary recipient’s address confidential, you can use the undisclosed recipient method

In this case, you include your own email address as an undisclosed recipient in the To field and all the recipients in the BCC field. Both of these are required fields when sending messages to undisclosed recipients.

Step 4
Once you click the BCC button, you can add the address of each hidden recipient to your mail.

multiple bcc

Note: While the primary recipient can’t see who else is added, everyone in the BCC recipient list will know that they’ve been added as a BCC.

Step 5
Click the Send button, and you’re done – you can now send an email to multiple recipients!

Back to Contents

Now, let’s look at doing this in Outlook.

How To Send Email To Multiple Recipients Using Outlook

Follow these steps to send email to multiple contacts in Outlook:

Step 1
Log in to your Outlook account and click on New Email.

Then, under the Options tab, select BCC. The BCC box will now appear for the new message.

new email

click on bcc

Step 2
Next, enter the primary recipient’s email address in the To field.

Enter the email addresses of hidden recipients in the BCC field (leave the CC field blank).

If you have a multiple recipient list, you can separate each address with a comma, semicolon, space or by pressing the enter key.

enter bcc

Step 3
Now, compose your new message and then select the Message tab and click the Send button.

click send

Note: Here, Peter is the primary recipient, and John is the hidden recipient.

The primary recipient can’t see your hidden recipients included in the BCC field, but each BCC recipient will know that they have been BCC’d.

Back to Contents

While using the blind carbon copy method to send an email is straightforward, it has some major drawbacks.

7 Serious Problems of Using Outlook and Gmail for Mass Emailing

Here are a few issues you’ll face if you opt for the BCC (Blind Carbon Copy) sending approach:

1) Recipients Can Mistakenly Reply To All

A major issue with BCC emails is that any of your recipients could mistakenly use the “Reply To All” instead of the “Reply” option to answer an email.

This will broadcast their reply message to all the addresses in the email chain, which could result in an unintentional, embarrassing breach of privacy.

You might even have to send a new email asking people not to reply to all!

2) Limited Number of Bulk Email Addresses

While the BCC feature in Microsoft Outlook and Gmail allows a user to send emails to multiple recipients, the number of such recipients is limited.

The Email Service Provider (ESP) imposes a sending limit of 500 (Outlook) and 2,000 (Gmail), restricting the number of recipients to avoid any suspicious activity.

3) Probability Of Mass Emails To Be Considered Spam

Usually, many internet service providers (ISPs) consider messages with a long list of hidden recipients as spam.
In that case, your recipients may not receive the email, and your IP address may be flagged as spam, hurting your sender reputation.

4) Looks Unprofessional

Remember, all your BCC’d recipients can still see that they’ve been added as a BCC object to your email. They’re aware that there are multiple people added to this email.

This makes the BCC method highly impractical for sending a message in formal contexts.

It looks very unprofessional and will probably leave a bad impression on your recipients. The BCC is an outdated decades-old feature that has practically no role in 2021!

5) Impractical For Mass Emailing

It’s not advisable to use the BCC method for emails with more than ten recipients.

Why?
As you have to manually add each recipient in the required fields, working with more than ten recipients can be unwieldy and prone to error. You could misspell someone’s email address, mistakenly add someone as CC; the list goes on.

Why use an outdated service like BCC, when you have tons of advanced email programs like GMass in the market? They can simplify messaging multiple people to ensure that nothing goes wrong.

6) No Personalization

The BCC feature of Gmail and Outlook doesn’t allow personalized email messages. That’s why it’s a highly impractical method to send pitches and marketing emails.

As you can’t make a connection with each recipient through personalized emails, they’ll receive a bland, generic marketing email message that won’t impress them.

7) No Analytical Data

Gmail or Outlook doesn’t offer you any cutting-edge data insights about your email campaigns.

You won’t know what Gmail or Outlook address opened your email message, when they opened it, what they clicked on, and so on.

While this might not be an issue for personal emails, it’s a major issue for email marketers and salespeople dealing with mass emails. You could have a great mass mail campaign in place, but without the right analytics, you’ll never make the most of it.

Back to Contents

As we’ve seen, you’ll face some major issues when using Outlook and Gmail to email multiple recipients. Instead, let’s look at GMass, an efficient alternative that overcomes all the problems associated with ordinary email services.

The Best Way To Send Email To Multiple Recipients in 2024

gmass

GMass is a powerful email outreach software that lets a user run email campaigns from their Gmail inbox.

Its powerful mail merge feature has made it an extremely popular Chrome extension used by employees from Google and social media platforms like Twitter and LinkedIn.

Different individuals and groups also use GMass to send emails to multiple recipients, such as:

From sending automatically personalized emails to recipients in your address book to in-depth email analytics, GMass has everything you need to send bulk emails!

And its intuitive interface makes it super easy to get started right away.

How To Send Email To Multiple Recipients Using GMass

It’s incredibly easy to send emails to multiple recipients in Gmail using the GMass extension.

Here’s how to begin a mass mail outreach in seconds:

  1. Enter all the email addresses in the “To” field.
  2. Compose your email subject and body.
  3. Hit the “GMass” button (instead of the Gmail send button).

click on gmass icon

That’s it! You won’t have to send multiple emails with the same message over and over again anymore!

The best part?
With GMass, you can protect the privacy of those recipients who object to revealing their details to others. They also won’t know you sent this email to anybody else.

But what if you need to send an email to hundreds of recipients?
You can’t be manually adding each email address, right?

Don’t worry. Here’s a detailed breakdown of the multiple ways GMass can add recipients to your emails:

Method #1: Use Google Contacts

If you use Google Contacts to manage your mailing list, you can easily add them as recipients to your GMass emails. Here’s how:

Step 1
Go to Google Contacts and select the contacts you want to send an email to.
Then, hit the Send email button as shown below.

send email

Step 2
In the new window that pops up, compose your email and hit the GMass button.

gmass button

Method #2: Export Your Contacts To A Google Spreadsheet

Here’s how you can easily add multiple recipients from your mailing list to your GMass emails using a spreadsheet:

Step 1
Go to Google Contacts, select the contacts you want to export, and click Export from the vertical ellipsis menu.

export

Step 2
Click the Export button in the dialog box that opens up.

export button

Step 3
Now, upload the exported CSV file to Google Sheets.

upload csv

Step 4
Delete any extraneous, empty contact columns that are present in the file. This is the unnecessary contact information that GMass may not be able to process.

delete data

Note: at least one column in the sheet should contain email addresses. 

Step 5
Use GMass to connect to the spreadsheet. Here’s a comprehensive guide on how to do this.

connect to spreadsheet

Step 6
GMass will now add all these contacts to the To line in your mail.

If there are multiple recipients, GMass will consolidate these into an alias address that represents all the recipients.

click on gmass

Note: Here, {Given Name} is a personalization variable that GMass uses to auto-personalize the email for each recipient.  

Then, click on the GMass button to send the email, and you’re done!

While this method looks complicated, it’s fairly straightforward. It’s also the easiest way to add a massive distribution list to an email in just a few steps.

Method #3: Use The GMass “Build Email List” Feature

GMass’s powerful Build Email List feature is a great way to easily identify the recipient and add their email address to your emails.

Here’s how this mail merge feature works:
First, type in a keyword in the Gmail search bar and hit search.

click on search

Now, Gmail will show all conversations where that keyword was mentioned.

Then, click on the Build Email List button and GMass will automatically add the email addresses from the search results into a To field in a new Compose window.

red search icon

For example, if you want to send mass emails to everyone who’s talked about ‘project workflow’ with you, run a Gmail search for “project workflow.” Once you get the search results, hit the Build Email List button, and GMass will automatically add all their details to a new email’s “To” field.

As there’s no manual exporting/importing involved here, you should have no difficulty using this method in GMass.

Back to Contents

The Benefits Of Using GMass

Using a dedicated mail merge service like GMass gives you tons of valuable benefits for sending multiple emails.

Here are seven reasons why you should use GMass to send your emails:

  • Automatically personalize your bulk emails, including the subject line, message body, links, images, etc., based on
  • Create automated follow-up sequences to boost recipient engagement. You can also customize all aspects of these follow-up emails, including the duration between them, the number of follow-ups, and more.
  • Analyze your group email performance with the help of detailed email analytics and event notification reports generated in your Gmail inbox. You can analyze the open rate, response rate, bounce rate, etc.
  • Email scheduling so that your emails reach the recipient when they’re ready to engage with you.
  • Set up behavior-based email campaigns customized according to how group members responded to your previous emails.
  • Save any email you send group members as an email template to reuse them for future messages.
  • Use GMass’ powerful capabilities on your smartphone with the GMass add-on for the Gmail app on Android.

To enjoy these benefits, simply download the Chrome extension and sign up using your Gmail account.

Back to Contents

Reach Out To Multiple Recipients Easily With GMass

Sending an email to multiple recipients doesn’t have to be a tough, tiring process.

While the BCC feature in Gmail and Outlook can help, it’s far from ideal. Instead, using email programs like GMass is a much smarter solution for your email sending needs.

With GMass, a user can easily send, manage and tweak bulk emails in seconds to keep things personalized and efficient.

Why not sign up for a free trial and send emails to multiple recipients the right way?

Ready to send better emails and save a ton of time?


GMass is the only tool for marketing emails, cold emails, and mail merge — all inside Gmail. Tons of power but easy to learn and use.


TRY GMASS FOR FREE

Download Chrome extension - 30 second install!
No credit card required
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If you’re a fan of forwarding emails to friends, family, and colleagues, I’ll teach you how to forward emails to a list of addresses in a personalized, trackable way. It’s like a forwarded email meets a mass email.

Email to be forwarded

Why not forward the normal way in Gmail?

In Gmail, forwarding an email is as easy as hitting the Forward button, typing in the recipients into the To field and hitting the Gmail Send button. With Gmail’s new Scheduling feature, you can even schedule when you want the mass forward sent. What you can’t do natively with Gmail, however, is:

  1. Personalize the group forward. Meaning, make each email start with “Hey {FirstName}, check this out…”
  2. Track who you forwarded the email to opened or clicked on links in the forwarded email.

That’s where GMass comes in. When you click the GMass button instead of the Gmail Send button, each person in the To field gets an individual, personalized email, rather than one email going out to everyone. This also means that unlike a traditional email forward, the individual recipients of the forward won’t know who else you forwarded the email to.

GMass acts as a replacement to the traditional Send button in this case.

Add some personalization to the top of the email, make sure Open Tracking and Click Tracking are set, and hit the GMass button instead of the blue Send button.

track opens and clicks

If you’re working late night and want the email sent first thing in the morning, you can also schedule that in the GMass Settings box.

schedule an email

There are other solutions for mass forwarding emails in Gmail, but only GMass allows you to personalize each forward and track opens/clicks while at the same time scheduling the forward. In fact, many users use the GMass button exclusively instead of the Send button on all email, including forwards, replies, and new messages.

How to send a personalized forward to a group of people from a Google Sheet

[Jan 2021 Update] If you have a list of contacts in a Google Sheet, you can easily send a bulk forward to the email addresses in the spreadsheet. You can also personalize the group forward based on the column headings in the Sheet. In this YouTube video, I demonstrate the process.

When would you want to mass forward an email in this way?

Here are just a few of the example scenarios when you’d want to send a mass forward this way:

  1. You received a conference invite and you mass forward it to 20 people that you wish would join you at the conference. When each person receives his own personalized forward, each person will think he’s the only person you forwarded the email to, making them feel really special, and the chances of that person then joining you at the conference just went up 10x.
  2. You received a newsletter that you want all your employees to see. So you might mass forward it to all your employees and want to know who opened the email.
  3. You received a funny joke that you want to forward to a few friends and are curious which friend opened your forwarded email so you can give the friends that didn’t a hard time.
  4. You’ve received an educational email that you think a few of your clients would benefit from. You forward the email using GMass to ten of your clients, but using GMass, since each recipient will get their own forwarded email, each client won’t be able to see the other clients you forwarded the email to.

What does your Sent Mail folder look like after a mass forward?

Here’s a screenshot from my Gmail account after sending a bulk forward. Notice that each address you put in the To field receives its own individual email addressed to just that one person.

Individual mass forwarding

What does the report look like?

You’ll get a report of your mass forward showing how many people received the forward and who opened and clicked on it. Here’s a sample report from the forward above.

The campaign report after sending a group forward shows number of opens and clicks

For more information on GMass’s reports, see the full guide to reports and analytics.

This is NOT a way to forward multiple emails

If you’re wanting to forward multiple emails to multiple people, GMass is not the solution. For that there are other Chrome extensions specialized in batch forwarding multiple emails. What GMass helps you do is forward ONE single email to MULTIPLE PEOPLE in a personalized, tracked, and even scheduled way.

See why GMass has 300k+ users and 7,500+ 5-star reviews


Email marketing. Cold email. Mail merge. Avoid the spam folder. Easy to learn and use. All inside Gmail.


TRY GMASS FOR FREE

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Want to export contacts from Gmail?

Many people export Google contacts and contact groups to create a backup for themselves or import those contacts into another email tool, like Microsoft Outlook.

But how do you export Google contacts in the first place?
Don’t worry. 

This article is a step-by-step guide on how to export contacts from Gmail.

I’ll show you how to do it on both your desktop and mobile.

This Article Contains:

(Click on the links below to jump to a specific section)

Let’s get started.

How to Export Contacts from Gmail

Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to export Google contacts.

Let’s first cover the process for your desktop:

A. For Desktop

Step 1
Log in to your Google email account. Click on the Google App icon (shown by the arrow in the image below) and select the Contacts app from the Google Apps drop-down menu.

This will take you to the Google Contacts website.

Contacts

Alternatively, you can open your Google contact page directly.

Step 2
The Google Contact manager interface will open in a new tab.

Here, from the list of contacts presented, you can select contacts to export from Gmail.

You can:

  • Select contacts individually by hovering your mouse over the email contacts and clicking the checkbox that appears next to each contact.
  • Select All contacts in your Google Contacts folder using the Selection actions icon (indicated by an arrow in the image below.)

All icon

Step 3
After you select contacts to export from your Contacts folder, click on the More actions icon on the top left. Then, click on the Export button.

Alternatively, you can click the Export option in the left sidebar as well.

Three dots button

Step 4
The Export contacts pop-up will appear.

In this contact manager pop-up, you can select whether you want to export:

  • Selected contacts.
  • All email contacts from your Gmail address book.
  • All/selected contacts from a particular Label.

You can also select the file format to transfer contacts.

Google contact manager offers three options for the export format:

  • Google CSV: The Google CSV format is best for backups or to import contacts into another Google account.
  • Outlook CSV: Choose the Outlook CSV format to import contacts into Microsoft Outlook as Outlook contacts.
  • vCard file: This is best for importing multiple contacts into an Apple address book, a CRM, or other applications.

Export contacts

Step 5
Then, click on the Export button to transfer contacts, and the download will automatically begin.

If you selected the CSV file format, you could open it as an Excel spreadsheet, Google Sheet, or a similar program or app to edit or delete duplicate contacts.

Excel sheet

You’re now all set to backup your Google contacts or import / export them into another app.

B. For an Android Device

Currently, you can export Google contacts only from an Android mobile device.

If you use an iOS device, you won’t be able to export Google contacts from your phone — you’ll only be able to sync contacts from Google.

Now, you can export the contacts folder in a VCF format (Virtual Contact File) using the Google Contacts app on an Android device.
Here’s how to do it:

Step 1
Open the Google Contacts app on your Android phone or tablet.

Step 2
Navigate to the Menu icon (indicated by three horizontal lines) on the Google app and go to  Settings.

 

Search contacts icon

Settings tab

Step 3
Click on the Export button to start exporting contacts from your Android phone.

Export button

Step 4
Choose the Gmail account you want to transfer contacts from (you can even choose an additional Google account to export from multiple accounts simultaneously).

Step 5
Tap on Export to .vcf file to export your Android mobile device contacts with the file name contacts.vcf. (Don’t worry, you can rename the file if needed.)

Export to vcf

Currently, it’s not possible to export your Android/iOS mobile device contacts as a CSV format spreadsheet. 

However, you can sync your Android contacts or iPhone contacts from your Android phone/iPhone and create a spreadsheet from them via the web version of the Google Contacts app.

Back to Contents

We’ve seen how you can export Google contacts from a desktop or Android device — but why would anyone want to do that?
Let’s find out.

Why Export Contacts from Gmail?

Gmail allows you to import and export your contact data in various file formats, including CSV format (comma separated value file) and vCard format.

Here are some reasons you could export Gmail contacts:

1. To build an email campaign list

You can create a contact list for email campaigns by exporting contacts from your Gmail contact list as a CSV file (comma separated values).
This saves you the effort of creating a new contact for each campaign recipient.

2. To back up your contact data

You can back up multiple contacts from multiple accounts as an external file in case you lose access to your Google accounts in the future and need your contact information.

3. To add contacts to another email account

You might use the export option on multiple contacts to use them with another Google Gmail account or another email service such as Microsoft Outlook (outlook.com), Yahoo Mail, or Mozilla Thunderbird.

Back to Contents

Clearly, exporting Google Contacts is straightforward enough.

But do you feel like using Gmail to export contact data lacks some advanced functionality?
Maybe you want an export option to gather email IDs belonging to a particular label in your inbox?

Imagine you’re accepting applications for a writer at your business and need to export applicant emails for future use.

You’ve already labeled all applicant emails as “Writer Applicants,” so you need something to help you export only the addresses from the labeled emails. Google Contacts can’t help you here as it maintains different labels from Gmail.

Let’s take a look at an email tool that can do that (and more).

How to Export Google Contacts with GMass

The  GMass Chrome extension allows you to export Gmail contacts easily from a Label in your Google account.

But What Is GMass?

GMass is a powerful email tool used by employees from major companies like Uber, Google, Twitter, and Facebook to improve email outreach. Its powerful mail merge capabilities allow you to send email campaigns from within your Gmail account.

Gmass

GMass can also be used by organizations, schools, and even churches to send targeted email campaigns to their audiences.

Here’s how GMass can help boost your Gmail experience:

But that’s not all! It’s super simple to get started with GMass.
Just install the Chrome extension, and you’re ready to go!

For more reasons why you should use GMass, click here.

Exporting Google Contacts with GMass

GMass’ Build Email List feature scrapes your Gmail account for email addresses based on any search criteria. This method finds all of the From, To, and Reply-To addresses in a specific Gmail Label.

Here’s how easy it’s to export the Google contact list in a particular Gmail Label with GMass:

Step 1
Open Gmail and click on the Label you want to export Gmail contacts from so that you can view only the messages in the Label.

The Gmail search bar at the top should say something like in:[Label Name].

Graphic designer tab

In my case, I have a Gmail Label called “Graphic Designer” in my email account, which contains emails from a bunch of potential graphic designers I’m considering hiring.

Step 2
Click the red magnifying glass button next to the search bar.

Wait for GMass to scrape the new Google contacts in the Label.

Search icon

You’ll see that GMass is chugging through your Label.

Gmass notification

Step 3
All of the addresses that were found in the Label will show up in the To field of the Gmail Compose window.

New message window

And that’s it!

You can copy/paste these addresses into a CSV file, a Google Sheet, or anywhere else you want to import Google contacts to place your newly exported contacts list.

Back to Contents

Still have questions about Google Contacts?
Don’t worry! I’ve got you covered.

5 FAQs About Google Contacts

Here are some of the most asked questions about exporting contacts from Google:

1. How Can I Turn The Automatic Contact Backup Feature Off or On? (For Android)

When you set up a Google Account on your Android, you can decide whether to automatically backup your data, including your Google contacts. You can always change this setting later.

Here’s how to do it:

  • Open the Settings app on your Android device.
  • Go to System > Backup.
  • Set Backup to Google Drive to On or Off.

Backup

2. How Can I Restore Contacts from Backups? (For Android)

Here’s how you can restore contacts from backups:

  • Go to Settings on your Android phone.
  • Tap on Google > Set Up & Restore > Restore Contacts.

Set up

Restore contacts

  • If you use multiple Google accounts, tap on From account and choose which account to restore contacts from.
  • Select the phone you want to copy the contacts to.

Current device

  • If you don’t need to copy contacts from your SIM card or phone contact storage, turn off Device storage or SIM card.
  • Tap on Restore and wait to see the Contacts restored alert.

Restore button

  • Your phone will only restore the contacts it doesn’t already have, and your restored contacts will sync to your Google Account and all related devices.

Note: You can’t restore backup data from a higher Android system to a device running a lower version. For example, you can’t restore an Android 11 backup to a phone running Android 10.

3. Where Can I Find Contacts Automatically Added By Gmail?

Gmail automatically adds new contacts to your address book when you reply to emails or forward emails to new addresses.

You can find these contacts in the Other contacts folder in Google contacts.

other contacts

4. How Can I Prevent Gmail from Adding Contacts Automatically?

If you don’t want Gmail to automatically add contacts to your address book, follow these steps:

  • In Gmail, click on the gear icon in the top-right corner.
  • Click on see all settings.
  • In the General tab, go to Create contacts for auto-complete.
  • Choose I’ll add contacts myself.
  • Click on Save Changes at the bottom.

Settings

5. How Can I Import Gmail Contact Data to Outlook?

To import your Google Contacts into Microsoft Outlook – first, export the contacts from Google as a CSV file for  Outlook contacts.

Once you have the exported contacts, follow these steps:

  • Open Outlook and click on File > Open & Export > Import/Export.
  • Select Import from another program or file > Next.
  • Click on Comma Separated Values > Next.
  • When the Import a File box opens, browse and choose the Outlook contacts CSV file.
  • Decide on how you want Outlook to handle duplicate contacts, then click on Next.
  • When the Select a destination folder window appears, you can choose the Contacts folder and click Next.
  • Click on Finish to complete moving the exported contacts.

Next button

Back to Contents

Wrap Up

Now that you know how to export your Gmail contact data, you’re all set to back up your address book or add imported contacts to another email app.

However, remember that no other email client gives you as much functionality as Gmail does.

With the help of powerful extensions like GMass, Gmail provides unmatched efficiency and productivity for email sending and management. Don’t just take my word for it — install the GMass Chrome Extension to boost your email performance today!

See why 99% of users say they’ve had their best deliverability ever with GMass


Email marketing, cold email, and mail merge all in one tool — that works inside Gmail


TRY GMASS FOR FREE

Download Chrome extension - 30 second install!
No credit card required
Love what you're reading? Get the latest email strategy and tips & stay in touch.
   


When developing a Chrome extension, you might need to get an XMLHttpRequest that’s part of a content script to send cookies for a domain when making a request to that domain, if the origin is not that domain. Not much has been written about how to do this.

Dana Woodman, a Chrome extension developer discusses how to do this, but she makes a mistake, claiming that you need to designate the “cookies” permission in your manifest.json. This is not accurate. You can designate the “cookies” permission in manifest.json, but you only need to do that if you want to access cookie data separately from an XmlHttpRequest. Additionally, she makes a mistake that 99% of Chrome extension developers make, assuming that you have to put your domain in the “permissions” field in order to make cross-origin web requests to it.

There are a few Stack Overflow threads like this one and this one that explain the issue, but they also leave out key details and insights.

In this article, I’ll break down exactly what you need to do to pass along cookies to cross-origin XmlHttpRequests in a Chrome extension.

Why would anyone ever want to do this to begin with?

So that your web server endpoint for your Chrome extension can authenticate a user. If part of your Chrome extension setup is to let the user authenticate via a webpage, then you probably set a cookie or a session ID for that authenticated user. If your Chrome extension then makes XHR requests to your web server as part of its functionality, you’ll want to pass cookies along so that you know what user you’re dealing with.

First, let’s clarify the issue of placing “hosts” in the “permissions” field:

Most Chrome extension developers assume that if their website is www.mydomain.com, and their Chrome extension makes XHR requests to www.mydomain.com, then you must put www.mydomain.com in the permissions field of your manifest file. This is simply not true.

I can understand why developers are confused about this though; Google’s documentation on using hosts in the permissions section of manifest.json is poor. The document doesn’t even mention the reason for listing a host, other than to “give access to one or more hosts”. But what does “give access” mean? Furthermore, while the page on match patterns offers a hint at what the purpose of hosts in the permissions field are, clicking on the “host permissions” definition on this page takes you back to the original permissions page with this URL (https://developer.chrome.com/apps/declare_permissions#host-permissions) and unfortunately there is no content tagged with #host-permissions on that page. This is probably an error on Google’s part. SO, we are left to figure out what the purpose of “hosts” in the permissions field ON OUR OWN.

It used to be (prior to Chrome 85) that you could avoid caring about the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header if you placed www.mydomain.com in the “permissions” field of the manifest. It used to be that to make cross origin XHR requests, listing your domain in the permissions field was only needed if the web server for the domain doesn’t already allow cross-origin requests. But now, with Chrome’s new CORS security policy as of Chrome 85, to make any cross-origin XHR request from a content script, the server has to respond with an appropriate Access-Control-Allow-Origin header. So, let’s say you’re making a cross-origin request to www.facebook.com from your content script. Well, now, just having www.facebook.com in the “permissions” field isn’t enough. You would need to ensure that Access-Control-Allow-Origin for www.facebook.com was set to * or your actual content script’s origin. Now, this only applies to content scripts. If you’re making cross origin XHR requests from a background script, then as long as the domain is listed in “permissions”, it doesn’t matter if Access-Control-Allow-Origin isn’t present or isn’t set right.

If the only reason you’re putting your domain in the permissions field is so you can make AJAX XHR requests to it, then don’t do it. Just handle it on the web server by setting the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header. Since the fact that a domain is listed in the “permissions” field of manifest.json no longer means you can make cross-origin requests to it from an extension’s content script, the “permissions” field has essentially become devalued.

There are OTHER reasons you may need a host in the permissions field, EVEN IF the host already has the Access-Control-Allow-Origin header set to *. If you need programatic access to the host’s cookies, and you declare the “cookies” permission in the manifest, then you’ll also need to declare the host in the permissions field. This is only if you need to access the cookies without making an XHR request. The documentation on the cookies permission field states that “To use the cookies API, you must declare the “cookies” permission in your manifest, along with host permissions for any hosts whose cookies you want to access.”

It’s important to understand this because at some point in the evolution of your Chrome extension, you may find that you separate your web server into www.mydomain.com and extension.mydomain.com, so that your marketing website can live at www.mydomain.com and your extension makes calls to extension.mydomain.com. Since Chrome extensions don’t allow you to future-proof your code you may have missed putting extension.mydomain.com in the permissions when you first launched. And if you add it later, your extension will become disabled for everyone until they accept your new permissions, which can be catastrophic to the user base for an extension. So, instead of updating the permissions field, you only need to set your server to allow cross origin requests.

It’s also important to understand this because you don’t want to scare off users when they click the “Install” button and get the permissions warning popup. If you list hosts in “permissions”, the user will be told that you want to have the ability to change the data on those sites. If you don’t, and just handle it via the the web server, you can reduce potentially scary permissions warnings.

Now, let’s talk about sending cookies over the wire with XmlHttpRequests.

Now that you understand what is and isn’t required to make cross origin requests, let’s talk about sending cookies with these requests.

First, you do not need to declare the “cookies” permission in your manifest.json, even though most developers assume you do. Google doesn’t do a good job of explaining what this “cookies” permission is for, but it’s NOT for passing along cookies in XHR requests. And as discussed above, you don’t necessarily need to declare the host in your “permissions” field either.

There are three things you need to make sure of to do this:

  1. Set withCredentials=true in your XMLHttpRequest. Here’s a more detailed explanation of when .withCredentials is necessary. It’s not necessary for non-cross origin requests, so if the XHR call is being made from the same domain as the destination domain of the XHR request, then .withCredentials has no effect. But for a Chrome extension’s content script the “origin” is the “web origin that the content script has been injected into”, and so you’re almost always making a cross-origin request when making an XHR call.
  2. Make sure that the cookie(s) that you want to transmit to the server via the XHR request were originally set with the SameSite=None and Secure attributes. This is a new requirement in 2020. If Chrome has stored 100 cookies for www.mydomain.com and you make an XHR request from mail.google.com to www.mydomain.com, only the cookies out of the 100 that have those two attributes set will be transmitted. You can see exactly what cookies are transmitted by going to the “Cookies” sub-tab in the specific network row in the Network tab. If a cookie is not transmitted, hover over the “i” circular icon for an explanation as to why.
  3. If your code needs access to the XHR request’s response, make sure the AccessControlAllowOrigin header of your server response is NOT set to *. This isn’t allowed. If you do this, then your XHR request set with withCredentials=true will be sent along with all compliant cookies, BUT your content script won’t have access to the response from the XHR request. This error will be logged in the console:Access to XMLHttpRequest at 'https://www.domain.com/ReceiveCookies' from origin 'https://mail.google.com' has been blocked by CORS policy: The value of the 'Access-Control-Allow-Origin' header in the response must not be the wildcard '*' when the request's credentials mode is 'include'. The credentials mode of requests initiated by the XMLHttpRequest is controlled by the withCredentials attribute.So if your content script code needs access to the web server’s response, AccessControlAllowOrigin needs to be set more specifically to the origin from which the request is being made. In my case, that is https://mail.google.com since my extension works inside Gmail. Now IF you only care about transmitting a request to the server for processing and not reading the server’s response, you actually don’t need to bother with this. For example, you can make a cross-origin XHR request that SETS a cookie even though AccessControlAllowOrigin is *, but your code won’t be able to read a JSON response or any kind of response because access to it will be blocked.What you see in Chrome Dev Tools can be deceptive. In the case where you make an XHR request and set withCredentials=true, but Access-Control-Allow-Origin=*, the item will show as RED in Chrome Dev Tools and the Console will show an error too, BUT in actuality, compliant cookies were transmitted as part of the response, and any cookies set by the server are received in the response and set by the browser. It’s just that because Access-Control-Allow-Origin was *, your JavaScript code can’t read the XHR request’s response.Access-Control-Allow-Origin-asterisk
    with credentials false
    Even more confusing is if I set withCredentials=false, then the item is NOT RED, everything looks normal, except the cookies aren’t transmitted, as expected, since that’s the whole point of withCredentials=false. BUT, the response has a Set-Cookie header that is trying to SET COOKIES, and this WILL FAIL, AND NOT SET THE COOKIE, but you’ll be none the wiser because Dev Tools makes it look like everything worked.

    set cookie failed

    Even the Cookies tab on that Network request makes it seem like everything worked:

    network tab red indicator not accurate

    So the lesson is that whether the line in the Network tab is red or not is not an accurate indication of whether a cookie was SET based on the Set-Cookie header in the Response.

If the Network tab in Dev Tools doesn’t show you the cookies…

A recent update to the Chrome Developer Tools made using the Network tab a lot trickier. If you’re using the Network tab to monitor your XHR requests your Chrome extension is making, you’ll often see “Provisional headers shown” for the Request Headers, and you won’t see a Cookie section, so you’ll assume Cookies aren’t being sent. Perhaps you won’t then even try to retrieve the cookie on the server side. It took me a long time to figure this one out. This stack overflow article explains that a recent change to Chrome has made it so that you have to modify a few Chrome flags (chrome://flags) if you want to see the full headers, including any cookies being sent.

Once you make that change, you’ll see that your cookies are being sent.

Bonus #1: How to control the Access-Control-Allow-Origin in IIS 8 and higher

I run everything on IIS, so in order for me to set the header to https://mail.google.com for some calls and * for other calls, I need to:

  1. Install the IIS CORS Module from the Web Platform Installer.
  2. Modify my web.config and add code that looks like this:<cors enabled="true" failUnlistedOrigins="true">
    <add origin="*" />
    <add origin="https://mail.google.com"
    allowCredentials="true"
    maxAge="120"></add>
    <add origin="http://*" allowed="false" />
    </cors>The header is generated based on specificity. So if the origin is actually https://mail.google.com, then AccessControlAllowOrigin will be set to https://mail.google.com. Otherwise, it will be set to *.

Bonus #2: How to set the SameSite and Secure attributes for a cookie in .NET.

This isn’t as easy as it sounds. Microsoft only first introduced support for the SameSite attribute for cookies in .NET 4.7.2, so if you’re using 4.6.1 like me, then you can’t set this property. You could upgrade your entire production environment to 4.7.2, but that could create unforseen side effects without a lot of testing. Fortunately there’s another way. You can simply add the Set-Cookie header to your methods yourself and control exactly how the cookie is set in the browser. Here’s how I do it:

public ActionResult SetExtensionInstallCookie()

{

/*HttpCookie cookie = new HttpCookie("GMassExtensionInstall", "yes");

cookie.Expires = DateTime.UtcNow.AddYears(1);

//cookie.SameSite = SameSiteMode.None;

Response.SetCookie(cookie);*/

HttpContext.Response.Headers.Add("Set-Cookie", "GMassExtensionInstall=yes; expires=Sun, 21-Sep-2025 03:40:10 GMT; path=/; SameSite=None; Secure");

var json = Json(new

{

success = true

}, JsonRequestBehavior.AllowGet);

return json;

}

 

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Today the GMass team is launching a new email productivity tool called SearchMyEmail.com. It’s a free tool for bosses and their assistants.

I built SearchMyEmail.com for my own use and am now making it available to the world.

My team members all have the ability to search my Gmail account for information they need to be productive. I get a report of everything they’ve searched for and accessed, so I can rest easy that they aren’t snooping.

This is a solution to comfortably allow people access to your email account without having to fear that they’re searching for something inappropriate like “employee salaries” or “affair”.

For example, my bookkeeper might be working on reconciling my books and sees some Amazon charges, but doesn’t know what I bought. She searches “amazon” using this tool to see what I purchased.

It has personal uses as well. My wife often needs to know my itinerary for an upcoming business trip. She searches “expedia” in my account to get my flight info, so she knows when I’m in the air!

Here’s a bigger list of examples of how this tool can be useful. And here are some screenshots.

It’s much safer and less anxiety-producing than handing over my Gmail account password (never do that), because now I know what everyone is looking at, and I don’t have to be bothered with

Email marketing, cold email, and mail merge inside Gmail


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We recently noticed inflated open rates across campaigns, and upon a detailed examination, we found that Gmail has been triggering false opens on emails since May of 2018.

Specifically, Gmail has been triggering opens via a bot as soon as an email is received by a Gmail user, and Gmail triggers the open from one of many Google IP addresses with this specific User Agent:

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 10.0; Win64; x64) AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko) Chrome/42.0.2311.135 Safari/537.36 Edge/12.246 Mozilla/5.0

By analyzing all the IP addresses that downloaded our open tracking pixel with this specific User Agent, we are confident that all the opens from this User Agent are false opens.

Additionally, opens from this User Agent happen within seconds after sending an email. We recently added a time designation to the “open” notifications that GMass users receive in the GMass Reports  –> Opens Label. The Subject line of the notification shows how much time has elapsed between the email sending and the email opening. All of the “false” opens are recorded in mere seconds after the email is sent:

The “open” events that happen under a minute after the email is sent are likely false opens.

In GMass’s lifetime, as of today, approximately 307 million total email opens have been recorded across all campaigns across all users. Today’s analysis shows that this User Agent first started appearing in our open tracking logs in May of 2018 at a fairly infrequent rate of about 500,000 incidences per 20 million recorded opens, or a false open rate of 2.5%. This steadily increased over time to an incidence rate of 1.3 million per the 20 million most recently recorded opens, or a false open rate of 6.5%. That means that at most your open rates on past campaigns may go down by 6.5%, but likely less than 6.5%.

How good are you at percentage math? Assuming your open rate goes down by 5%, this does NOT mean that a campaign that previously had a 20% open rate will now have a 15% open rate. It means that a campaign that previously had a 20% open rate will now have a 19% open rate (19% is 5% less than 20%).

The Google Image Proxy

Several years ago, Google introduced the Google Image Proxy, which is a system by which images are downloaded in Gmail not from the source server, but via a proxy operated by Google. The whole concept of “open tracking” in email campaigns relies on a unique one-pixel image being downloaded.

The purpose of inserting the proxy between the end recipient and the email marketing service’s server was to obfuscate the location of the download, preventing companies like GMass and MailChimp from knowing the details of the “open”, such as the location and device used to open the email. The proxy still allowed ESPs to know IF an email was opened, however.

This new behavior is a separate issue from the Google Image Proxy, and Litmus has also found this to be the case.

The Google Image proxy uses a variety of User Agents, such as:

Mozilla/5.0 (Windows NT 5.1; rv:11.0) Gecko Firefox/11.0 (via ggpht.com GoogleImageProxy)

but always includes this bit:

(via ggpht.com GoogleImageProxy)

An open triggered by the Google Image Proxy does seem to be a real human opening an email, however an open triggered by the previously mentioned User Agent seems to be an open triggered by a Google bot.

The irony is therefore, that the User Agent that looks like a bot is actually a human, while the User Agent that looks like a human is actually the bot.

We have deleted millions of opens

In order to accurately convey open statistics to our users, we have deleted the approximately 4.5 million false open records from our system, and updated campaign reports will reflect this. If you notice your open rates drop on a campaign, it’s because we have deleted these false opens.

Going forward, we won’t count these as real opens

As of today, opens that originate from this User Agent will be ignored by GMass and not counted in your campaign reports.

Why did it take so long for us to notice?

First, wishful thinking. You see high open rates, and you want to believe it’s true. Why investigate something that’s making you look like an email marketing rockstar?

Secondly, the User Agent looks like a regular, normal User Agent. It looks like a real browser being used by a real human. Shame on Google for doing this in such a sneaky way.

Thirdly, it seems that not many other email marketing services have noticed either. We belong to a number of email marketing industry associations and discussion groups, and this issue hasn’t been mentioned at all. In fact, the only other mention of this issue I could find was in this Litmus discussion.

Other sources of false opens

Unfortunately, the mysterious Google bot isn’t the only source of false opens. It’s possible for you, the user to trigger a false open on behalf of your recipient as well, as we explain in this post on why your open tracking stats may be inaccurate.

The good news is that we now have a solution to this problem — such that if you open an email from your Sent Mail, or you open a bounce notification, an “open” will not be triggered.

Unrelated, but interesting SEO find

I’ve reported before how Google doesn’t rank its own content over others. This is the case with the Google Image Proxy. If you Google “Google Image Proxy”, you’ll see articles from x, y, and z, but the official Google announcement on the introduction of the proxy is all the way on page X! Go figure!

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