# Personalized Cold Emails: How to Write Them at Scale _Seen your cold email campaign results go down quite a bit over the years? Don’t worry, personalized cold emails fix this. Here’s how…_ Up until not too long ago as a sales rep or lead generation professional you could get away with being a bit lazy (pro tip: you still can, just keep reading). You would load up a big list of prospects into your mail merge software, throw some merge tags in there, and the leads would start rolling in. “Hi {{firstName}}, seeing how you’re the {{jobTitle}} at {{companyName}}…" However, generic, mass emails aren’t as effective anymore. [Research by the LinkedIn team shows](https://twitter.com/linkedinselling/status/523156507966582786) that buyers respond much better to emails that are actually personalized to them, improving click-through rates by 14 percent and conversion rates by 10 percent. Some of our users have reported that in some cases response rates can even go up by 300 percent when applying hyper-personalization to cold emails. Being faced with ambitious growth targets and nearing deadlines it can sometimes be tempting to rely on mass emails. However, this usually ends up working against you. **So to sum up:** - [Personalized cold emails](https://lyne.ai/how-to-personalize-a-cold-email-5-step-framework/) will increase your response and conversion rates, sometimes up to even 300% - Just using merge tags is NOT personalization - Sending out unique content will help you maneuver around spam filters ### Just using {{firstName}} and {{companyName}} doesn’t cut it anymore You might be thinking “but I use my prospects’ first name in my [subject lines](https://lyne.ai/7-best-subject-line-for-reconnecting-email-2022/) — what’s wrong with that? Short answer? Nothing. If you’re seeing an increase in open rates with that in comparison to other, pattern-breaking subject lines, then that’s perfectly fine. But relying on just the basic merge tags anyone has access to is no longer enough to see results. If you’re short on time but still want to generate leads through cold email then segmentation is probably the best way to go. **Turn your usual, generic list into smaller lists segmented by:** - Industry - Geographic region - Time zone - Other relevant info (school they went to, skills, etc.) You can then use that for personalization in your emails. Mentioning something relevant to the school they went to, the city they’re in, or industry they’re in will not only come across as more personal — it will also feel a lot more relevant for the recipient. ## The solution: personalized cold emails Actually writing a personalized message to each of your prospects will yield you far better results both in the longer and the shorter term. Finding common ground and showing you respect their time enough to write them a personal message is unarguably the best way to start a new relationship with potential buyers. Not only will you see better conversions on your first touch points, but [evidence shows that your prospects are far more likely to engage with you on your follow-ups as well](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/ansleybrad_personalizing-an-email-will-give-you-better-activity-6785172485026443264-GRUH/). Some great options are mentioning the result of their favorite sports team, a recent blog they posted, or an obscure hobby they have that you found out about from their LinkedIn bio. ## Speeding up the process: personalized introductions While it’s important to hit my numbers on the top of the funnel, the bottom of the funnel needs love too and that’s where a lot of my time is spent as well. **Enter: personalized first lines, or intros.** By using personalized first lines, then adding them to your emails using a merge tag, you can reach out in a hyper-personalized way at scale. Moreover, a personalized first few lines will help you stand out from the pack even before your prospects open your email. Given the 120 character preview on GSuite, your prospects can already take a peek at what’s inside and see if you pass the visual "generic sales pitch or not" check. ## Where to find the best information to write personalized cold emails ### Crunchbase Crunchbase offers information on funding rounds, acquisitions, company news, and offers other insights and analysis. ### LinkedIn Sales Navigator While great for doing research on your target market and finding new prospects, Sales Navigator also offers the opportunity to keep you in the loop on some great personalization opportunities. ### LinkedIn about sections Most people who are serious about developing their careers will keep their LinkedIn profiles updated. As a sales professional, this is your best opportunity to reach out in a personal way without spending too much time. ### Website about sections Chances are, the company you’re reaching out to has an “about” section where they present their team. These sections are usually a good place to find out more about your prospect. ### Social media (but don’t be a creep..) While it can be a good idea to find common ground, proceed with caution here. Some great (and safe) social media activities to look for would be recent Tweets or LinkedIn articles. ## Automate everything – use Lyne.ai to write personalized cold emails for you Writing personalized introductions to every potential buyer on your list will save you a lot of time compared to writing a full email. However, it’s still a major time suck to manually research 50+ people per day. By using an AI model **trained specifically for this one use case**, Lyne can help you write **thousands of introductions per hour** by scanning each of your prospect’s online profiles. We then use that information as input to write a personal note to the person in question. Using {{mergetags}} to personalize cold emails.