Cold Mailing: What is the Optimal Word Count for Best Results?

illustration: bing.com/create

The study was conducted by Ziemek Bućko, content manager at Hunter.io, a platform for finding email addresses. The results of the analysis and the conclusions drawn from it were published on the company blog: What’s the Best Word Count for Cold Emails.

Bućko analyzed data from 34 million emails requesting contact to determine the optimal length of the sent message in terms of obtaining a response. The results indicate that shorter emails requesting contact have a higher response rate than longer ones.

• The average reply rate for the entire sample was 3.7%.
• Emails with a length of 20-39 words had statistically the highest response rate (4.5%).
• Messages with a length of 60-79 words (4%), 80-99 words (4%), and... 160-179 words (also 4%) achieved results clearly above the average.

The conclusion: shorter emails are more likely to be read and replied to. This is valuable advice for those who are engaged in prospecting and sales on a daily basis.

This also signals that the most frequently cited guidelines from Boomerang, recommending cold emails of 50-125 words, are now outdated. Moreover, as Ziemek Bućko emphasizes, they date back to 2016, which in the evolution of e-marketing is prehistoric. Furthermore, many commentators have overinterpreted some of the conclusions from the Boomerang study regarding its scope and methodology.

Length Matters, But...

However, the Hunter.io analyst emphasizes that the length of the email requesting contact is just one of many factors influencing the response rate. Other equally important factors include:

• Subject line: It should be clear, concise, and compelling enough to encourage the email to be opened.
• Message content: It should be personalized, valuable, and contain a call to action.
• Target audience: Emails requesting contact should be sent to the right people who are potentially interested in your offer.

From here, it’s easy to conclude that the optimal length of an email is a statistical curiosity that alone will not guarantee success. It is one of the factors worth considering from a UX perspective, but the key to success lies in the proper combination of all elements of the cold mailing puzzle.

For more information and data regarding the analysis, visit: https://hunter.io/blog/cold-email-word-count/

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