Whether you’re writing your first ever “cold” email or you’re a seasoned sales professional looking to spice up your outreach, this article is for you.

This is your guide to writing effective messaging to potential candidates that will guarantee higher open and response rates. For big-picture advice on creating impactful drip campaigns, this article discusses things like pacing, timing, and volume.

First, create your drip campaign under “Campaigns” on the RecruitBot platform.

Before you begin, it’s important to consider who the email is being sent from (or, who the recipient thinks the email is from).

You may want to set up an email subdomain for added security. We also recommend these other tricks to maximize deliverability and ensure your outreach is getting to those inboxes.

A subdomain (and the other tips above) will help your outreach bypass any technological barriers, but now that your email is in their inbox, what will prompt the candidates to actually click and open it?

Candidates are more likely to open an email from a CEO (or other hiring managers like tech leads or whatever) than most other positions. In our personal experience, we have consistently seen a 10 point lift from emails sent from our CX Manager vs. "from" our CEO. Consider that this depends on your situation– salespeople are more likely to respond to other salespeople, candidates may be inclined to network with certain managers and so on.

In reality, they are all being sent from our CX Manager (thanks Steve! 😊). However, because one of our collaboration features is to send outreach on behalf of a teammate, you can easily increase open rates by sending emails “from” the CEO.

Learn more about this feature and other ways you can use RecruitBot for an easier, collaborative recruiting process.

While each message should be representative of your brand, voice, etc., we've pinpointed some universal trends that just work (regardless of industry or anything else).

Through our research internally and with our users, we’ve identified a few simple strategies that lead to incredibly successful outreach.

Your first message should contain a concise list of all the reasons why this opportunity is exciting to the candidate. This should not be an application prompt. You are reaching out to them because they are already a potential hire, someone you could imagine working with. If your message comes off as a prompt for them to apply, their excitement toward this opportunity diminishes.

Imagine you met someone at a party/event that struck you as a suitable candidate. You would give them a brief elevator pitch-esque rundown of why it’d be a good match. The tone is informative yet conversational and personable.

Hi ##{{candidate_firstname}},

I'm Jeremy, the CEO of RecruitBot. I wanted to reach out because I'm impressed with your [react and scala background at Company XYZ] and thought you might be interested in having a big impact at a smaller, rapidly-growing company.

We're a machine learning-based recruiting software company that automates the process of identifying and contacting the ideal candidates. (It's how we found you, actually!)

Think about how big of a transformation DevOps was; we’re trying to do the same for recruiting, by empowering the hiring manager.

I'd love to discuss RecruitBot and the opportunity over a (virtual?) coffee sometime soon. Interested?

Best,

Jeremy

Your second message should just be a “quick ping”– a reminder of the opportunity at hand and maybe a bit more information about your company or the role (at your discretion).

Again, this was the “party” encounter example, you wouldn’t badger the person if they weren’t super responsive. Instead, you would just politely remind them that they shouldn’t let this chance go by, especially since [insert concise additional information here]!

Hey ##{{candidate_firstname}},

Just following up on my previous message. Don't worry if you haven't had a chance to respond -- I know it's impossible to keep up with the onslaught of emails these days.

Seriously, if this seems worth 30 minutes of your time, let me know! No expectations, I promise.

Best,

Jeremy

THIRD OUTREACH

Your third and final message should be a “breakup” email.

One “last chance”, final reminder, hail mary, last call or however you want to phrase it, this message should be concise and to the point. You don’t need to be too aggressive here because the idea of an opportunity slipping through their grasp applies enough pressure in itself.

And, very much like a stranger at a party who has not expressed any interest, you leave them alone.

With our database of 200+ million candidates, you’re likely to find “the one”. So just keep the drip campaign machine going and wait for them to come to you– isn’t this a better way to recruit? 😎

Hi ##{{candidate_firstname}},

I figured I’d try to connect with you one last time before I stop sending these emails to you. Sorry for being so persistent, but I really do think that you’d be a great fit with us!

Anyway, I’m really hoping to hear back from you, but if I don’t, all the best in your future endeavors.

–Jeremy