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So, you’ve taken up the task of doing cold email outreach for your B2B business, but you don’t know where to start…
The first step will be picking a sending software that you will use to contact a large amount of leads at scale, automatically.
Now, I’m going to assume one thing with this guide – you are looking for the email sending tool that will bring you the best performance & and will allow you to scale your cold email efforts without paying insane prices.
This is NOT going to be a guide for someone who wants the easiest way out! Using the preferred sending tool will include a few hours of extra work (but in return, you will get much better results from your campaign. )
Let’s go over what a good cold email sending software includes.
- Ease of use
- Performance
- Tracking & Analytics
- Automation capabilities
- CRM integration
- Pricing & Scalability
Now, if you go to ChatGPT and ask it “What the best cold email sending software?”, it will give you a list of software that are:
- All-in-one (leads, sending, CRM, etc)
- Extremely expensive
- Hard to use
If you’ve ever used one of these, you can understand why these software options make sending automated cold emails profoundly inefficient.
Sooo, I put together a comparison of the top cold email-sending software options that you might be considering (and some that you may have not heard of yet…)
Okay, let’s get into the main software options that you can leverage to send thousands of cold emails every day without costing you an arm and leg.
It comes down to these options:
Smartlead.ai
Smartlead stands out with its sophisticated automation features, including unlimited mailboxes, automated email warmups, and a multi-channel outreach system that goes beyond email to include social platforms.
Their customer service is the best in the game with constant real human support representatives ready to truly go the extra mile to help you set up your cold email campaigns.
Their robust API is what enabled our agency to build out a fully custom Airtable Inbox manager that saves us $2,000 a month and over 12 hours every week with inbox management.
This would be almost impossible, or take 10x more resources to build with any of the other automated email-sending software.
Another plus of the platform is being able to white label its software to match your branding. This is especially useful when you are running a cold email lead generation agency and give your clients access to the platform during the partnership.
Overall, out of all the sending tools available, Smartlead is the one that will bring the best email automation, third-party accessibility, and many other features that will deem it to be the best option on the market.
Their comprehensive approach is designed to maximize engagement and deliverability, ensuring that your campaigns reach your target audience effectively.
Not to mention that if you are looking to send a major volume of cold emails to specific decision-makers, Smartlead will be the most cost-effective version. The other platforms will end up costing the same amount as an ad campaign would cost, 4-5 figures for the same exact input you can get from Smartlead.
Instantly.ai
Instantly.ai also offers robust cold email capabilities, with its highlights being the ability to connect unlimited email accounts and utilize an extensive warmup pool to enhance email deliverability.
The platform also facilitates inbox rotation and provides detailed analytics on campaign performance, aiding in the optimization of your outreach efforts
Though not as robust as Smartlead’s API, you are still able to use third-party integrations very easily with Zapier to automate with existing CRMs, B2B advertising platforms, etc.
With the industry’s largest warmup pool of over 200,000 real human accounts, Instantly ensures emails avoid the spam folder through automated interactions that improve sending reputation. The software includes a one-click bulk domain tester for email validation, a campaign builder with smart scheduling and variables, and the ability to manage numerous inboxes simultaneously via its Unibox feature.
Advanced analytics provide insight into campaign performance, allowing for optimization and scaling. Instantly also offers a Cold Email Accelerator with over 600 cold email templates and 200+ strategies.
Apollo.io
On the other hand, excels in leveraging a vast B2B database for targeted prospecting and enrichment, allowing users to craft personalized cold email sequences right away.
Although Apollo provides a suite of tools for engaging prospects, including emails and calls, feedback suggests limitations in automation customizability and customer support, which may impact user experience for those heavily relying on cold email outreach
Don’t get me wrong, we use Apollo a ton, just not for sending outbound emails. They use most of their resources to improve their database of over 270 million leads, but they are by no means a proper “sending platform.”
If I had to compare Apollo to something in the real world, it would be an “all inclusive” resort somewhere in Mexico – it’s alright, but you can’t customize it much and it’s pretty limited from the get-go.
If you are serious about sending thousands of emails over a long time horizon, Apollo.io as a sending tool is NOT the way to go.
Woodpecker
Shines with a focus on safe and effective cold emailing, boasting features like real-time email list verification, A/B testing, and condition-based campaigns to tailor follow-ups based on prospect behavior.
It prioritizes sender’s reputation with warm-up and recovery options, alongside a deliverability monitor and bounce shield to keep your campaigns running smoothly.
Its unique algorithm mimics human behavior to avoid email sending mistakes, and it provides detailed analytics including open, click, and response tracking.
The thing with Woodpeckers’ priorities, is that they don’t push the needle with your cold email campaigns.
Compared to the other sending platforms, they are marginally better at reputation management but they are much worse at the 10+ other factors that matter much more.
For example, their third-party automation capabilities are extremely limited and their pricing structure makes it hard to scale to decent sending volume.
Other than the sender reputation, there is nothing that should attract you to the Woodpecker sending platform.
Lemlist
Lemlist is known in the industry for its personalized cold email campaigns that can include unique images and videos, making it stand out for engagement and response rates.
Its features often emphasize customizability and personalization at scale, catering to businesses looking to make their outreach efforts more creative and engaging.
Although personalization is important within cold outreach, it is not the only factor that pushes the needle within your campaign. Other factors such as deliverability, tracking, analytics, lead adaptability, are also extremely important.
Something important to mention is that users have raised concerns about Lemlist’s customer service and billing practices. There are reports of ongoing charges even after account cancellation, and some have mentioned difficulties in getting timely support or resolutions to their billing issues.
Additionally, the platform’s onboarding process and user interface might not be as intuitive or efficient as some would prefer, potentially leading to a steeper learning curve for new users.
Which one should you choose?
Given the landscape, Smartlead appears to be the superior choice for users seeking a comprehensive and automated sending solution for their cold email campaigns.
Its ability to manage unlimited mailboxes and rotate them automatically, coupled with multi-channel outreach capabilities, positions Smartlead as the most versatile and effective tool for maximizing cold email campaign performance and scalability.
Aside from that, their pricing is the most friendly in terms of sending a lot of volume, which is a very important factor when launching cold outreach efforts.
What does this mean for you?
If you are looking to launch your own cold email campaigns, using an automated sending tool is inevitable.
However, in a sea of different option, there are many places where you can take a wrong turn.
To ensure that you are getting started with the correct sending tool, I recommend that you do a good amount of research and consideration before locking in on one single sending tool. Consider your cold outreach goals, resources allocated towards cold outreach and all the other factors that fall into make this decision.
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If you’re an B2B business owner
- doing over $20k MRR
- able and willing to invest into lead gen
- have case studies and testimonials
and are looking to:
- inflate your tax bill
- get on 15-40 sales calls every month with your dream prospect
- only pay for every call you get on (no retainers)
book a time on THIS calendar link below to see how we can work together.
Alsoooo – if you still have more questions on cold email and are looking for an in-depth process overview, here is a 89-minute strategy overview going over the process from start to finish:
If you prefer a written version, HERE is a blog article going over the same exact thing.
Worth mentioning, I make videos about cold outreach and how you can use it to grow you B2B business. You can find more of my content HERE to learn some more about all of this.