There’s no doubt that Adobe is known for their powerful suite of creative tools, but unfortunately, when it comes to their cold email technique, they simply don’t know how to demonstrate value to prospects.
This Adobe email was nominated by our readers to be on our Hall of Shame. It immediately caught my eye because it has zero personalization, and strangely formatted logos, letting the reader automatically know it’s a mass email.
Here’s the email below:
From the start, the sender comes off sounding too self-focused when she brags about showcasing Adobe’s product at Dreamforce.
When I read this email as a recipient, I think:
“How is Adobe Sign at Dreamforce relevant or beneficial to me? What pain point does Adobe Sign solve for my business? My company wasn’t mentioned once. It’s clearly a mass email…LAME. I’m not sure why I should even check out Adobe Sign’s booth this year.”
There’s not a single benefit of what Adobe Sign can do for the recipient’s business in this email. Simply put, there’s no clear incentive for the recipient to email the sender back.
Did the sender send previous emails that explain the benefits of using Adobe Sign? Or did they make no attempt to communicate any of their benefits to their recipient?
Also, what if the recipient isn’t planning on going to Dreamforce at all? Then, the recipient likely wouldn’t respond back.
I noticed there is a link on the email, but what if the recipient doesn’t feel compelled to click on the link? The chances of getting someone to open your email and then have them click on a link are a lot lower than just having them read the email and decide to hit reply.
How to Fix This Bad Cold Email:
Instead of using events to talk about how you will showcase Adobe Sign, approach it from an educational angle and include a pain point you can help solve.
I didn’t help Adobe write these emails, and so I have no idea who they were trying to target or what benefits they might focus on, but here’s an example on how I would rewrite this email:
(note, the stats below are entirely fictional)
Subject: {!First}, tea at Samovar?
Hi {!First},
Are you planning to attend Dreamforce in SF on October 4-7?
If so, would you like to have a cup of Moroccan mint tea at Samovar Tea Lounge on me?
We attend events like Dreamforce to show organizations like {!Company} how to use e-signatures to close 32% more business in half the time, while also gaining more visibility into where deals might otherwise fall through.
If you’re planning to come, I’d love to meet up and buy you a delicious beverage, and learn more about how we might be able to help {!Company}.
How does that sound?
Thanks,
[Name]
P.S. Even if you aren’t going to Dreamforce, I’d be happy to talk with you for a few minutes about how to use e-signatures to accelerate {!Company}’s sales process.
In the rewrite, I’ve addressed these concerns:
- Taking out the top and top right images that made the email look mass
- Putting the focus on how we can help the recipient’s company
- Mentioning a pain point Adobe solves for the presumed decision maker
- Giving them a reason to reach out, even if they don’t attend Dreamforce
By explaining the value you’d get out of our conversation if we were to have one, the recipient would be much more likely to reply.
Have bad cold emails in your inbox? Send them to us!
Help us fight the thoughtless spammers, one crappy cold email at a time by sending us the worst cold emails you’ve ever received.
We’ll put them up anonymously on the “Hall of Shame,” and shoot you an email when they go live.
Please send all submissions to “[email protected].”
(And feel free to suggest what you want to nominate the “bad cold email for!”)
