Mastering Cold Outreach: Best Practices for Engaging Passive Talent

Did you know? We’ve recently released our 2024 Ultimate Guide to Email Outreach. You’ll find a few highlights in this article, or you can download the full report here for all our latest data and best practices.

There’s an old adage in recruiting: The best candidates out there are already employed somewhere else. Whether you buy into that reasoning or if you’re just trying to make sure your pipeline is full of qualified, diverse talent, sourcing is most likely a key part of your recruiting strategy. And it’s nearly impossible to source passive candidates effectively without a solid email outreach strategy.

In this article, we’ll review the best practices for sending outreach emails to passive talent, including how to move beyond basic customization, utilize personalization tokens, and craft compelling email content that captures candidates’ attention and increases engagement.

Deep Personalization: Going Beyond Basic Customization

When it comes to email outreach, basic customization—like including the potential candidate's name and current role—is a good first step. But you can level up your customization even more if you really want your messages to really stand out.

Research the candidate’s background

Take time to review the potential candidate’s LinkedIn profile, recent projects, or any publications and articles they’ve contributed to. Mentioning a specific project they led or a recent accomplishment shows that you’ve done your homework to understand their professional background. For example, “I was impressed by your recent project on [Project name], which aligns perfectly with our current initiatives at [Name of your company].”

Align with their career goals 

Reference the candidate’s career aspirations and explain how the opportunity at your company can help them achieve their goals. This could involve discussing potential career growth, new challenges, or the impact they could have in the role. For instance, “I noticed you’re passionate about [specific interest], and our upcoming project on [related project] could provide an excellent platform for you to further develop in this area.”

Make extra effort for highly specialized roles

When it comes to leadership roles and highly specialized positions, candidates are typically swamped with generic outreach messages. This means it’s crucial to stand out by crafting a message that speaks directly to their expertise and the unique value they can bring to your organization.

Leveraging Tokens for Personalization at Scale

Tokens allow you to automate parts of your messaging while maintaining a personalized touch. 

By using tokens such as #{{company}} and #{{title}}, you can quickly tailor messages that resonate with your target candidates without having to craft each email manually. These tokens, combined with a comprehensive talent pipeline management strategy, pull data from candidates’ profiles, dynamically inserting their company name, job title, or other key details into the outreach message.

Using Tokens to Experiment with Response Rates

Tokens such as #{{company}} and #{{title}} make your outreach feel more personalized, even when done at scale. These small but meaningful customizations increase open and response rates by making your message more relevant to the recipient.

Research shows that personalized email subject lines can boost open rates by as much as 50% while driving 58% higher click-to-open rates, making personalization a powerful tool in email outreach. Incorporating tokens such as #{{schools}} for recent graduates or #{{location}} for regional opportunities can help fine-tune outreach campaigns for different target audiences.

Gem’s Unique #{{reason}} Token

Gem offers a unique feature—the #{{reason}} token—which allows you to personalize your outreach based on the specific motivation for contacting each candidate. The #{{reason}} token enables you to mention details—such as a recent promotion, an industry award/recognition, or a relevant project—demonstrating why you’re reaching out to this candidate.

Our study of over 8,000 recruiting emails revealed that highly personalized messages achieved a 73% engagement rate, outperforming less personalized outreach that didn’t include the #{{reason}} token. 

Tips for Writing Compelling Outreach Emails

Here are some best practices to ensure your emails stand out and motivate candidates to engage. 

1. Personalize Subject Lines to Boost Open Rates

The subject line is your first—and sometimes only—chance to make an impression. A personalized subject line increases the likelihood that your email will be opened. Research by the American Marketing Association shows that personalizing subject lines can boost open rates by 26%. 

Instead of using a generic subject like “Exciting Job Opportunity,” try something like, “Build the future of AI as a #{{title}} at #{{company}}!” By incorporating tokens such as the candidate’s name, current company, or role, you immediately establish relevance, making the recipient more likely to open the email and explore further.

2. Focus on “Opportunities”

Passive candidates are more likely to be attracted to what’s new, exciting, and aligned with their long-term career goals. For example, rather than saying, “We’re hiring for a sales manager position,” you could say, “Join us in leading a groundbreaking sales team with unlimited growth opportunities.”

3. Address What They Aren’t Getting in Their Current Role

Another powerful approach to writing compelling outreach emails is to address what candidates might not be getting in their current roles, whether that’s a bigger budget, the ability to manage a larger team, or increased access to executives or board members. This taps into their unspoken desires or frustrations without directly criticizing their current employer. 

Building a Strong Employer Brand Through Outreach

Outreach emails should reflect your company’s commitment to its values, culture, and long-term vision, so candidates understand what makes your organization unique.

1. Highlight Your Company’s Mission, Culture, and Values

When reaching out to a passive talent, focus on what sets your company apart. Is your company deeply committed to innovation, diversity, or sustainability? These attributes could be the differentiators that attract top candidates. 

This is especially important if you’re trying to recruit Gen Z candidates. A LinkedIn survey revealed that 87% of Gen Z professionals would consider leaving their current roles for a company whose values better align with their own.

2. Use Social Proof to Validate Your Messaging

Social proof is a powerful way to build trust with potential candidates. By showcasing testimonials, employee experiences, or media mentions, you provide evidence that your company lives up to its promises. 

Employee quotes are particularly effective because they offer authentic insights into what it’s like to work at your company. Consider adding a link to a company blog post featuring employee stories or including a direct quote from a current employee that reflects your company culture.

Media mentions or industry awards highlighting your company’s achievements can reinforce credibility. If your company has been recognized in the press or earned accolades for its work culture, integrating them into your outreach can strengthen your employer brand.

Email Body Dos and Don’ts

Here are some key dos and don’ts to keep in mind when drafting your email body.

1. Keep it Concise 

Your outreach email should be short and to the point, giving candidates just enough information to pique their interest without overwhelming them. Passive candidates are often busy with their current roles and are less likely to engage with a long, drawn-out message. Aim for a clear, compelling introduction that makes them want to know more.

2. Avoid Laundry Lists of Required Skills

One of the biggest mistakes you can make is including a complete job description in the outreach email. Instead, focus on the opportunity at hand and what makes it exciting, saving the details for a later conversation.

The Power of Multi-Stage Sequences in Cold Outreach

When it comes to cold outreach, sending just one or two emails is rarely enough to engage passive talent. A multi-stage email sequence is much more effective in eliciting responses, as it increases your chances of connecting with candidates who may be too busy or hesitant to respond to the initial message.

1. The 5-Email Sequence Strategy

Our research indicates that five is the magic number when it comes to the number of emails in an outreach sequence. A five-stage sequence receives 2x more replies and achieves nearly 72% higher interested rates compared to one-off emails! 

2. Automating Follow-Ups for Efficiency

Many recruiters hesitate to send multiple follow-ups. However, passive candidates are busy, often juggling full-time jobs, which means they might miss your first outreach or simply not have the time to respond immediately. Follow-ups provide an opportunity to reach them when they’re available. 

As Angela Miller, Head of Talent Acquisition at Moloco puts it, “The difference between a great sourcer and a sub-par sourcer is in how much discipline someone has in following up, in not wasting productivity cycles. Less successful sourcers do a lot of work to generate lists of good pipelines; but then they reach out once and never follow up. Response rates on that initial outreach might be 15%, but they might be 50% on the follow-up.” 

Optimize Your Outreach with Gem’s AI Recruiting Platform

Gem allows you to automate and personalize your message across multiple communication channels. We help our customers source passive talent 5x faster, enjoy 2x response rates, and track what matters so they know which strategies drive the highest conversions.

Want to see how? Get in touch to learn more about Gem’s AI-assisted personalization.