Cold Email Software for Better Sales Outreach in

With social media dominating the internet (looking at you, TikTok), you might think email is outdated. However, 77%* of marketers say they’ve seen email engagement rise in the past year, and 87%** say email is crucial for business success.

But effective email marketing requires more than just sending messages. Campaigns need to be segmented, personalized, and well-sequenced. And that requires good sales email software.

Chances are, you already know that. But with so many options available, choosing the best tool can be overwhelming.

We’ve created a list of top platforms to help: Comparing key features, pricing, and integrations. We’ve also included tips on what to consider when evaluating your options, to help you find the best cold email software for your business right now. Let’s take a look.

 Key takeaways:

• Sales email software is critically important for effective and successful email marketing.
  
• Some top options include Outreach.io, HubSpot, Woodpecker, and Mailshake; with must-have features including personalization, analytics, and automation to improve deliverability rates and successful automated follow-ups to interested leads.
  
• Sales email software is one part of a sales toolbox that should also include internet-phone-based platforms like CloudTalk, for effective multi-channel outreach and lead engagement overall.

*The State of Marketing Report 2024, HubSpot. **The 2023 State of Email Workflows Report, Litmus.

Benefits of Sales Email Software

You’re reading this, so you know sales email software is useful for tech professionals and can boost conversion rates. But why and how does it achieve this? The top reasons include:

Increase Efficiency

Using sales email software streamlines the process of sending and managing cold emails, using scheduling and other types of sales and call center automation. This enables you to boost results and improve marketing and call center performance, while also reducing manual admin. It saves you hours of staff time by handling and managing huge amounts of data and reducing the risk of human error. Cold email software, in particular, is ideal for scaling outreach campaigns without compromising quality.

Improve Personalization

Sales email software lets you tailor and customize emails with specific, relevant details at a large scale, for more personal emails (that are therefore more effective) in less time.

Now we’re clear on why you need it, let’s dig into some leading providers that offer it.

Top Sales Email Software 

Here’s our pick of some of the most popular sales email software platforms available today, with our suggestion of what kind of company each could work best for. Don’t just take our word for it — we’ve also added an independent user review to help you decide which could be perfect for your needs.

1. Outreach.io

Outreach promises to offer an entire ‘sales execution platform’, and includes email sales as just one part of that wider whole. It focuses on AI-powered selling tools to increase efficiency and help sales reps create and close sales pipelines even with limited capacity and tight budgets.

Key features: 

• Pipeline Management to maximize revenue and close more deals
• Sales Engagement platform to improve lead follow-up efficiency and convert more leads
• Sales Forecasting to enable reps to model outcomes effectively
• Deal Insights to help teams identify the best prospects or at-risk leads
• Smart Email Assist to spell-check content and provide real-time tips
• Email personalization, sequencing, and templates to make writing better emails easier

Pricing: 

• All Outreach pricing is by request only. Its Engage plan offers sales email sequences, templates, automation, and CRM syncing.

Best for: Companies looking to prioritize analytics and lead engagement, to improve deal closure rates.

Most helpful user review: “Very easy to use and integrate with my CRM and email account.” — G2

2. Mixmax

Mixmax is a multi-channel marketing platform that “lives in your inbox”, with tools that work particularly well for companies looking to improve email communication and sales. It includes tracking, automation, sequencing, templates, AI-powered workflows and suggestions, and offers a wide range of analytics.

Key features: 

• Email templates to match other channel communications
• Email tracking to keep watch over who is reading and engaging with your emails
• AI ‘Engagement Score’ to keep lead interest high and focus on your most engaged leads
• AI-powered features like Smart Send for optimal messaging and open rates
• Messaging insights and Real-Time Dashboard for insightful metrics

Pricing: 

• Free Plan: $0 per user per month. Includes email tracking and templates.
• SMB: $29 per user per month. Free, plus mail merge. For teams of up to 10.
• Growth: $49 per user per month. SMB, plus email sequences, analytics, and Smart Send.
• Growth + CRM: $69 per user per month. Growth, plus sales integrations.
• Enterprise: Custom pricing. Growth+CRM, plus multichannel sequences and advanced rules. 

Best for: Companies of all sizes looking to save significant time on email marketing with sequences and template suggestions.

Most helpful user review: “I am easily able to track emails and responses and schedule follow-up communications so that things don’t fall through the cracks.”— G2

3. Reply.io

Reply specializes in multi-channel communication sequences and email automations that can automatically convert cold email campaigns into booked meetings and highly-engaged leads. It focuses on helpful tools and extensions that streamline the conversion of email leads into clients.

Key features: 

• Email ‘Health Check’ to ensure efficient messaging 
• AI-powered responses for faster replies with less effort
• Direct meeting scheduler from emails
• AI-generated sequences for tried-and-tested sales roadmaps
• CRM integration to save leads from multiple email sources
• Email search Chrome extensions to find valid addresses, faster
• Email deliverability kit for better open rates

Pricing: 

• Email Volume: From $29 per user per month, including email automation, and unlimited emails.
• Multichannel: From $53 per user per month. With 10,000 search credits and unlimited contacts.
• Agency: From $166 per user per month. With unlimited clients and mailboxes.

Best for: Companies that want to maximize email marketing and discover more leads with clever, time-saving tech add-ons.

Most helpful user review: “Reply.io has significantly improved our outreach process, making it more efficient and effective. The platform’s automation features and user-friendly interface have led to higher response rates and better engagement with our audience. Highly recommended!” — G2

 4. Instantly.ai

Instantly prides itself in offering easy-to-use, intuitive AI-powered tools that convert potential clients into confirmed deals. Its automated outreach and deliverability features maximize prospect reach and help your team build positive, optimized, and successful email campaigns.

Key features: 

• Easy-to-read analytics dashboard
• Sales Accelerator package with email templates and step-by-step sequence instructions
• Private Facebook community to ask questions and bounce ideas off marketing experts
• Deliverability Network to improve delivery and open rates
• Salesflow set up for custom, effective email campaigns

Pricing: 

• Growth: $30 per user per month. Includes unlimited email accounts, and chat support.
• Hypergrowth: $77.60 per user per month. Includes 25,000 contacts, and live support.
• Light Speed: $286.30 per user per month. Growth and Hypergrowth, plus 100,000 contacts.
• Enterprise: Custom. Growth and Hypergrowth, plus deliverability network and dedicated help.

Best for: Smaller companies and entrepreneurs looking for friendly support to improve and grow their email marketing.

Most helpful user review: “I absolutely love Instantly.ai for its seamless integration of lead generation, email outreach, and deliverability. The platform’s intuitive interface makes it a breeze to create targeted campaigns and track their performance.” — G2

 5. HubSpot

From one of the best-known names in online marketing, HubSpot’s Sales Hub software is designed to boost sales engagement, improve data and deal functionality, and offer insightful analytics. It also integrates with more than 1,400 tools in HubSpot’s impressive marketplace.

Key features: 

• Email tracking, so you can follow up at the exact right time
• Email templates for proven conversions with tailored personalizations
• Automated sales email sequences and effective follow-ups
• Lead management to convert more leads into deals
• AI-powered tools for engaging emails and effective campaigns
• Sales analytics and reporting for accurate forecasting

Pricing: 

• FreeTools: $0 per user per month. Basic tools to help you start closing deals.
• Sales Hub Starter: From $15 per user per month. Free features with higher limits, and automation tools.
• Starter Customer Platform: From $15 per user per month. Marketing and sales, plus operations.
• Sales Hub Professional: From $90 per user per month. Plus sales coaching, and sequences.
• Sales Hub Enterprise. From $150 per user per month. Advanced sales and marketing tools, and lead routing.

Best for: Companies that primarily want their email sales software to integrate smoothly with their existing tech stack, while also getting major results that will grow their company.

Most helpful user review: “The best part about the platform is that it is very scalable. We have a very small team right now but it is set up for growth and will last us a long time.” — G2

6. Woodpecker.co

Woodpecker Cold Email specializes in making email outreach campaigns so intuitive to set up, it even promises that “once you log in, you’ll know what to do”. With features that champion your sender reputation, for better open rates and successful campaigns, it also has a unique algorithm that mimics real human senders.

Key features: 

• User-friendly interface designed to be fast to onboard, use, and learn
• Email list verification, Deliverability Monitor, and Adaptive Email Sending for high open rates
• Unique Algorithm to avoid mistakes and save time on repeating emailing
• Quick reports and stats to track results and help decide your next move
• Automation and integration with your existing inbox, plus centralized inbox
• Email personalization for effective campaigns, even in bulk
• Integration with leading sales outreach tools for a slick tech stack

Pricing: 

• Cold Email: From $29 per user per month for 500 contacts, and live chat help.
• Agency: From $49 per month for 1,000 contacts, plus automated email audits, and 1-to-1 help.
• Custom: On request, from 10,000 contacts. Campaign audits, and dedicated success manager.

Best for: Companies that send bulk emails but want to focus on improving deliverability rates.

Most helpful user review: “Most sales tools have a poor UX (think your CRM or prospecting apps), Woodpecker is beautifully designed with the end user in mind, to make our work simple.” — G2

7. Mailshake

Mailshake is packed full of simple but effective features to help sales reps and agencies optimize email sequences, improve outreach, and build successful pipelines. It helps you drive revenue with effective campaigns — particularly by working with LinkedIn contacts.

Key features: 

• Data Finder, to discover new leads
• LinkedIn Automation for discovering prospects through the social media platform
• AI Email Writer for better email copy, faster
• Lead Catcher, to group all leads in one place
• Mail merge, to customize and tailor bulk emails
• Follow-Ups to efficiently nurture leads
• Email Deliverability, to avoid spam and get better open rates

Pricing: 

• Starter: $25 per user per month. Automated email sequences, and 1,500 sends per month.
• Email Outreach: $45 per user per month. Starter, plus personalization, scheduling, and more finder credits.
• Sales Engagement: $85 per user per month. Email Outreach, plus LinkedIn automation, and 2,500 finder credits.

Best for: Companies that rely on LinkedIn for contacts and leads, and want to better manage their email marketing efforts.

Most helpful user review: “Mailshake is fantastic, I have used it for the last 5 years and have produced more leads for myself on a daily basis than I had in the previous 15 years combined! One feature of Mailshake that I find particularly valuable is its email personalization capabilities.” — G2

8. Customer.io

Customer.io aims to “transform customer communication” by unifying all data in one place. It helps you send effective emails and messages that are tailored, super-flexible, and automated — for maximum customer relationship-building and successful sales growth.

Key features: 

• Visual workflow builder for at-a-glance sequences
• Email metrics and analytics for insightful data
• Data-driven segmentation for more relevant and useful emails
• Inbox previews for improved open rates
• Custom emails for happier leads and better results

Pricing: 

• Essentials: From $100 per user per month. Up to 1m emails per month, and visual workflows.
• Premium: From $1,000 per user per month. More customization, and premium support.
• Enterprise: On request. Premium, plus migration support, audit logging, and high volume pricing.

Best for: Businesses with a larger budget looking for highly customizable, data-driven email sequences and workflows.

Most helpful user review: “It gives a lot of flexibility to all our teams to build complex campaigns without requiring a technical background.” — G2

Email Software for Better Sales Outreach: One Piece of the Puzzle

Sales email software is essential for making email marketing fast, efficient, and successful, but finding the “best” option depends on your business size, priorities, current tools, and goals.

Platforms like Outreach.io, HubSpot, Woodpecker, and Mailshake come with important features like personalization, lead engagement, analytics, and automation. These tools help boost deliverability and ensure follow-ups, turning leads into customers.

That said, sales email software is just one piece of the puzzle. For better multi-channel outreach and engagement, it’s a good idea to add other tools, like CloudTalk, an internet-based phone platform, so you can pair email marketing with effective, well-timed, and personable follow-up phone calls.

Choosing the right email outreach software and integrating it into your existing tech stack helps your sales team members create more relevant, multi-channel communication, develop a stronger sales process, and create a proven strategy for converting prospects into happy clients.