7 Must-Have Cold Email Tools Marketing Agencies Swear By

Thinking about using cold emails to generate leads for your marketing agency? Or maybe you're already using them but want better results. 

Cold emailing is a fast and effective way to reach more prospects. When done right, it can help you: 

• Start conversations and connect with potential leads. 
• Highlight your expertise to build credibility and boost brand awareness. 
• Spark interest in your services and lead to more conversions. 
• Build long-term relationships and foster loyalty with prospects. 

But to make your outreach work, you need access to a great cold email tool. The right tool will save you time, automate follow-ups, and help you scale personalised campaigns that actually get responses.

The question is: How do you choose the best option? We've created a list of the top 7 cold email tools for marketing agencies that can get you results.

1. Instantly 

Instantly is designed for marketing agencies looking to boost lead generation without overcomplicating the process. Trusted by over 30,000 teams, it covers essentials like email warmup and multivariate testing without unnecessary extras. You can also manage unlimited email accounts, making it easier to scale campaigns without increasing costs.

Strengths:

• Unlimited email accounts and warmup: Ideal for agencies managing large-scale outreach or lead generation. 
• Done-for-you email setup: Get unlimited, deliverability-optimised email accounts set up, so you can onboard clients and show results within a week. 
• AI-powered outreach: Scale easily with AI warmup, inbox rotation, email verification, spintax, subsequences, and data from 280 million contacts. 
• Multi-channel inbox and reporting: Manage email, SMS, calls, and LinkedIn in one place, with detailed reports on pipeline, revenue, and opportunities. 
• Flexible support: Access VIP support anytime for your most urgent questions or issues.

Weaknesses:

• Simplicity: The platform’s focus on simplicity means it lacks some advanced customisation options found in other tools. But for most users, the streamlined approach is a huge time-saver. 
• Email-Focused: Instantly is best suited for email-based strategies, so if your strategy relies more on other channels, you might need additional tools. That said, its email capabilities are second to none, making it perfect for scaling outreach.

2. Saleshandy

Saleshandy makes cold email outreach simple, especially for beginners. Agencies get extra perks like managing unlimited clients and teams, white labeling, and importing up to 100,000 prospects per CSV for fast and efficient client management.

Strengths:

• Unlimited email accounts and warm-up: Perfect for agencies and high-volume senders. 
• Email deliverability: Tools like warm-up, dynamic IPs, and email validation help your messages hit the inbox. 
• Multi-step email sequences: Automate emails and test up to 26 versions to find what works best.

Weaknesses:

• No AI tools: Saleshandy doesn’t offer AI features for writing emails or improving deliverability, unlike some competitors. 
• Difficult email setup: Setting up SPF and DMARC records can be tricky, especially for non-technical users.

3. Hunter Campaigns

Hunter Campaigns works seamlessly with Hunter's Email Finder and Email Verifier tools. The platform is simple, easy to set up, and allows multiple team members to work from one account. With a generous free plan, it’s a great choice for smaller marketing agencies looking to focus on lead generation.

Strengths:

• User-friendly interface: An intuitive platform with tools for lead searching, campaign creation, email verification, and management. 
• Native integration: Built into Hunter.io, it lets you find and validate emails before starting outreach, no extra fees needed. 
• Extensive free plan: Test a 500-recipient campaign for free, complete with analytics, browser extensions, and CRM integrations.

Weaknesses:

• Limited automation options: Hunter is great for cold email outreach but lacks advanced features and AI tools offered by competitors. 
• Lacking email optimisation tools: It doesn’t include features like email warm-up, A/B testing, or spintax for better deliverability and engagement.

4. HubSpot

HubSpot is a powerful CRM platform known for inbound marketing and sales, but it can also handle cold email campaigns. Its all-in-one design lets marketing agencies manage outreach and stay organised. However, if cold outreach is your main focus, HubSpot’s extensive features might feel overwhelming. If you don't need its CRM tools or advanced automation, the steep learning curve might not be worth it.

Strengths

• Workflow automation: Automate everything from simple follow-ups to complex customer journeys. 
• Customisation: Create workflows as simple or complex as you need with HubSpot’s flexible system. 
• Integrated CRM: Manage contacts and pipelines effortlessly with built-in tools to guide leads through the funnel.

Weaknesses:

• Not ideal for cold outreach: HubSpot isn’t built for cold email campaigns, and sending unsolicited emails goes against its guidelines. You’ll need consent from leads to email them. 
• Steep learning curve: To unlock HubSpot’s full potential, you’ll need to spend time learning how to use its many features.

5. Artisan

Artisan describes itself as an AI-powered sales assistant built to handle the repetitive tasks that BDRs deal with every day. It learns your goals, ideal customer profile, and positioning, then searches its database for leads and crafts tailored outreach. Your team members can jump in anytime to review, tweak messages, or create custom sequences for more control.

Strengths:

• AI-powered personalisation: Artisan analyses lead data from social media and other sources to craft cold emails tailored with the most relevant information for each lead.
• Email deliverability optimisation: Tools like email warmup and mailbox health monitoring ensure your emails land in inboxes. Artisan adjusts sending volume and timing in real-time based on deliverability and performance metrics.
• LinkedIn outreach integration: Create seamless multi-channel sequences by combining email campaigns with LinkedIn outreach.

Weaknesses:

• Limited customisation: The AI assistant sticks to a fixed process, making it hard to tailor workflows. 
• Higher price: Artisan costs more than standard cold email tools.

6. Close

Close is a CRM built for small to medium-sized agencies that want to turn leads into revenue. It combines email, SMS, and calling into one inbox, with tools for sales automation and workflows to save time. Features like its lead management system and open API (integrating with 50+ apps) make it perfect for agencies looking to streamline their cold email campaigns.

Strengths:

• Built-in CRM tools: Combines CRM features with cold outreach tools for seamless management. 
• Integrates seamlessly with your favorite tools: Connect with over 50 platforms like HubSpot, Zapier, Google Workspace, and Slack to streamline your processes and boost productivity.
• Support for cold calling: Includes features like call recording, transcribing (add-on), and coaching to enhance outbound calling.

Weaknesses:

• No deliverability features: It lacks tools like automated warmups or list cleaning to boost sender reputation and email deliverability.
• Complicated analytics: Some users struggle to understand email analytics like open rates and campaign performance.

7. Mailshake

Mailshake helps you automate your sales outreach and manage everything in one place. It combines email automation, LinkedIn integration, and deliverability tools to simplify your workflow. Its easy-to-use interface makes creating and sending personalised cold emails a breeze, so you can focus on building connections, not managing outreach.

Strengths:

• List cleaning: Automatically removes invalid or unqualified contacts to keep your email lists accurate and healthy. 
• LinkedIn automation and dialer: Combines LinkedIn outreach and a phone dialer so sales teams can connect with leads across multiple channels from one platform. 
• AI email assistant: SHAKEspeare AI creates email copy, generates variations for A/B testing, and offers suggestions to improve deliverability.

Weaknesses:

• Data finder accuracy: The lead data finder often falls short, providing inaccurate or insufficient data compared to other tools. 
• No free trial: Mailshake doesn’t offer a free trial, so you’ll need to commit to a paid plan to access its features.

Final Thoughts

Choosing the right cold email tool can make or break your outreach strategy, especially for marketing agencies juggling multiple clients and campaigns. 

Hopefully, this roundup gave you a clearer idea of which platforms align with your workflow, budget, and goals. But remember, reading reviews is just step one. The real clarity comes when you test these tools yourself. 

Try out a few, explore their features, and see what fits. Firsthand experience is the best way to find your perfect match. 

Here’s to landing more qualified leads with less guesswork!