Choosing the Best Cold Email Platform: Lemlist vs. Hunter.io Compared

Email Account Rotation

Why it’s Important

Imagine a choir where only one person is singing—you’d want more voices for a richer sound, right? Similarly, sending your campaign emails from multiple accounts can reduce the risk of being marked as spam, offering a more ‘choral’ approach to your outreach efforts.

👉 Real-life example: You have a sales team of five. Each person sends out a portion of the emails, reducing the chances of any single account getting flagged and improving overall deliverability.

Email Finder: The Ultimate Prospecting Tool

Why it’s Important

If Hunter.io’s various APIs are a toolbox, then the Email Finder is the Swiss Army knife in that box. This feature is the epitome of versatility in the world of email prospecting. Whether you want to find emails by name, by company, or even in bulk, this is your go-to feature. And the cherry on top? It integrates seamlessly with Google Sheets.

• By Name or Company: This is your basic search function, but supercharged. Perfect for when you know exactly who you’re targeting.
• Bulk Search: It’s like casting a wide net into a sea of potential leads. Ideal for when you’re not exactly sure who within a company you need to target.
• Email Finder API: This allows for automated, large-scale operations. Perfect for bigger companies with bigger needs.
• Google Sheets Add-on: Imagine being able to populate a spreadsheet with potential leads with just a few clicks. That’s what this add-on offers.

👉 Real-life example: You’re a SaaS company that wants to target other SaaS companies. You use the bulk search to find emails associated with SaaS domains. For more targeted campaigns, you use the ‘by name or by company’ feature. The Email Finder API comes into play for large-scale operations, and the Google Sheets add-on helps your team collaborate and keep track of these leads effortlessly.

Campaign Scheduling

Why it’s Important

Timing is everything in comedy, and guess what—it’s pretty important in cold emailing, too. The campaign scheduling feature ensures that your emails are sent out at the most optimal times, increasing the chances of them being opened.

👉 Real-life example: Your target audience is in different time zones. Campaign scheduling ensures that your emails hit their inbox during their working hours, not at 3 a.m.

Custom Domain Tracking

Why it’s Important

Custom domain tracking is like having a GPS tracker on each of your emails. Not only do you know where it goes, but you also understand how it’s being interacted with. This allows for a much more nuanced approach to gauging customer interest and engagement.

👉 Real-life example: You’re an educational platform offering various online courses. You send out a cold email campaign with links to three different courses: Marketing, Coding, and Design. With custom domain tracking, you can precisely see which recipients clicked on which course links. If someone clicked on the Marketing course link, that’s a strong signal they’re interested in that field. You can then tailor your follow-up emails to focus more on your Marketing courses, increasing the likelihood of conversion.

Personalization with Attachments and Images

Why it’s Important

This is taking personalization up a notch. Not only can you personalize text, but you can also attach specific files or images that you think would resonate with the prospect.

👉 Real-life example: You’re targeting architects and send them a personalized email with an attached case study of a recently completed project similar to their work.

Unlimited Team Members

Why it’s Important

Growing pains are real, but Hunter.io eases some of that with the ability to add unlimited team members. This feature is a lifesaver for scaling businesses.

👉 Real-life example: Your startup just got Series

A funding, and you’re doubling your sales team. No need to worry about additional software costs—you can add everyone to Hunter.io without a hitch.

Various APIs for Multiple Functions

Why it’s Important

Imagine having a toolbox where each tool has a specific, crucial function in building a house. That’s what Hunter.io’s various APIs offer—a specialized toolkit for your cold email campaign. From finding emails to verifying them and even managing leads, these APIs provide a comprehensive framework that supports multiple aspects of a cold email campaign.

• Domain Search API: It’s like your own private investigator, fetching emails associated with a specific domain.
• Email Finder API: Think of it as your talent scout, providing verified email addresses with confidence scores.
• Email Verifier API: This is your quality control, validating the emails to ensure they’re accurate.
• Leads API: Consider this your CRM within Hunter.io, managing your leads effectively.
• Campaigns API: This is your campaign manager, controlling various activities within your email campaigns.

👉 Real-life example: A digital marketing agency wants to target real estate firms. They use the Domain Search API to get emails associated with real estate domains. The Email Finder API helps them expand this list with verified emails. Email Verifier API ensures these emails are legitimate, while the Leads API helps manage these new leads. Finally, the Campaigns API comes into play to automate the entire outreach process.

And that wraps up our deep dive into the features of Lemlist and Hunter.io. Up next, we’ll explore their pricing models, weigh the pros and cons, and much more. Keep an eye out for the full article to get the full scoop and make an educated choice for your next cold email campaign.

Pricing: Show Me the Money

Next on the agenda is pricing. Because let’s face it, even if a tool has the most dazzling features, it needs to fit within your budget.

Lemlist Pricing

Lemlist offers three different pricing models for different needs: