Best for cold emails - links or hyperlinks?

It may seem like a rhetorical question or an obvious answer, but are prospects more likely to click on a hyperlink or a link? Do hyperlinks give the impression that it's a template or sequence? Does anybody experiment with deliberately formatting something incorrectly in an effort to make it seem it wasn't a template/sequence?

🔎 Prospecting
💌 Cold Emailing
11
funcoupons
WR Officer
9
👑
This Link. 


InQ5WeTrust
Arsonist
6
No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL
Hey. Listen!

Navi would make a great BDR she's annoying and persistent as fuck. 
funcoupons
WR Officer
3
👑
Now I want to play Ocarina of Time.
InQ5WeTrust
Arsonist
1
No marketing, mayo isn't an MQL
Gotta chase those rupees girl. 
funcoupons
WR Officer
1
👑
Fuck Bitches, Get Rupees. 

(Does this mean that game took place in India lol) 
salesscum
Contributor
4
Business Development
this has given me ideas. "Here's a link with more info. And here's a Link with more testosterone - I trust you'll choose the right one." Thoughts?
funcoupons
WR Officer
4
👑
I love it. 
Mjollnir
Politicker
4
Account Executive
Personally, I think it looks unprofessional to send emails with regular links. as if to say, 'I'm not taking any effort with this email, and i kinda disrespect you'  
IanJ
Executive
3
Enterprise Business Development
I try to use no links, images or tracking in the first email. It's less likely to get caught in a SPAM filter if it's just all plain text.
braintank
Politicker
2
Enterprise Account Executive
Maybe I'm dense, or old, but what's the difference between a link and a hyperlink?
salesscum
Contributor
0
Business Development
Link would be a copy and paste of the link into the text field, whereas a hyperlink is a link that sits behind selected words and directs to the link, if that makes sense.
DungeonsNDemos
Big Shot
2
Rolling 20's all day
If I'm emailing someone in government then a link. Anyone else: hyperlink
Diablo
Politicker
1
Sr. AE
I use hyperlinks, doesn't make the email looks cluttered even when there are more than one links.
salesscum
Contributor
0
Business Development
Definitely agree, I think everyone would agree it looks better, but which would have a better click through rate, is my question? I've had success with deliberately putting in grammatical or formatting errors, in an attempt to make it seem as though I manually typed a response, which they're more likely to respond to. 
CharmingSalesGal
Politicker
1
Account Executive
I've seen that hyperlinks get me more clicks because of the organizational format. That being said, I've noticed this more with people I'm already engaged with rather than cold emails...

For cold emails, I tend to use a video approach to humanize the process. Our team uses BombBomb which allows you to create a CTA link right in the video and I've gotten better traction with that from a cold outreach perspective.
MCP
Valued Contributor
1
Sales Director
Neither, they get picked up by SPAM filters. Save them for when you get an actual response.
End of line.
salesscum
Contributor
1
Business Development
I don't believe that to be true for the majority of cases. Although I see your point. I'm particularly interested in what factors (knowingly or not) are involved in whether a link is clicked. 
Justatitle
Big Shot
1
Account Executive
There’s a stat that including links makes it more likely to be filtered to spam. 

I try to leave it in my email signature but for the most part I research then try to bring up something relevant and then see if they’re willing to meet based off that. 
IYNFYL
Politicker
0
Enterprise SaaS AE
It’s hard for both as they get caught up in spam filters
Filth
Politicker
0
Live Filthy or Die Clean
I always hyperlink - I just think it looks better. They are cold emails so they all end up in the trash anyhow, but at least I know I liked my format lol.
cw95
Politicker
0
Sales Development Lead
Hyperlinks for general links to the website such as a case study page but use actual links for 'out of the box' answers / examples. 
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