CEO email addresses are valuable bits of information to many different people, including recruiters looking to fill high-level executive positions or sales representatives who need to connect with executive decision-makers.
A well-crafted email that makes its way into a CEO’s inbox has a great chance of being read directly by the CEO, placing your product, service, or offer in front of the highest-level decision-maker in the company.
The challenge is finding and validating CEO email addresses to ensure the right person reads your email. This can be difficult, as it’s uncommon for a CEO’s contact information to be widely shared.
In this article, we’ll cover both manual and software-driven ways to locate CEO emails, including best practices for effectively reaching out to CEOs and capturing their attention.
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9 Ways to Find CEO Email Addresses
There are two primary methods of searching for CEO email addresses:
Using software to generate lists of CEO emails automatically. These results require less manual effort and are typically more reliable.
Use manual search methods that require more research and investigation. These methods are typically more affordable than using software but require a significant amount of time and effort.
Let’s explore nine different methods, both automatic and manual, for finding CEO email addresses.
Check the Company Website
An organization’s website is the first place to begin when manually searching for contact information. A great place to start your search is the “About Us” or “Leadership” pages.
Check the website for any linked pages that may take you to social media or networking sites, like LinkedIn, where further information might be gathered.
If a company has a live chat on its website, it may be worth asking for the CEO’s email through the live chat window.
Explore Social Media
You have two options when searching for CEO emails on social media.
Reach out to the CEO directly
Search their page for contact information
Reaching out with a thoughtful and professional message might be a good idea if the CEO isn’t particularly famous or overly active on social media. If the CEO in question has a large following, it’s possible that your message won’t get seen.
For best results, reach out on professional platforms like LinkedIn, and keep outreach messages short and to the point.
When searching a social media page, filter through their information to see if they’ve listed an email address or another form of contact. If you’re unable to find anything listed on their page, scroll through old posts to see if they’ve shared the information with others publicly.
Use a B2B Database
B2B contact databases make it easy to find accurate CEO emails. Typically, these platforms utilize third-party data collected and compiled into an easily filterable and searchable list. These lists make it simple for users to specify criteria such as industry, company size, employee count, and much more.
Paying for B2B data isn’t always cheap, but there are options for leveraging a database while staying within budget. Nimbler, a sales automation platform with a database of over 120M+ B2B contacts, is a great example of a solution providing a wealth of contact data without breaking the bank.
Nimbler’s account options include a free account that grants users a certain number of free searches per month and a paid account for users who want to perform more searches.
Use Google Search
Google’s advanced search features and techniques can help you refine your search results further and scour the web for a specific CEO’s email address.
A few best practices for narrowing down Google search results are:
Try alternating variations of the CEO’s name and company
Use quotations around the CEO’s name to target that keyword
Execute searches for the CEO’s email as well as personal blogs, websites, or related articles
While this method can be effective for finding the email address of one specific person, it’s a time-consuming process that isn’t going to deliver a large list of results.
Try Common Email Structures
It’s common for companies to use a simple formula for their employee email addresses. Particularly for smaller companies, taking an educated guess at the CEO’s email address might actually work.
Common company email addresses typically look something like:
Once you figure out the CEO’s name, you can scour the website for “Help” or “Contact Us” pages to find an example of an email address at that company. If you find one or two emails listed that both share the same pattern, it’s a safe bet that your target CEO’s email shares that pattern as well.
While it may seem cumbersome, this method generally yields high success rates and may be worth the effort for a direct line of contact to a high-value executive. To take the process one step further, consider verifying the address to see if the email you’ve come up with is valid.
Ask the Company
If your target CEO is at a small to medium-sized company, it can be a worthwhile approach to contact the organization directly and ask for the email address.
You’re most likely to receive a response if you reach out via phone rather than email, as it’s more difficult to dismiss, and you may reach someone willing to help you. Plus, if the person you speak to isn’t able to share the CEO’s email with you, they may be able to provide you with an alternative contact who can get you closer to your target audience.
FAQs about Chief Executive Email Addresses
Reaching out to CEOs can be a daunting task. Let’s cover some frequently asked questions about what to do once you’ve located a CEO’s email.
What Are Some Best Practices for Reaching Out to CEOs?
When writing an email, it’s always important to keep your audience in mind. Remember, if you’re emailing a CEO, they’re likely a very busy person. It’s also safe to assume they receive quite a few emails from people who’d like something from them.
When writing your email consider the following tips:
Keep it short. Especially if you’re cold emailing the CEO, you want to be succinct. Get to the point quickly and efficiently to retain their engagement.
Be direct. Clearly state your objectives and next steps for action on the CEO’s part.
Personalize. If possible, add a sentence or two to personalize your email in some way. If you don’t share a mutual connection or interest, sharing a reason you appreciate their work or their company's work can go a long way.
Consider timing. A dedicated CEO will usually be extremely busy during office hours. It’s generally best to try to send your email early in the morning or late in the afternoon to avoid usual meeting times. Plan send times around the CEO’s particular time zone while considering any timing nuances of their particular industry.
Follow up. Following up with a CEO is crucial to boosting your chances of receiving a reply. Once you’ve given the CEO an appropriate amount of time to respond, send an email with extra information or links rather than just reiterating your initial email.
Is There a Way to Get CEO Email Lists for Free?
Many sales representatives, recruiters, and investors have asked how to find CEO email addresses for free. The answer is slightly complicated. While there isn’t a way to get unlimited CEO email lists for free, there are ways to get a certain number of emails for free with trials or limited membership options.
Nimbler offers users who’d like to sample the platform a Free Forever account with limited free search credits. Signing up for a free account or free trial is a great way to test different database platforms and find the one that suits your needs.
How Do I Find CEO Emails for Startups?
Finding contact or other information on startups can be difficult, as there isn’t usually as much information shared online or available quite yet.
The best way to target startup CEO emails is to leverage a B2B database with advanced search capabilities. For example, with Nimbler, you can filter contact information by company size, longevity, industry, and many other factors to find startup contact info.
Make it a Breeze to Find CEO Emails with Nimbler
Instead of spending countless hours scouring websites or social media pages for an elusive email address, partner with Nimbler and gain access to over 120M+ B2B contacts. On top of Nimbler’s robust database, you can utilize sales automation features to send comprehensive, personalized emails to CEOs in minutes.
And it doesn’t end there. Nimbler’s LinkedIn Chrome extension automatically pulls data and contact information from LinkedIn pages as you’re browsing, so your database of CEO contacts will be continuously expanding. Plus, users who sign up for a free account with Nimbler automatically receive search credits and can begin emailing immediately.
With Nimbler, thousands of CEO emails are right at your fingertips. Find CEO emails today for free.
