Glossary: outreach
What is cold email?
Cold email is an email sent to a business contact who has had no earlier contact with you, written to start a conversation about something relevant to their work. It goes to a chosen person, with a clear reason and an easy way to reply.
The four parts of a cold email
Subject line
Earns the open
Opening line
Shows it was written for them
Offer
One problem, one result
Call to action
One small ask
A cold email has four parts.
The subject line, the opening line, the offer and the call to action each have one job, and the whole email is short enough to read on a phone without scrolling.
The subject line and opening earn attention.
A plain subject line earns the open. An opening line about the reader's company or role shows it was written for them, not sent to everyone.
The offer names one problem and one result.
Say what you help with and what changes for them: one problem, one result. One idea per email.
The call to action asks for one small thing.
End with one small ask, a single question that is easy to answer, such as whether a short call next week is worth it.
Here is a cold email campaign for an invented company.
Imagine Yarrowmere, an invented company that builds warehouse robots. It writes a 70 word email to operations directors at 500 distribution companies. The opening line mentions the reader's newest warehouse, the offer is about cutting picking errors and the ask is a 15 minute call.
All 500 addresses were verified first, and 490 emails are delivered. Over the sequence there are 20 replies, of which 9 are interested replies. Those 9 get a calendar link, and 6 end as calls booked. Every stage is tracked as a count, so each can be improved separately.
Yarrowmere's campaign, stage by stage
- 490emails delivered
- 20replies
- 9interested replies
- 6calls booked
Send cold email in four steps.
Good cold email is mostly preparation. The writing is the last and shortest part.
The four steps in order
- 1Build the list
- 2Set up sending
- 3Write short
- 4Test weekly
- 1
Build the list and verify it.
Choose people who match your profile and verify every address before sending.
- 2
Set up sending on warmed, authenticated domains.
Use separate sending domains with SPF, DKIM and DMARC in place, warmed up before any campaign.
- 3
Write short, and plan the follow-ups.
Keep the first email brief and plan a few follow-ups over the next two weeks.
- 4
Test weekly and keep what works.
Change one thing at a time, such as the subject line, and keep what earns more replies.
Prymatica is a done-for-you cold email agency. We build your sending infrastructure, source and verify prospects, write the sequences, send the campaigns and book interested replies onto your calendar. See how Prymatica's cold email process works.
Teams make these mistakes with cold email.
The email is about the sender.
Three paragraphs on your company give the reader no reason to reply. Write about their problem.
It goes out from the main domain.
Sending volume from the domain your team uses for daily mail puts that mail at risk. Use dedicated sending domains.
There is no follow-up.
People miss emails. A short, polite follow-up a few days later gives them a second chance to answer.
These glossary terms sit next to cold email.
These Prymatica pages go deeper on cold email.
Questions
People ask these questions about cold email.
What is the difference between cold email and spam?
Cold email is sent to a chosen person, about something relevant to their job, from a real sender with a way to opt out. Spam is sent in bulk to anyone, with no regard for relevance. The difference is targeting, honesty and respect for a no.
How long should a cold email be?
Short enough to read on a phone without scrolling: an opening line about the reader, one or two sentences about the offer and one question. If a sentence does not help the reader decide whether to reply, cut it.
How many follow-ups should a cold email sequence have?
Plan a few, spaced several days apart, and stop when the person replies or asks you to. Each follow-up should add something new, such as a different angle or a short example.
What is cold email used for?
Mostly for starting sales conversations with businesses: booking meetings, introducing a new product or opening a partnership. It is also used for recruiting, press outreach and fundraising.
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