Cold Email Copywriting – Best Practices, Tips, & Tools for 2023

Getting noticed in a crowded inbox is harder than ever.

Your prospects are super busy and they don’t care about generic pitches. They want to hear how you can help with their specific problems.

To make things worse, cold email open rates and response rates are declining heavily, which makes strategic cold email copywriting critical to connecting with prospects.

So how do you write cold emails that break through the noise?

Whether you want to generate qualified leads, book more meetings, or nurture relationships, writing a compelling cold email copy is non-negotiable.

In this post, we’ll explore the anatomy of highly-effective cold emails, cold email copywriting best practices, and some key tips to level up your game and boost results.

Cold Email Copywriting – Table of Contents

What is cold email copywriting?

Cold email copywriting refers to the text content and messaging crafted for emails that are sent to prospective customers or leads who are not expecting to receive an email from you.

The goal is to use various copywriting strategies and messaging techniques that will compel the prospect to open, read, and engage with the content of your cold emails.

Simply put, it’s a specialized skill that differs significantly from general advertising and marketing copy.

Here are some highlights of the key differences:

Your cold email copy has to work much harder to grab attention and interest because you don’t have an existing relationship or permission from the prospect to be in their inbox.

Cold emails need to convey value quickly in short paragraphs and bullet points that can be skimmed.

Cold email copy has to directly address how you can help prospects or solve their problems to get responses.

Market research can help cold email copywriters create personalized messages for the recipients.

Every cold email needs a specific CTA to tell the prospect the next step to continuing the conversation.

Most importantly, mastering cold email copywriting takes experimentation, analysis, and refinement based on open/response rate data. On the bright side, though, the payoff of increased leads and sales is definitely worth the effort.

What should be the ideal cold email structure?

When sending cold emails, having the right structure is crucial for getting opened and generating responses.

Based on industry best practices, your cold email should include the following:

Subject line

The subject line is one of the most critical parts of a cold email because it’s the first thing any prospect notices about your email.

So, your subject line should be compelling enough to convince the prospect to open your message.

<div>Cold Email Copywriting – Best Practices, Tips, & Tools for 2023</div>

Here are some best practices for crafting highly-effective cold email subject lines:

Keep it short, clear, and scannable – under 50 characters is best. Long subject lines will get cut off or ignored.
Speak directly to the prospect’s pain points or interests. Subject lines should be targeted and personalized as much as possible.
Use urgency or curiosity triggers like “time-sensitive”, “quick question”, “stop missing out” etc. to entice opening.
Leverage A/B testing strategies to test different subject line formulas and power words to see what drives more opens.

Pre-header

The pre-header is a short text summary visible on most email clients before opening. It gives you a second chance to contextualize your email and get it opened. So, use it to further communicate key details and compel prospects.

Here are some best practices for writing effective pre-header text:

Summarize the value proposition or key benefit of your solution. For example, “See how we can help you double conversion rates in under 6 months”.
Emphasize scarcity or urgency to motivate action. For instance, “Limited time offer – expires this Friday”.
Give a reason why the prospect should open – “A quick tip to help you increase sales”
Keep the pre-header text short – ideally around 125 characters. Make it concise and scannable.

Opening line

The opening line sets the tone. You have a brief window to capture attention amidst inbox clutter. So, how you craft the opening line and first paragraph is key to engaging prospects quickly.

Here are some best practices to write attention-grabbing opening lines:

Personalize the opening line with the prospect’s name, company, or relevant detail.
highlighting a shared connection, pain point, or compelling data they care about.
Make an intriguing offer or promise of value upfront to capture attention fast. For example, “I can help you reduce churn by 15% this quarter”.
Keep the opening line short and scannable to draw readers in to keep reading.

Personalized body content

The body of your cold email needs to be tailored specifically to the prospect. Craft the content to speak directly to their pain points and interests. Explain how your offering can help them achieve goals or solve problems.

Most importantly, demonstrate that you’ve done research on them by referencing their role, company, projects, etc. This shows the email isn’t a spam blast to thousands.

Here are some best practices for personalizing the body content of your cold email:

Address their pain points, offer tailored solutions, and outline how you can help.
Focus on benefits and ROI over features. Emphasize how you can save them time, increase revenue, reduce churn, improve productivity, boost efficiency, etc.
Write conversationally and in the first person. Avoid overly salesy language.
Keep paragraphs short and content scannable. Try to include subheaders and bullet points.

Clear Call-to-Action

Every cold email needs a clear CTA or next step for the recipient. Don’t leave them wondering what you want them to do after reading. For example, you can consider requesting a meeting, asking for feedback, directing them to a link/demo, etc.

Here are some best practices for writing clear call-to-actions:

Place the CTA near the beginning and end.
Use action-oriented language customers respond to like “Schedule a demo”, “Get a free trial”, etc.
Limit to just one clear CTAs per email.
Use urgency and scarcity tactically – “Schedule before spots fill”.
Remove any barriers to act. Tell them exactly what to do.

Compelling closing statement

End your cold email with a statement that compels the recipient to take action. This is important because a strong close gives one final push for them to engage with your outreach. Furthermore, it shows confidence in your ability to provide value to them.

Here are some best practices to write compelling closing statements:

Circle back to the main benefit or solution you provide one last time. Remind them what you can offer.
Add urgency with time sensitivity or limited availability – “Only 5 spots are remaining!” Push them to act now.
Share a powerful client testimonial or success stat that builds credibility.
Include an easy next step like scheduling a quick call or signing up for a free trial.
Thank them for their time and reiterate your desire to help them succeed.

Email sign-off

The sign-off is the final part of your email, coming after the closing statement. It wraps up the message politely and warmly. There are plenty of email sign-offs you can use in your cold emails such as “Have a good day”, “Best Regards”, etc.

After your email sign-off, make sure to include your email signature with important information such as your name, company name, website URL, your work contact number, your social media handles, and so on.

Here are some best practices to write email sign off that ignite responses:

Add a relevant email sign-off text.
List multiple contact channels such as phone, email, and the website URL.
Include a photo or brand logo so they can put a face to the name.
A short, memorable tagline that summarizes what you do.
Showcase awards, certifications, and achievements to convey authority and win trust.

Cold email copywriting best practices

Crafting effective cold emails that get opened, read, and generate responses takes research, thought, and skills. Follow these best practices to make your cold emails stand out in your prospects’ inboxes.

1 – Use a compelling subject line to capture attention

The subject line is the headline of your email and often the deciding factor on whether your email gets opened or not. You have about 5-10 words to make an impact, so choose them carefully.

Use urgency (“Price increases next week!”) or specificity (“Re: Your request for demo”) to pique interest.
Ask a thought-provoking question (“What if we could cut your costs in half?”) to tease content.
Most importantly, avoid spammy phrases like “act now,” “free,” or “limited time” as they will likely get filtered to spam.

Overall, keep your subject line short, concrete, and commanding to capture attention.

2 – Personalize the email opening to build rapport

A personalized opening is much more likely to get opened than a generic one.

So, always avoid generic, impersonal openings like “Dear Sir/Madam” and take a moment to personalize your cold email introduction to grab your prospect’s attention.

Ideally, you should research and use your prospect’s first name, mention their company, etc. to humanize the outreach.

When you personalize cold email copy for each recipient, it signals you did your homework on them and their needs. Additionally, it also helps to establish rapport quickly and gets the relationship off on the right foot.

3 – Keep your email concise and get to the point FAST!

Don’t beat around the bush and bury the lead in the process. The best way to keep your email concise is to get right to the point within the first 1-2 paragraphs to convey why you are reaching out and what you have to offer.

Furthermore, replace lengthy background stories by stating your purpose clearly such as requesting a meeting, providing information, introducing your company, etc.

In a nutshell, keep your entire email under 5-6 short paragraphs by trimming unnecessary words to retain attention & get your core message across quickly and efficiently.

4 – Offer value to the prospect

Structure your cold email to focus on value for the prospect and not boast about your product or company. Position yourself as an advisor who wants to help, not a salesperson chasing commissions.

For example, share a relevant article, whitepaper, or case study from your blog. Or give actionable advice to help them solve a problem.

When you lead with value, you build trust and credibility. This makes the prospect more receptive when you eventually suggest a demo or meeting.

All in all, provide value first in your cold email and make your ask second. Talk about how you can solve their challenges or improve their situation and provide relevant examples, stats, or even testimonials to showcase the value you have to offer.

5 – Speak your prospects’ language

When you’re writing cold emails, it’s important not to use too much salesy jargon – that’s an easy way to get blocked or ignored.

Instead, take some time to research who your prospects are and what matters to them. Figure out their role, industry, company goals, challenges, interests, etc. Then use words and phrases in your emails that your prospects can relate to.

Write like you’re reaching out to a real human (which you are!), not a faceless corporation. Furthermore, make a personal connection by highlighting shared interests, motivations, or values. The key is to do your research and speak their language.

6 – Add urgency triggers

It can be helpful to sprinkle in some urgency triggers to give your prospect a nudge to respond or take action. But use these carefully – you don’t want to be overly aggressive.

For example, you could mention a 20% discount that’s expiring soon, slots filling up fast for a webinar relevant to them, or new product features launching next month that they might be interested in.

The goal with urgency triggers is to create motivation and a sense of value for acting now rather than later. But don’t go overboard. Find the right balance of showcasing value and scarcity without aggressive hard sells or manipulation.

In the end, you want your prospect to respond because they see genuine value in what you’re offering, not because you’re pressuring them into a sale.

7 – Make a specific ask (CTA)

When you’re sending cold emails, it’s super important to include a clear call-to-action (CTA) so your prospect knows exactly how to engage with you. Don’t just leave things open-ended or assume they’ll reach out if they’re interested. Spell it out for them!

Give them a specific direction for what to do next such as schedule a demo, sign up for a free trial, register for a webinar, download a piece of content, book a call, etc.

More importantly, make your CTA clear and prominent so they don’t miss it. For example, put it in its own paragraph or bullet point and use action verbs that drive urgency like “Schedule, Sign up, Reserve, Download, Claim” etc.

Remember, the more precise you are in your ask, the easier it is for your prospect to take the next step.

8 – Proofread carefully before hitting send

Always proofread your cold emails before sending them!

Proofreading carefully is incredibly important because you only get one chance to make a great first impression. A sloppy email full of obvious errors just looks unprofessional or careless.

So, give your email a thorough once-over to check for any errors or issues. Look for typos, grammar mistakes, inaccurate details, unclear writing, improper tone, weak CTAs, etc. Read your email out loud to catch things your eyes might miss.

When you write a sloppy email full of obvious errors, it looks unprofessional or careless, which makes your prospect more likely to disengage. On the flip side, if you write an email that’s clear, polished, and mistake-free, it looks credible and shows you respect their time.

9 – Take multiple follow-ups

Don’t expect prospects to respond to your first cold email right away. Be prepared to follow up multiple times to get engagement.

Follow-ups show persistence and genuine interest in helping. But make sure to include new information with each follow-up rather than just resending the same exact email. That will just annoy people.

For example, you can consider highlighting a new case study, additional resources, or testimonials in each follow-up email.

For a high reply rate, send multiple follow-up emails spaced a few days or a week apart.

According to research, a single follow-up email can increase the reply rate from 9% to 13%, while 50% of sales occur after the 5th follow-up email.

Given these statistics, it’s crucial to take the time to send multiple, thoughtful follow-ups to nurture the relationship and turn a cold prospect into a warm lead over time.

10 – Keep refining your cold email copy

Treat each cold email as an experiment – test different subject lines, content, calls-to-action, etc. Pay attention to open and response rates to see what works. Refine and optimize your copy over time based on data.

For example, A/B test email subject lines to determine which drives more opens. The goal is to continuously improve your email copy to boost engagement over time.

Refining based on data will ensure your cold emails convert at the highest rate possible. Cold emailing is not a set-it-and-forget-it process – you need to continually optimize.

4 Mistakes to avoid in your cold email copy

If you want to succeed at cold emailing, it’s equally important to avoid common mistakes as it is to implement the best practices we discussed above.

There are 5 critical mistakes that you must absolutely avoid when writing your cold email copy.

Mistake #1 – Don’t write a generalized message

We’ve all gotten those “Dear Sir or Madam” emails that sound like they were blasted out to a million people. When reaching out cold, make sure to personalize your message to show the recipient that you actually know who they are.

Generic “Dear Sir/Madam” emails are more likely to be ignored or flagged as spam. So, do your homework – look up the person on LinkedIn or their company bio to find info you can reference.

Maybe they just got promoted, their company launched a new product, or they spoke at a recent conference. Mention details like this to start creating a real connection.

Mistake #2 – Avoid writing lengthy emails

Let’s be honest – we’ve all ignored super-long emails before even reading them. So when you’re writing a cold email, you want to quickly get to the point so the recipient knows why you’re contacting them.

Don’t make them scroll through 10 paragraphs of backstory! Introduce yourself briefly, state the purpose of your outreach, and include a specific request or next steps. Get that key info in the first paragraph or two before they lose interest.

In other words, break it up into short, scannable sentences to make it friendly on the eyes instead of dumping all your thoughts in your cold email copy.

Mistake #3 – Don’t sell too early in your copy

We all know those super salesy cold emails that just make you cringe, right? When you reach out to someone for the first time, you don’t want to hype up your product or company too much right away.

I know you’re excited to share all the amazing things you can offer them! But focus first on providing value by sharing helpful industry insights or useful content tailored to their role and interests. Build some rapport and establish that you want to be a go-to resource for them.

Once you’ve captured their attention, then you can organically transition into how you can help them specifically.

What I’m trying to say is, don’t jump into sales mode too fast – build that relationship first!

Mistake #4 – Don’t pressure your prospects

When connecting with someone new, you want to avoid being overly pushy or making unreasonable requests.

For example, asking for an immediate meeting or a response by the end of the day comes across as demanding to someone who barely knows you.

Don’t use high-pressure tactics like conveying scarcity or fear of missing out. You wouldn’t buy from someone who came out swinging with hardball sales techniques, right? Well, the same applies to your prospects as well.

So what you can do instead is politely suggest reasonable next steps, like a quick phone chat to learn more about their needs and goals.

The goal is to let the new connection marinate a bit before asking for a lot. Remember, good relationships take patience and care!

Cold email copywriting tips to maximize results

Sending effective cold emails takes strategy. You don’t want to spam people or come across as salesy. Here are some important tips to make your outreach feel more personalized and engaging:

Segment your prospect lists into smaller groups

Mass blasting the same generic email to everyone is a rookie mistake. Take some time to divide your big master list into smaller segments and break it down by industry, company size, job title, location, or whatever makes sense.

This will allow you to tailor your messaging to align with each group’s specific needs and pain points.

For example, an email written for IT managers at mid-size companies would be different than one written for marketing VPs at large enterprises.

Sell benefits rather than features

Don’t just focus on explaining what your product does feature by feature. That’s boring!

Instead, I would suggest emphasizing the tangible benefits and outcomes your prospect will get from using your product.

For example, rather than saying “Our software has customizable dashboards,” say “Our software allows you to monitor the metrics that matter most to your business.”

This shows you get what matters most to them and drastically increases the chance of getting a response and even closing the deal.

Test different variations to see what works best

Marketers obsess over testing everything, and cold emails are no exception!

So, don’t get lazy and stick with one email template forever. Try different subject lines, email copy, graphics, calls-to-action, etc. Send one version to Part A of your list and another version to Part B.

Wait for a few days and then see which one gets more opens and responses. Based on the data, keep iterating the different elements of your cold email copy to improve your results over time.

Leverage social proof

Prospects want to know others trust you before they will. So, it’s a good idea to include some concrete social proof to help build credibility fast. For this, you can consider mentioning well-known brands you’ve worked with or impressive client results.

For example, you could say something like “We’ve helped companies like XYZ grow revenue by 30% in just 6 months.” and link to their case studies on your website or client testimonials.

If you don’t have case studies to highlight as social proof, you can also consider highlighting how many years you’ve been in business and the total number of clients served.

Be sincere and human

Last but not least, avoid sounding like a sleazy, high-pressure salesperson in your cold email copy. The best way to maximize results is to be transparent that you have a product to sell, but at the same time, focus more on providing value upfront.

The point is, make sure you really get to know prospects as people before pushing your product. You can do so by asking smart questions to better understand their goals and pain points. Once you have enough data, share relevant content like articles, ebooks, or webinars to demonstrate you genuinely want to help.

Best cold emailing tools to scale your outreach

Improving your copywriting skills is certainly important but it’s just one part of the equation. If you really want to generate leads at scale and close deals faster, you need to automate the process.

The good news is, there are plenty of cold email outreach tools out there that can help to accelerate and automate the entire process.

Below, we’ve shared the 3 best cold emailing tools in the market.

Saleshandy

If you’re looking for an all-in-one solution to streamline and automate cold email outreach, give Saleshandy a spin.

Saleshandy personalizes each email so it sounds like you wrote it just for the recipient.

On top of all that, you get real-time stats to see what’s resonating with leads. Which subject lines are getting clicks? What content is converting? Saleshandy shows you what’s working so you can keep sharpening your axe.

Whether you’re in sales, SaaS, IT, or anywhere in between, Saleshandy takes cold email off your plate. It will save you a ton of time and help you connect with way more leads.

Key Features:

Hyper-Personalization – Saleshandy is equipped with next-level merge tags & Spintax feature that lets you personalize your cold emails for each recipient automatically to boost your open rate.

Auto Follow-Ups – Saleshandy automatically sends personalized follow-up emails to your prospects. This automation of emails can substantially boost your email open rates and reply rates.

Sender Rotation – The Sender Rotation feature lets you connect unlimited email accounts and rotates them automatically in your email sequences. By spreading sequences across multiple email accounts, Saleshandy maintains high email deliverability and avoids hitting daily email-sending limits on any one account.

Sequence Score – Sequence Score is a unique feature of Saleshandy that measures the overall effectiveness of the copy of your entire email sequence. This helps to ensure your messages resonate with your prospects at each step of the sequence, allowing you to make data-driven tweaks & improvements for better results.

Unified Inbox – Unified Inbox brings all your prospect replies into one place. This consolidated view of all communications gives you full visibility so you don’t miss any important responses from prospects across multiple accounts.

Pros and Cons of Saleshandy:

Pros:

Connect an unlimited number of email accounts at no extra cost.
Simple process to gradually increase email sending capacity.
Real-time tracking of email outreach.
AI-enabled writing tool for crafting emails.
Advanced email deliverability features to land in Primary inboxes.

Cons:

No free plan (7-day free trial available).

Pricing:

Basic plan: $27 per month
- Unlimited Email Account
- Unlimited Email Warm-up
- Basic Sender Rotation
- Unified Inbox
- 2,000 Total Prospects
- 10,000 Monthly Emails
- 2,500 Email Verification Credits

Outreach Pro – $79/Month
- Everything in Outreach Basic
- Unlimited Team Members
- Advanced Sender Rotation
- Unified Inbox
- 25,000 Total Prospects
- 125,000 Monthly Emails
- 10,000 Email Verification Credits

Outreach Scale – $150/Month
- Everything in Outreach Pro
- 50,000 Total Prospects
- 250,000 Monthly Emails
- 25,000 Email Verification Credits
- Priority Support

Custom plan – Request for quote
- Everything in Outreach Scale
- Dedicated Success Manager
- Customized Prospected Limits
- Customized Monthly Emails
- Customized Email Verification Credits

Customer Ratings:

G2 – 4.7/5 based on 500+ reviews
Capterra – 4.5/5 based on 100+ reviews

Yesware

Yesware is a sales and marketing platform designed to help professionals track, manage, and optimize their email communication.

It integrates with email providers like Gmail and Outlook to provide users with capabilities like email tracking, email templates, sequencing emails, and analytics.

With Yesware, users can see when their emails are opened, know who opened them, and view email analytics to understand engagement levels. The platform aims to help sales and marketing teams streamline their email follow-ups, nurture leads, and close more deals.