Cold email writing — subject lines, one-line personalization, value-first body, single CTA, and follow-up cadence for outbound prospecting. Use when user says "cold email", "outreach email", "first email to a prospect".
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---
name: copy-cold-email
description: Cold email writing — subject lines, one-line personalization, value-first body, single CTA, and follow-up cadence for outbound prospecting. Use when user says "cold email", "outreach email", "first email to a prospect".
license: MIT
metadata:
source: "coreyhaines31/marketingskills (MIT)"
category: copy
---
# Cold Email — First-Contact Copy
**The success metric is reply rate, not open rate.** A cold email's real enemy isn't the spam folder — it's "I'll look at this later." Judge every sentence by one question: does this earn a reply?
## Rules
- **Under 150 words**, with the conclusion inside 3 lines on mobile. As length grows, reply rate goes down.
- Subject: 1 personalization token + curiosity or benefit. ALL CAPS, emoji, and "Re:" are the most banned.
- First sentence = one fact about the recipient (product change, recent post, funding news). "We look forward to your growth" is a delete.
- Body: **exactly one value**. One proof point (a number, a similar customer) + one next action.
- CTA should be a small ask, not a big one: "Is this the kind of direction you'd care about?" beats "Can we get on a 15-minute call?" — a one-sentence question form gets more replies.
## Follow-up (3 touches)
- D+3: one more proof point (never repeat the same attachment)
- D+7: pre-empt the likely objection ("Probably not a great time —" then a 3-line summary)
- D+14: close the loop ("I won't send more" + one useful resource)
Keep follow-ups in the same thread — break it into a new email and the history disappears.
## Prohibited
Long greetings, "I'll keep this brief", quoting marketing copy, 3+ links, opening with "Thank you."
## Output
3 subject options + 1 body draft (with margin role annotations: personalization/value/proof/CTA) + skeletons for 3 follow-ups + a pre-send self-proofing table.
