a single source, nothing corroborates it

Build the email around one detail you found

Spend a couple of minutes on the recipient before writing and put what you find in the subject line and opening sentence, since those are what decide whether it is opened at all. The standard of cold email is low enough that this alone separates you.

The method

1. 01

   Spend two minutes searching for the recipient before writing, and build the email around one specific personal thing you find.

2. 02

   Spend thirty seconds on the recipient's site or social profile to find one genuine point of connection and reference it, so the email is not purely extractive.

3. 03

   The standard of cold email is so low that a couple of minutes of research is already enough to stand out, so do not use effort as an excuse.

4. 04

   Put the personal detail in the subject line, since a bespoke subject is what lifts open rate.

5. 05

   Open with a personal sentence because that first line is what shows as inbox preview text, and preview text is what decides whether the email is opened.

What it returned

• 50,000

  Ramp's subject line told the reader the sender was wearing a shirt with their company on it; the campaign went to 50,000 companies in 2017

• A recruiter found the prospect's Twitter, noticed she snowboards and had won an award that weekend, and used it

• Beamery's cold email is cited as an example of quick personalisation

• Personalised preview text is identified as the main driver of opens on a campaign that generated a thousand replies

Sources

• Try writing “advice emails” instead of sales emailsHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Personalisation · undated
• The “best sales email ever” from a personalised t-shirt companyHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · Subject Line · undated
• How 2 minutes of personalisation transforms your cold emailsHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · How 2 minutes of personalisation transforms your cold emails · undated
• My favourite sales email patternHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · My favourite sales email pattern · undated
• One thousand replies to cold emailsHarry Dry · Marketing Examples · One thousand replies to cold emails · undated