Cold Outreach Email Templates

Cold email is a high-leverage skill almost nobody does well. Most cold outreach fails not because the product is wrong or the timing is bad — but because the email is about the sender, not the recipient.

The templates in this guide are built around a single principle: cold email that works makes the reader feel like you understand their world, not like you need something from them.

The Anatomy of a Converting Cold Email

Before templates, understand the structure of a cold email that actually gets responses:

Subject line: Gets it opened. Short, specific, personal when possible. First sentence: Gets it read. Not about you — about them or something they care about. Value proposition: One sentence. Crystal clear. What you do and for whom. Social proof or credibility signal: Why should they take you seriously? Specific CTA: One ask. Low commitment. Not "let me know if you want to chat sometime." Total length: Under 150 words.

The biggest cold email mistake is length. Every sentence that doesn't add value loses you a reader.

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Template Set 1: Software/Tool Outreach

Use this to prospect into companies that would benefit from your SaaS product.

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Template 1A: Problem-First Cold Email

Subject: [Specific pain they likely have]

Examples:

• Your content pipeline, specifically
• Saw your team is hiring 3 content roles
• Question about how you handle [specific process]

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Body:

Hi [First name],

[1 sentence: A specific observation about them — something you actually noticed about their company, content, or situation. Not generic flattery — a real observation.]

[1-2 sentences: The problem this observation suggests they might have. Frame it around their world, not your product.]

At [Your Company], we help [specific ICP type] [specific outcome]. [One recent customer result — e.g., "Finmark cut their content production time by 60% in the first month."]

Worth a 20-minute conversation to see if it's relevant for you?

[Name]

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Example:

Hi Sarah,

Noticed Acme's blog has published 4 posts in the last 3 months — and your LinkedIn says you're the only marketing person there.

That math is brutal. Most solo marketers at Series A companies are buried in content requests with no system to execute them.

At Averi, we help startups like yours run a full content operation — strategy, drafting, publishing — without needing a bigger team. Sidebar Health went from 1 post/month to 12 with the same headcount.

Worth 20 minutes to see if it's relevant?

Tom

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Template 1B: The Specific Value Cold Email

Use when you have data or insight specific to their industry or company.

Subject: [Specific thing you noticed] → [Implication]

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Body:

Hi [First name],

[1 sentence: Reference something specific you observed — a competitor move, an industry trend, something their company published or announced.]

[1 sentence: The implication for them — why this creates an opportunity or challenge.]

We work with [number] companies in [their space] on [what you do]. Most of them are [common situation] — and we've found [specific insight or approach that works].

If [condition that would make this relevant to them], happy to share what we're seeing.

Would a quick call next week make sense?

[Name]

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Template 1C: The Peer Reference Cold Email

Use when you have a mutual connection or a recognizable customer in common.

Subject: [Mutual connection] suggested I reach out

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Body:

Hi [First name],

[Mutual connection name] mentioned you're [situation that's relevant to what you offer].

We recently helped [their peer company — similar size, industry, or situation] [specific outcome]. [Name/Company] was dealing with [specific problem similar to theirs] — here's what changed for them: [brief result].

Given what [Mutual connection] told me about your [situation], I think there could be something relevant for [their company] too.

Open to a quick 15-minute call to find out?

[Name]

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Template Set 2: Partnership Outreach

For reaching out to potential integration partners, co-marketing partners, or distribution partners.

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Template 2A: Co-Marketing Proposal

Subject: [Shared audience] — potential collaboration?

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Body:

Hi [First name],

I've been following [their newsletter/podcast/community] for a while — your content on [specific topic] resonates with a lot of our customers.

We both serve [shared audience description] but from different angles — [their product] for [their use case], [your product] for [your use case]. That's usually the best setup for a collaboration that's useful to both audiences rather than cannibalistic.

Thinking of something like [specific co-marketing idea: a joint webinar, guest post, shared template, etc.].

Interested in exploring what this could look like?

[Name]

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Template 2B: Integration Partner Outreach

Subject: [Your product] + [their product] — our customers keep asking

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Body:

Hi [First name],

A recurring request from our users at [Your Company]: an integration with [their product].

We're building on [your stack/API] and have [X] customers in the [shared space] — most of them are already using both products. The manual workarounds they're using today are... creative.

Would love to understand if a native integration is something your team has explored or would prioritize. Happy to share specifics on our overlap.

Is there someone on your partnerships team we should be talking to?

[Name]

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Template Set 3: Media and Journalist Outreach

For pitching journalists, newsletter writers, or podcast hosts for coverage.

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Template 3A: Data-Backed Story Pitch

Subject: Data: [Surprising finding] among [audience] in [year]

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Body:

Hi [First name],

Working on a story I thought might fit [their publication/newsletter/show]:

We surveyed [N] [audience type] and found [surprising, specific data finding]. The angle: [one sentence on why this is surprising and what it says about a larger trend they'd care about].

[One sentence of supporting evidence or second data point.]

Happy to share the full dataset and would love to connect you with [3-4 participants from the survey] for direct quotes.

Is this something you'd be interested in?

[Name]

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Template 3B: Guest Contribution Pitch

Subject: Guest post idea for [their publication]: "[Specific headline]"

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Body:

Hi [First name],

I have a piece I think would fit [their publication]:

"[Specific, strong headline]"

The angle: [2-3 sentences on the specific argument or insight, what makes it counterintuitive or fresh, and why their readers would care.]

Quick credibility: [1-2 sentences establishing why you can write this piece — relevant experience, company context, data access.]

Happy to send a full draft. Let me know if it's a fit.

[Name]

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Sequence Strategy: The 3-Touch Follow-Up

Most cold email responses come from the 2nd or 3rd touch. Here's the structure:

Touch 1 (Day 1): Initial email (templates above)

Touch 2 (Day 4-5):

Hi [First name],

Bumping this up in case it got buried. Still think [specific reason why this is relevant to them].

If timing's off, happy to reconnect in [X] weeks — just say the word.

[Name]

Touch 3 (Day 10-12):

Hi [First name],

Last one from me — I don't want to clog your inbox.

If [specific problem you solve] ever becomes a priority, we'd love to help. [One sentence on the strongest relevant result you've driven.]

[Name]

After 3 touches with no response: mark them for follow-up in 3-6 months. Timing is often the issue, not interest.

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What Separates High-Response Cold Email

Real personalization vs. mail-merge personalization. "[First name] + company name" is not personalization. "Noticed your recent post about [topic] — the point about [specific thing] is something we see constantly" is personalization. The difference shows.

Short enough to read in 30 seconds. If it takes longer, it won't get read at all.

One CTA, low commitment. "20-minute call" beats "30-minute demo." "Worth a quick chat?" beats "Let's schedule some time to connect." "Reply if interested" beats a Calendly link in the first email.

Genuine relevance. The single most important thing. If you can't write a sentence that demonstrates you understand their specific situation, don't send the email — or do more research first.

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Cold Outreach Volume vs. Quality

The temptation is to send 500 emails a week. The better approach: send 25 highly personalized emails a week that have a 15-20% response rate. The math almost always works out the same for booked calls, and the quality of conversations is infinitely better.

Build your cold email operation on genuine targeting: people who have a known, specific problem that your product solves, at a moment in time when they're likely to be thinking about it.

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Further Reading

• develop your email marketing strategy
• high-converting email campaign examples and templates
• fix your funnel playbook

Frequently Asked Questions

What open rate should I expect from cold email?

Well-targeted, personalized cold email typically sees 40-60% open rates. Generic bulk cold email sees 15-25%. If your open rate is below 30%, the issue is usually your subject line — A/B test two or three variations. If open rate is fine but response rate is below 5%, the issue is the email body — the value proposition isn't landing or the ask is too big.

Should I use a tool for cold outreach?

For individual high-touch outreach (founders doing their own prospecting), Gmail works fine. For any systematic outreach, use a tool: Apollo.io, Instantly, Lemlist, or Outreach.io. These handle follow-up sequences automatically and give you open/click tracking. Don't use your primary company domain for high-volume cold outreach — use a closely related secondary domain (e.g., tryaveri.com or getaveri.com) to protect your main domain's deliverability reputation.

Is cold email still GDPR/CAN-SPAM compliant?

B2B cold email to professional email addresses is generally permissible under CAN-SPAM as long as you: identify yourself clearly, include a physical address, and honor opt-outs promptly. GDPR is more complex — sending to EU recipients requires a "legitimate interest" basis. Always include an easy unsubscribe option in sequences, and maintain a suppression list. When in doubt, consult legal guidance for your specific situation.

How do I find the right contacts to email?

LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo.io, Clay, and ZoomInfo are the main prospecting tools. For smaller-scale outreach, manually identifying the right person on LinkedIn (searching by job title + company size + industry) and finding their email via Hunter.io or Apollo works well. Quality of targeting is more important than volume of contacts — spend more time on the list and less on sending.

What's the best time to send cold emails?

Tuesday through Thursday, between 8-10am or 1-3pm in the recipient's time zone, consistently outperforms other windows. Monday morning competes with a full inbox. Friday afternoon gets lost in end-of-week mode. Avoid major holidays and conference weeks in your industry (everyone's out of office and inbox chaos is high).