Campaign & Copy · Templates
Templates are a starting structure, not a script. The ones that work share a shape: short, specific, about the recipient, and asking for something small. Here are ten structures worth adapting. Rewrite every one in your own voice before sending.
1. The observation
Open with something specific and true about their business that you could only know by looking. Connect it to a problem you solve. Ask if it is worth a conversation. This is the highest performing structure in cold email and also the most work, which is exactly why it works.
2. The specific result
"We got [similar company] from X to Y in Z weeks." One sentence on how. One question asking if they would want the same. Credibility through specificity, not adjectives.
3. The one question email
Two lines total. Ask a single, easy, genuinely interesting question about their operation. No pitch at all. You are starting a conversation, not closing a deal.
4. The trigger event
They raised, hired, launched, expanded. Reference it, connect it to a predictable problem that follows, offer the fix. Timing is the entire value here. This works only when it is fresh.
5. The competitor angle
Mention, carefully and respectfully, that peers in their space are doing something they are not. Curiosity, not fear. This tips into obnoxious easily, so handle with care.
6. The teardown
You looked at something of theirs and found a specific issue. Offer the finding for free with no strings. The give first structure earns replies because it is the rare cold email that costs the sender something.
7. The soft referral ask
"If this is not you, who should I be talking to?" Lowers the stakes to almost nothing, and it works because you have made it easy to say something other than no.
8. The direct pitch
Who you are, what you do, why it matters to them specifically, one clear ask. Boring and honest beats clever and vague more often than people expect.
9. The follow-up that adds
Never "just bumping this." Follow-ups should carry new information: a case study, a relevant piece of news, a different angle on the same problem.
10. The breakup
"I will stop here. If this becomes relevant, my door is open." Closes the loop, and it reliably resurrects a surprising number of dead threads.
Rules that apply to all ten
Under 100 words. One link maximum. No attachments. Plain text, no images, no HTML template, no logo. A subject line that is short, lowercase, and does not promise anything. And a first line that is not about you: "Hi, I am X from Y and we help companies" is the single most deleted opening in cold email.
Stuck on the wording? Our free AI copywriter turns a few details about your offer and prospect into a cold email built on these structures. Sign up to the Frostmailer app and generate a first draft in seconds, then make it yours. And remember: great copy still needs an inbox to land in, so the infrastructure has to be right too.
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