320 billion!
That’s the number of emails expected to be sent daily in 2021, according to Statista. A lot of these would be cold emails, no doubt. But how many opened, how many replied? That’s a question that needs attention.
We’re doing this by giving you the 20 best cold email templates to use in 2023 and beyond. Every one of these is tried and tested by our teams, along with a lot more.
Unfortunately, many of them tanked, but these 20 kept our sales team busy with quality leads and continue to do that.
Why keep you waiting, then? It’s time to get the ball rolling. Find yourself a comfortable spot and a hot cup of coffee while we give you a reader’s delight.
What Is A Cold Email?
A cold email is a communication made with the recipient with no prior contact. It’s aimed at kick-starting a business conversation. Cold calling is where cold emails stem from, but they are far less intrusive and often far more effective.
The overview of any cold email is:
- Quick introduction (Maximum of two lines}
- Get attention- Pose a question, State a fact, Surprise the recipient, etc.
- Give a viable solution.
- End with a clear CTA
It’s always best to keep cold emails short, as nobody likes to read a novel sent in an email!
But, do you know why cold emails are one of the best (if not the best!) lead generation channels for businesses, both B2B and B2C? Well, the following section has the answer. So, keep reading and sipping on that coffee.
Importance of Cold Emailing And Why Need Customized Templates For Customers?
Our fingers differ from each other, right? They together help in the proper functioning. Individually, they’re all different. Your customers are the same.
It’s a coincidence if two customers, or prospects, end up being precisely the same.
They’re all different, and if you’re going to attract them through cold emails, use customized templates based on their preferences and interests.
In today’s world, customers love personalization, and as we’ll see in this section, personalization is easily possible with cold emails.
It makes sense to customize all the cold email templates, as the results would be significantly better that way.
Customizing cold emails is important, but why are cold emails important in the first place? We’ll discuss this before the big reveal on the templates! Hold your horses a bit longer. It’ll be worth the wait.
Generating Leads Is Never A Problem!
A cold email with a suitable cold email template opens the door for highly interested leads. It brings new leads, thick and fast, that are qualified to nurture further. Cold email is the best way to open a channel of acquisition without enough manpower.
The initial days of developing the right set of cold email templates might require time and effort, but you’ll soon see the KPIs for cold email campaigns being hit easily, giving the sales team enough leads to work on.
For leaders like you, that’s a sight to behold.
Totally Cost-effective
Organically reaching the target market is the most cost-effective way of acquiring customers, but cold emails come at a very close second.
This is because organic reach, although less costly, is time-consuming and unpredictable. You first identify the target market with loads of research, figure out the channel they’re using, and then create content to get eyeballs. After all this, you still aren’t sure whether the right audience is seeing the content or not.
Now, look at cold emails. Your teams hustle to find emails and to prepare some effective cold email templates, after which they just start shooting!
A cold email campaign works well if the volumes are high and the product you’re selling comes at a premium cost. How? Look at this example:
Let’s take one of your product’s prices to be $250 per month. You collected 10,000 emails, customized the sales email template, and sent them using automation tools.
We’ll say that only 5,000 receivers opened it. That’s a 50% open rate. Only 500 clicked on the links provided, and only 5 ended up buying. That’s $1,250 worth of new revenue per month, which ends up making $15 grand a year!
The money you’ll spend on conducting this entire campaign is nothing compared to this revenue, even after taking pretty modest figures. Actual revenues could be a lot better.
Get Better Overall
Cold emails aren’t the only lead generation process you’re following. Your teams would be sending weekly or monthly newsletters, conducting webinars, running ads, and uploading blogs, videos, PDFs, and whatnot.
Amidst all these lead generation channels, you and your teams would learn the most from cold email campaigns. Those constant cold email templates and iterations would reveal the type of content and flow your audience likes, which can then be incorporated into all channels to improve overall.
Simple yet effective!
See What’s Not Working
While seeing what’s working, you’ll also clearly recognize what isn’t with cold emailing. That is more crucial because doing the wrong things would derail the entire campaign and make the target audience go further away from the brand. Nobody wants this to happen, and cold emails are the fastest way to realize that and make changes.
Personalize
Use different cold email templates for every one of your clients. That’s how cold emails stand out and compel the receiver to open and read. Last year, reply rates went up from a mere 7% to 17% after hyper-personalized cold emails. Of course, the subject of the email plays a crucial role as well, but apart from that, you get to personalize as much as you can with cold emails. In this process of personalization, you learn about the customers and target market too, which always helps.
To make every email as personal as it can get, find out who exactly your target customers are? What do they do? Which channels are they active on? What type of content do they like? Then, adjust the tone of the email or choose one from the below 20 cold email templates and change it to suit their profile. In most cases, the least you’ll get is their attention with such personalization. Ain’t that remarkable?
Spread Brand Awareness
“How to let more folks know about us?”
If, as a leader, this is your question, a cold email campaign is an answer. This is because people remember if they see something smart, creative, and catchy.
Even when they don’t end up buying after seeing your cold email, they remember the brand that made them laugh or surprised them grandly. So, if brand awareness is the goal, your teams should start working on some cool cold email templates asap!
Easily Scalable
Here’s the problem with all other lead generation activities except cold emails. They aren’t fully scalable. Think about it; you can only run so many advertisements in a day or make only so many cold calls a day.
After a point, your teams have to stop. With cold emails, there’s only an initial setup cost post that sends as many emails as you want. Remember to not run out of email addresses, though. 😉
There’s A Guarantee
A cold email waits for its recipient till they open their mailbox, while an advertisement on Facebook, Instagram, or LinkedIn may not be seen by those checking their timelines after the advertisement has stopped running. The same is with your content on social and video-sharing platforms. So, cold emails give a guarantee that other lead generation channels can’t.
20 Best Cold Email Templates For Lead Generation
Here you are! 20 best cold email templates to skyrocket your lead generation process. As stated earlier, we’ve used every one of these for generating leads and continue to do so. You’ll find some of these direct, while others are full of humor, praising, and about adding value to the prospect. The choice is yours to use it as it is or make changes before sending it.
Need some more coffee before starting? Trust us; you’ll like these templates more with a hot, strong cup of coffee. Get it, and on we go.
1. The Referral Type
This is a cold email template that works best to gain familiarity with your prospect’s company. Cold emails are sent without prior notice, we agree, but there’s nothing wrong with getting introduced by someone before taking the business conversation forward. In fact, you’ll get much higher response rates after some familiarization. A super effective B2B cold email example, we would say.
Hi, [First Name]
This is [Your Name] from [Your Company].
A quick question – Who handles [Department name] in your organization?
See, [Competitor’s Name] is using our [Product] that’s [doubling revenue/increasing profits 10x/visibly improving productivity] for them, and I don’t want [Prospect’s Company] to miss out on the same.
However, I am not sure who’s the right person to talk to about this.
Is that you? If yes, does your calendar have any free slots for a meeting this week?
If not, I’d appreciate it if you could point me to a colleague with whom I can have this conversation?
Looking forward to your reply.
Good day,
[Your Name]
2. Direct Approach
Prospects often don’t have the patience to see you beat around the bush. They want you to get to the point directly. In that case, a cold email template directly initiating a business conversation works great.
This is an approach where teams don’t write a zillion lines or send multiple emails before getting to the point, and the prospect straight away understands why you’re emailing. If they like the idea, they’ll reply. Otherwise, you can simply write a follow up email or move forward. No strings attached.
Hello, [First Name]
I saw the news of your promotion while going through [Prospect’s Company] LinkedIn page.
Congratulations on being promoted to [Prospect Position], [First Name].
I’m rooting for you to make quality decisions for the [Department Name] in this role.
One such decision would be to further improve the department’s operational efficiency with/by using [The Idea]?
Our solutions at [Your Company] are surely going to attract if ‘yes’ is the answer.
And in that case, we can have a quick call tomorrow/[A Day] at noon.
If that’s not possible, let us know about your schedule, and we’ll plan it accordingly.
Have a wonderful day.
Thanks,
[Your Name]
3. Add Value
As you read earlier, cold emails work superbly well when they’re personalized. For that to happen, it’s crucial to know as much as you can about the prospect. For example, if you know the prospect is visiting your website and accessing some material, you can use that information in your email. This will make the email feel like the next step of the journey rather than a random email, and the chances of a reply will improve.
Another way to make sure your emails stand out is to create a professional signature. This should include your name, title, company name, and contact information. And if you’re looking for inspiration, there are plenty of professional email signature examples out there to get you started. So don’t neglect this important aspect of your email communication. By taking these simple steps, you can ensure that your emails are professional and stand out from the rest.
Hi, [First Name]
You liked our white paper, didn’t you? The one you downloaded on [Topic] from our website.
I’m curious whether you and your colleagues at [Prospect’s Company] wish to learn more about [Topic]. It’ll help you with [Business Solution].
So, how about we set up a 30-minute consultation with our expert team on [Topic]?
We’ll only try to add value and nothing else.
Does it sound useful?
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
[Your Name]
4. The Light At The End Of The Tunnel!
The heading speaks for itself, and it can be the subject line too! The more you talk about helping prospects improve in your cold email template, the more they will listen to you. Another trick is to keep the solution short or ask for a shorter time to explain it, as you can’t expect the recipient to have an entire day for that.
Hi, [First Name]
All successful executives don’t want to stop till there’s even the slightest area of improvement left in their organizations. We’re guessing you’re no different.
[Your Company] solutions/products have made it possible for countless executives to make the right improvements.
If you have just 10 minutes, I’ll show exactly how our solutions/products would help you also do that.
Would tomorrow/[A Day] noon work? Or else, let me know the best time to connect.
Have a great day.
Thanks,
[Your Name]
5. Use Your Competitor
This cold email template works great for two reasons.
First, you show the prospect they have options to look into. Second, they know how the company differs from your competitor.
These factors mostly get you a reply, which can be nurtured into a paying customer. You’ll take customers away from the competitor using a straightforward cold email. That’s some feat!
Hi, [First Name]
Straight off the bat, I loved your website! It’s so well-designed and clutter-free.
While getting impressed by your website, I also observed you were using [Competitor’s Product]. Are you satisfied with their product experience? Well, I run [Your Company] that offers similar products and so much more.
The way we’re different from [Competitor’s Name] is [Key Differentiator].
If I can get on a quick call with a forward-thinking leader like you, we’ll discuss how.
[Prospect’s Company] can get even better, and if it makes sense to work with each other.
How about [Date & Time] for that call? If not, I’m available whenever you are.
Have a wonderful day. Stay safe.
Regards,
[Your Name]
6. Use Moment Marketing
Moment marketing ain’t just restricted to advertisements and content but works with cold emails too.
When framed the right way and put across at the right time, this cold email template works wonders. Do not forget to add photos related to your content. As for Christmas days you can find Christmas photo gift Ideas and use them in your email.
Don’t believe us? Try it out this Christmas. You’ll see.
Happy Christmas in advance, [First Name]!
This is [Your Name] from [Your Company]. How are you doing? Preparing for Christmas?
I’m sure you’re in a cheerful mood right now.
I want to add to that mood with these [Exclusive Discounts] on products you love.
I slashed prices for you, as nothing’s better than spreading happiness to a customer we value so much.
Hope this will make you smile more.
Have Fun.
7. Be A Part Of the Celebration
The least you’ll get from this cold email template is a reply, which can be easily followed up, as you’ve developed an emotional connection with the prospects by participating in their victories and celebrations.
The chances of getting proper and positive replies are very high with this template. People do like those who appreciate their journeys, you know. So, try it out.
Hi, [First Name]
This is [Your Name] from [Your Company]. Congratulations on [Trigger Event – Seed Funding, etc]. You guys at [Prospect’s Company] deserve it.
I’ve seen companies making [The Value Proposition] a priority after something like this, and we helped [Prospect’s Competitor/Similar Company] with that recently.
I know things there must be crazy right now, but how about a quick call on [Day & Time] to discuss the future moves?
Here’s a link to my calendar if the timing doesn’t suit you.
Let’s talk soon.
Regards,
8. The Copywriter’s Formula (AIDA)
Probably the oldest yet the most effective cold email template you’ll find. The first line grabs the reader’s attention, while the second and third lines enhance their interest.
The next one makes the offer desirable, and the last two lines prompt them to take action. There can be countless variations to each section of this template which gives you the freedom to try new ways of gaining attention.
Hi, [First Name]
What would you do if [Prospect’s Company] profits go 10x?
I ask because companies are getting such an increase with our software/products/solutions.
Companies like [Mention A Few Of Your Customers] are our proud customers, and we’re so happy to see them grow.
I and my colleagues at [Your Company] would love to do the same for you.
Shall we sit for a personalized demo [Date & Time]?
Let us know otherwise. We’ll conduct it as per your schedule. No worries.
Good day,
[Your Name]
9. Highlight Problem, Give Solution
Any person will instantly connect if you’re talking about their problems. If you’re addressing the right pain points of your prospect and going a step ahead to give solutions, they’ll start trusting you in no time.
This is because before initiating any business conversation, you talked about their problem and gave them a solution that might solve it. Why won’t any prospect love that? They’ll be ready to hear whatever you have to say, and that’s powerful!
Hi, [First Name]
Do you struggle to strike off everything from your to-do list?
Most busy executives, like you, struggle to stay on top of things, and to-do lists often become their least priority.
[Your Company]’s software helps you manage your time better and do everything that’s important. Read our case studies from [A Few Of Your Customer Companies], and you’ll see the proof of our work.
I’ve also arranged for a personalized demo we can do as per your calendar.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
[Your Name]
10. Share Your Best Resource
As talked about in the previous template, developing trust with your prospects is powerful. Sharing your best resources helps you do that, as they start seeing you as a leader in that field, which allows for more impactful conversation.
Hi, [First Name]
I read [Prospect’s Company] blog on [Prospect’s Blog Subject] yesterday, and it got me thinking.
Here’s another one that forced me to think. It’s titled [Your Blog Title].
Here’s the link for it – [Link]
I hope it resonates with you. You guys are doing great. Keep it up.
Regards,
[Your Name]
11. Nothing Better Than Humour!
Do we need to say anything more? Just try this cold email template out. You and your prospects would just love it!
Hi, [First Name]
R_AD_ F_R A C_A_ T_I_ W_ _K?
Give this puzzle a try.
Thinking?
Well, here’s the answer – (…drumroll…) “Ready For A Chat This Week.”
You’re super busy, and I know that certainly, but this chat won’t waste your time.
It would be about our [Product/Solution Name] and how it can solve [A Pain Point Your Prospect Might Be Facing].
Choose the date and time from here: [Your Calendar Link]
Post our chat, we can (and we should!) solve more puzzles like that. 🙂
Thanks,
[Your name]
12. Do The Cold Calling
Surprised, aren’t you? We were the same when one of our sales team members coined this idea. “A cold email talking about a cold call? Good joke.” – This was our collective reaction.
Nobody thought it would work, not even the colleague who coined it up. 🙂
Well, we were all proven wrong seeing the way prospects responded to it. A cold email template that was supposed to be a casual (funny) try brought leads that kept our sales team busy for months.
Do we need to say anything more? Get a hold of this template, change it as per your needs, and shoot!
Hi, [First Name]
My name is [Your Name] from [Your Company].
I wanted to call you to discuss our product/solution but predicted how it’d go.
You: I’m driving right now/watching ‘Game of Thrones’ for the zillionth time. Call me later, will you?
Me: Sure. Can you specify a time, maybe?
You: How about next year!?
Me: Oh, if that’s what you want, I’ll just give you my 10-second pitch, [First Name]. We at [Your Company] are helping companies [A Few Of Your Customers Names] optimize their [A Pain Point The Prospect Might Be Facing].
You: We already have systems and processes in place for this, and they’re working fine.
Me: Just fine? Don’t you want it to do better than fine? Imagine if a process can be completed in two steps, but it’s taking four at [Prospect’s Company]. It can definitely be bettered, don’t you think?
You: Ok, you’re good at convincing. I’ll give that to you. Send me an email, and I’ll let you know when we can have a meeting regarding this.
Me: Sure, [First Name]. Thank you.
What say, [First Name]? Shall we make this meeting a reality tomorrow/[A Day] at 12 noon?
Good day,
[Your Name]
13. Ready For A Video?
Videos are gaining great momentum, and the stance is the same, if not better, in the new normal. According to Cisco, videos would make up to 82% of all consumer internet traffic by 2022.
This would be 15x higher than 2017’s number. It’s safe to say that videos will dominate a person’s internet feed going forward. So, why not use them in our cold emails?
Hi, [First Name]
I’m sure you do not know who I am, and you want to stop reading this mail right now.
Just hold on for three sentences before you decide.
I at [Your Company] have noticed that most [Prospect’s Position] like yourself have one of these three problems [Mention Any 3 Or More Problems You Want]
Your company doesn’t have the right process for [Department Name] in place.
Executing the processes is a problem.
Your team’s efficiency is not at the right level.
Which problem applies to you? Or is it something else?
Based on your response, I’ll send a video of not over 4-minute that’ll surely help.
If you like that, we’ll take the conversation forward. If not, no strings attached.
Stay awesome,
[Your Name]
14. Give A Gift
This one never disappoints. If not a lead now, you’ll surely get them in the future.
The least it’ll do is get your prospects to talk good things about the brand, and after a few well-timed follow-ups, they would start turning into qualified leads.
Hello, [First Name]
I’m so lucky to have a customer like you. Your association with [Your Company] has made us so much better and happier.
Now, we want to do the same for you. We want to see you smile all day long.
Here’s a [Product Offer/Coupon Code] on [Your Product] – [Insert Links To The Product]
We’ve done this just for you, and we hope you’ll like it.
Thank you for showing trust and being a valued customer.
Good day,
[Your Name]
15. Praise The Prospect
Who doesn’t like a genuine appreciation, huh?
Everyone does, and everyone likes the person or brand who’s coming forward to do that.
The same philosophy is applied to this cold email template.
While working on it, we genuinely researched and used the different offerings from our prospects to know the positives about their brand.
The answer to the question turns out to be the agenda for the meeting, and recipients mostly give in for that, as they want to return the favor by at least listening to what you have to offer.
We’re pretty sure that’s what your competent team needs.
Hi, [First Name]
This is [Your Name] from [Your Company]. I’ve been using your products/solutions since last week and have plans to be a premium customer.
I just have one question before I make this decision. [Raise Question On A Pain Point The Prospect Might Have].
We’re helping [Prospect’s Competitors] solve this through our products/solutions, and I think we can do the same if it’s a problem for [Prospect’s Company].
How about a call tomorrow/[Any Day] at [Time]?
If you’re busy around this day and time, let me know how your calendar looks this week.
We’ll schedule it accordingly.
Keep up the wonderful work.
Good day,
16. Surprise And Attract
To be honest, we at SurveySparrow, haven’t seen better surprise elements in a cold email template than this.
Talk about the secret of success for the prospect’s competitor.
Use a similarly surprising subject, and the prospects would surely be tempted to open and read the email. The clear CTA of this sales email template would do the rest.
Hello, [First Name]
You probably don’t know me, which is why I’ll keep it quick.
An idea that has worked well for [Prospect’s Competitor] is what I want to give to you.
It’ll take just 10 minutes of your time and will help in getting top clients/maximizing profits.
[First Name], shall we schedule this 10-minute call today?
If that’s not possible, I’m willing to adjust my calendar for you. Just let me know when.
Regards,
[Your Name]
17. “Here’s how you can get better?”
Any good brand looking to grow and gain customers won’t ignore this kind of cold email template.
This is because they know every company has room for improvement, and the sooner they find theirs, the better it’ll be. Hence, you’ll get serious leads from this, and nurturing them to be paid customers won’t take too much time and effort.
Hi, [First Name]
I saw you signed up for our website from your [Prospect’s Company] email, so we thought we’d go check out the website and products.
We liked a lot of things like [Mention Good Things About Their Website/Product], and here’s what can get better:
[Mention In Pointers How The Prospect’s Website/Products Can Get Better]
How about getting on a call to discuss the solutions for these?
I’ll leave the date and time for you to decide.
Hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
[Your Name]
18. Gift Card
This cold email example works great if you want more upsells on the products. As when there’s value and an incentive for customers, they’ll not let the opportunity pass.
Hi, [First Name]
This is [Your Name] from [Your Company]. I just wanted to give you A GIFT CARD worth.
[Amount] to buy whatever you want from our website.
Why are we doing that?
Because we value you for trusting us through all the difficulties.
This is to thank you for that.
I hope this brings a big smile. 🙂
Stay awesome.
19. “I didn’t get your reply…”
At SurveySparrow, we’ve tried dozens of different cold email templates for follow-ups, but this subtle follow-up email has performed the best.
It directly talks about the crucial matter rather than beating around the bush or playing games. Brands like that sensible approach in follow-ups. Give it a read. You’ll see why it’s powerful, even when it’s nothing but simple.
Hi, [First Name]
You probably would’ve read my previous emails and taken a peek at our website by now.
I didn’t get your reply, so I thought to check up on you again.
Have you tried using our products? I can create a separate dashboard for you in the free trial.
Or, in case you wish to try anything specific, we can get on a call today/tomorrow/[Any Day] at [Time] to discuss that.
Good idea, isn’t it?
Waiting for your reply.
Regards,
[Your Name]
20. The Last Push
The last of this set of cold email templates are for occasions when none of the follow-ups have worked, or you haven’t got a reply from a prospect after the meeting, and you’re wondering if they’ll come on board or not.
Hi, [First Name]
I know things are hectic for you right now at work, which is why I haven’t heard from you since our last call.
If that’s not the reason, then probably you’re not interested in our products/solutions.
If you’re busy, we can plan the advance talks later. But if you’re not interested, it makes little sense to bother you with my emails.
Whatever it is, I hope to hear from you soon.
Regards,
[Your Name]
Wrapping Up
We’ve seen people saying cold emails don’t work well, and they don’t give the intended result.
Well, it’s anything but the truth from our perspective. Cold emails work if the template is right.
If you’re making it fun and interesting rather than long and boring, it’ll do well.
The 20 templates we talked about aren’t the only ones that work. There are others too, which your teams will identify in the trial-and-error phase.
So, go twist and shape these templates in whatever way you seem right. And in case you need some help, you’ll know where to find us. Get the right leads. Ciao.
