Cold emails are so effective that the average salesperson spends a fifth of their day writing them. 

But how is cold email marketing so effective that marketers and sales representatives are willing to spend a ton of time perfecting the craft of writing them? The quick answer is that cold email is the best channel for lead generation and high ROI.

However, cold email writing is difficult to master if you don’t know where to start. There’s no way you can “fake it till you make it” with email marketing. Adam Grant, an organizational psychologist at Warton, lists all the factors that make cold emails work, including the following email sequence:

• Having an attention-grabbing, pain-point-centric subject line
• Mentioning why you see the recipient as a potential prospect
• Talking about commonalities to start establishing a strong connection
• Highlighting how deep you understand the recipient’s needs and wants
• Promoting your offer in a way that shows how valuable it is for the recipient (not your business)
• Ending with gratefulness to encourage the recipient to respond

As you can see, it takes a lot of brain juice to create good cold emails. 

So we’ve provided templates and samples for you to use as a jump-off point in creating your emails. You don’t have to spend a fifth of your day writing subpar emails—Use the proven ones below.

Template #1: The Refer and Connect Email

Cold emails are your first opportunity to connect with your chosen prospects. But even if you’ve done your research on a business’ decision-makers, there’s still a chance you might email the wrong point of contact. To address that possibility, the refer and connect email template allows you to ask for referrals, so your email doesn’t get deleted just because it was sent to the wrong person. 

The template below follows the backbone of a good email, but it adds a way to ask the recipient to connect you to someone who can make business decisions (i.e., purchases). That way, you’ll sharpen your targeting, quickly pivot to the right recipients, and continue your lead generation efforts. 

Warning: Don’t use this template as a catch-all. Still do your research to email the right people as often and accurately as possible. Using this template as an excuse to skip research will annoy the heck out of people and waste your resources—you don’t want that!

Here’s the template for a subtle referral cold email:

Hi [Recipient’s First Name],     You’ve been so impressive in [industry], as I’ve seen in [recipient’s achievements]. To continue your momentum, I have a [product or service] that can help you solve [pain point] and achieve [what success looks like for the recipient] even better.     At [your company], we specialize in [your offer]. By using our solution, you can [list of benefits and advantages], increasing your success to new heights. We’re also open to any suggestions if you have specific needs that our solution overlooked—we’ll fix it or figure out a workaround for you.     If you need more information, don’t hesitate to reach out to me! I’ll be glad to schedule a call with you. I’ll make myself available to fit your busy schedule.     And if you have a better point person for me to discuss this opportunity with, please let me know how I can get in touch with them. We’re excited to help [recipient’s company] get ahead in [industry].     All the best,     [Email signature]

 

 

Template #2: The Direct-Approach Email

B2Bs are always busy and don’t have time to read long emails that beat around the bush. Acknowledge your prospect’s busy schedule by getting straight to the point, allowing the recipient to browse and immediately understand the value of your offer. As a result, the conversation moves fairly quickly and opens the door for lead nurturing. 

A cold email that takes a direct approach states the purpose of the outreach in the first line and contains the entire business proposal within two to three short paragraphs. 

Here’s the template for a direct-approach email:

Hey [Recipient’s First Name],      We’ve noticed your success in [industry] and would like to help solve [recipient’s biggest pain point].     [Your company] specializes in [the feature that solves their pain point] through [the method of your solution]. That way, you’ll achieve [what success looks like to the recipient] ahead of your competition.     Let’s have a call to talk about this more. We’ll adjust to your schedule, of course.      Warmest regards,     [Email signature]

 

 

Template #3: The Attract-Interest-Desire-Action (AIDA) Email

The AIDA formula (attract-interest-desire-action method) is one of the most famous copywriting templates out there—and for good reason. AIDA works like a mini sales funnel, where you’ll move the recipient from awareness all the way to conversion (or at least, attempt to) within a few sentences.

In a nutshell, the AIDA formula does the following:

• Attention: Where the recipient becomes aware of the product
• Interest: Where a connection is established between the recipient and your offering
• Desire: Where the recipient’s interest moves from a need to a want
• Action: Where the recipient takes initiative to purchase (or some other action)

Here’s the template using the AIDA method:

Attention: [Interesting email subject line that includes your brand name]     Interest: As a [leading or emerging] company in [industry], it’s challenging to [recipient’s biggest pain point]. We understand that [factors that hinder] stop you from achieving your goals.     Desire: But there is a solution to work against these hindrances and achieve [what success looks like to the recipient]. [Your product or service] helps your company by [what your solution does]. We’re not kidding, [name of a past client] have already found success with us:     [Excerpt of past client’s testimony that highlights your product or service]     Action: We can give you the same success as well. Let me know the best time we can hop on a call and start your journey towards [what success looks like to the recipient] within [time frame].     Best regards,     [Email signature]

 

 

Template #4: The Problem-Agitate-Solution Email

This email template pushes the right buttons by focusing on the recipient’s problems and mentioning the consequences if they’re not addressed right away. The idea is to create and give your recipient a sense of urgency, so they’ll immediately take you up on your offer. This strategy is based on a principle of persuasion, where you’ll use fear as a motivation to act quickly.

Highlight the problem or pain point your prospect might experience, and include the solution your company offers with its service or product. Agitate the problem a bit by pointing out data or mentioning the painful consequences of not resolving it to motivate the prospect to take action.

Here’s the template highlighting the problem, its agitation, and its solution:

Hi [Recipient’s Name],     Problem: We know you’ve been experiencing [recipient’s pain point]. And it leads you to [results of not solving the pain point]. That’s not good, although common in [industry].     Agitate: [Well-known companies] went through what you’re going through right now. It was a challenge to overcome, especially since [factors that hinder]. In fact, statistics show that [concerning numbers].     Solution: [Pain point] isn’t inevitable, however. Not when you know how to solve it. With [your product or service], you’ll get to [methods of your solution] before your company [worst case scenario of them].     Let us know your earliest availability so we can get this plan in motion. If there’s a best time to solve [recipient’s pain point], it’s now!     All the best,     [Email signature]

 

 

Template #5: We Can Help You Too Email

What’s the biggest company you’ve helped with your product or service? If you have one in mind already, then use it to your advantage. Showing proof that you’ve successfully helped other companies will convince the reader to take action—like how we trust (and are heavily convinced by) customer reviews before buying anything on Amazon or eBay.

Show your prospect how you’ll meet their needs by referencing how you’ve helped other people in the past. Build your credibility, attract attention, and convince a potential client to connect with you by showing that you successfully collaborated with a big name in the industry.

Here’s the sample template proving how you’ll meet their needs:

Hi [Recipient’s Name],     [The most relevant client you’ve helped] has figured out how to solve [recipient’s pain point]. They did it by [description of your solution]. And you can do the same thing—maybe even better.     [Excerpt of the client’s testimonial]     They’re not the only ones who found success either. [Name of another company] also used our solution to [another pain point]. Because of that, [the client’s business] is now [achievement of the client].     The solution they used? [Your product or service].     We want [recipient’s company] to reach the same success, just like [companies you’ve mentioned].     When are you free to discuss more?      Cheers,      [Email signature]

 

The Roadmap to Your Company’s Success

Writing personalized emails that address the unique needs and pain points of your potential clients can help you get heard and generate valuable leads. You don’t have to do it from scratch, though, the above templates give you a head start to write the most effective cold emails for your email campaign.

Still, every B2B company is different, so do your research about prospective clients and find the most effective template to generate more leads. And if you don’t want to do it yourself…

Get in touch with our team at ScaleUpSales today. We’ve mastered the craft of writing cold emails and creating entire outreach campaigns to boost your sales. Contact us!