Write a cold email in five parts: a short subject line, an opening line about the prospect, the problem you solve, one line of proof, and an easy question. Keep it to 50 to 125 words in plain text.
That is the whole method. The rest of this page explains each part, with the data behind the numbers and a worked example. It is part of our guide to cold email for agencies, which covers the domains, warm-up and lists that come before the writing.
How do you write a cold email?
You write a cold email by making it about the prospect's business, not yours. The prospect did not ask to hear from you, so every line has to earn the next one.
A good cold email does four jobs in under a minute of reading:
- Shows it is not a mass email. The first line could only have been written to this business.
- Names a problem they recognize. In their words, not your product's.
- Gives one reason to believe you. A result, a client name, or a specific detail.
- Asks for something small. A yes or no question, not a 30-minute call.
The biggest mistake is pitching. Gong analyzed more than 28 million cold emails and found that pitching your product cuts reply rates by as much as 57%, according to its cold email research.
What is the best cold email structure?
The best cold email structure is subject, opener, problem, proof and ask, in that order. Each part has one job and a length limit.
| Part | Its job | Length |
|---|---|---|
| Subject line | Get the email opened without looking like marketing | 2 to 4 words, lowercase |
| Opener | Prove you looked at their business | 1 sentence |
| Problem | Name something they already worry about | 1 to 2 sentences |
| Proof | Give one reason to believe you can help | 1 sentence |
| Ask | Make replying easy | 1 short question |
That adds up to about 3 to 5 sentences. Gong's research found the highest reply rates came from emails of 3 to 4 sentences.
How do you start a cold email?
Start a cold email with a specific observation about the prospect's business, and skip the introduction. Your name is already in the "from" line and your signature.
Openers that work point at something real:
- "Saw you opened a second location in Fremont last month."
- "Your Google reviews mention the same-day callouts a lot."
- "Noticed you are hiring two more technicians."
Openers that fail are about you, or could be sent to anyone:
- "My name is Sam and I run an SEO agency."
- "I hope this email finds you well."
- "I came across your website and was impressed."
The test is simple. If the first line would still make sense sent to a different business, rewrite it.
How do you personalize a cold email at scale?
Personalize the first line and the problem, and keep the rest the same for everyone in a segment. Full rewrites for every prospect do not scale, and they are rarely needed.
Group prospects by what they have in common, such as trade, city or size, and write one email per group. Then add one line per prospect from a detail you can find quickly: a review, a new location, a job post, a recent project. Pipefire writes that line for each prospect from what it finds about the business, such as its Google reviews, and leaves it out when there is nothing true to say. Our cold email personalization guide covers where to find a true detail fast and how to spot fake personalization.
Personalizing the subject line helps too. Belkins analyzed 5.5 million cold emails and found that personalized subject lines had a 46% open rate against 35% without, and reply rates of 7% against 3%, in its 2025 subject line study.
How writing fits into the full process, from list to replies, is in our cold email outreach guide.
How do you end a cold email?
End a cold email with one easy question that can be answered in a word. A low-effort reply starts a conversation, and a meeting request from a stranger usually does not.
Good endings:
- "Is that something you are looking at this quarter?"
- "Worth a short note on how we did it?"
- "Who handles this at {{companyName}}?"
Avoid asking for a call in the first email, offering several time slots, or ending with "thoughts?". Gong found that "thoughts?" raises reply rates but cuts meetings booked by 20%, according to its cold email statistics.
How long should a cold email be?
A cold email should be 50 to 125 words. Boomerang studied more than 40 million everyday emails, not only cold ones, and found response rates above 50% across that whole band, in its email response research. Gong's 2025 cold email data points the same way, at 100 words or fewer for replies. Its earlier study found emails of 30 to 150 words booked more meetings than very short ones, so do not cut below the point where the email still makes a case.
Shorter is not always better. An email of one or two lines can read like a template or a scam, and it leaves no room for the proof. Aim for about 75 words: long enough to make a case, short enough to read on a phone without scrolling. Our cold email length guide compares what each study found and shows how to cut a long email down.
Keep sentences under about 20 words and the language plain. Shorter sentences are easier to read on a phone, and a prospect skimming between jobs will not reread a long one.
What should a cold email subject line say?
A cold email subject line should be 2 to 4 words, in lowercase, and look like a note from a colleague. Belkins found 2 to 4 word subject lines had the highest open rate in its study, at 46%.
Examples in that style:
- "fremont location"
- "same-day callouts"
- "question about reviews"
Avoid sales language, urgency and anything in capitals. The sources disagree on questions and numbers: Belkins found question subject lines performed best, while Gong found questions and numbers lowered opens. Test both rather than picking one. Our cold email subject lines guide goes through the studies and examples in full.
Cold email example
Here is an invented example for a local SEO agency writing to a plumbing company. The business, the result and the timeline are made up to show the structure, not taken from a real campaign.
Subject: fremont location
Hi Dana,
Saw you opened a second location in Fremont last month.
New locations often take months to show up in the map results, so the calls keep going to whoever ranked there first.
We recently got a heating company with a new location into the top three map results there in about ten weeks.
Is the Fremont shop getting the calls you expected yet?
Sam
That is 66 words in the body, five short lines, one specific opener, one problem, one piece of proof and a yes or no question. It names no product, no package and no price.
What should you never put in a cold email?
Never put attachments, images, tracking pixels or more than one link in a cold email. They make the email look like bulk marketing, and they are among the common reasons cold emails go to spam. Our cold email deliverability guide covers the rest of what inbox providers check before an email lands.
Also leave out:
- A pitch. Product features, packages and "all-in-one" claims.
- Return on investment claims. Gong found ROI language lowers results.
- Buzzwords. Words your prospect would not use about their own business.
- Fake familiarity. "Re:" or "Fwd:" on a first email, or "as promised" to someone you never spoke to.
- Pressure. Deadlines and limited-time offers.
Write the email you would want to receive from a stranger: plain, short and about the person reading it.
How do you write the cold email follow-ups?
Write each cold email follow-up with a new reason to reply, not a reminder that you wrote before. Four emails over two weeks is enough: each one adds something new, and the last one lets them say no. It is the shape Pipefire writes every campaign in. Our cold email follow-up guide covers what each one should say, with examples.
| Day | Its job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Day 0 | The opener and the problem they recognize |
| 2 | Day 3 | A short reply in the same thread with one different consequence of the problem |
| 3 | Day 7 | Proof: a result, a name or a number |
| 4 | Day 14 | A polite close that makes "no" easy to say |
Send each one on a weekday morning in the prospect's own time zone. Our guide to the best time to send cold email covers what the timing studies agree on and where they disagree.
Avoid guilt phrases such as "I never heard back" or "just bumping this". Gong found "I never heard back" raises replies but cuts meetings booked by 14%, in the same cold email statistics. Stop the sequence the moment anyone replies, including with a no. Our cold email sequence guide shows how to design the whole chain, and our AI cold email guide covers using AI for drafts without losing the human check.
How to write a cold email FAQ
How do you write a cold email to a potential client?
Open with something specific about their business, name one problem they likely have, give one line of proof, and ask a short question. Keep it under 125 words and leave your pitch out.
What is the best cold email format?
Plain text, no images, a short subject line, 3 to 5 sentences, and your name with a simple signature. Formatting and design make it look like marketing.
Should a cold email include a link?
Usually not in the first email. If you include one, use a single plain link to your own site, never a link shortener or tracking link.
Do cold email templates work?
A template works as a structure, not as finished copy. Prospects recognize copied wording, so keep the five-part shape and write the opener and problem for each group of prospects. Our cold email templates give nine starting shapes by situation.
Can AI write cold emails?
AI can draft cold emails, but drafts need rules: a word limit, plain language, no pitching and a real detail about each prospect. Pipefire's campaign writing drafts each sequence from your business profile, checks every email against these limits, and shows you every email to edit and approve before anything sends.