8 Cold Email Templates And Strategies For Lead Generation

Writing compelling cold emails is hard. As experts in lead generation, we know it better than anyone. Every line is important, so it takes forever to get everything right. Fortunately, you can save time by using B2B cold email templates that have already proven successful.

In this article, you’ll find templates for cold email sales along with best practices to elevate your lead generation strategy.

Let’s dive in!

What is cold emailing

Cold emailing is sending a message to the recipient without prior contact. In marketing and sales, this term is used to distinguish the initial emails sent to potential customers. Their purpose is to start building a relationship with a person or business for further cooperation.

What is a cold email template?

Writing a message that converts takes time and creative energy. It makes sense that many sales and marketing professionals use cold email templates to streamline the process.

A template provides the outline and the general idea for your letter. It also leaves space for customization so you can personalize each message to the particular recipient. We don’t recommend using a mail template without customizing it for different audiences. If your prospect spots the generic message, your chances for a reply will plummet.

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Benefits of using cold email templates

Is saving time the only benefit of using templates? Definitely not! Let’s look at other advantages of utilizing a pre-made copy instead of writing one from scratch.

1. You can focus on the message. Instead of thinking through the phrasing of the entire letter, you can focus on the main points you want to convey to your prospect. 
2. You can reach more people. This goes hand in hand with the benefit of saving time and effort. Instead of painstakingly crafting a message that will convert a dozen leads max, you’ll be able to widen your reach and convert ten times more.
3. You can easily maintain your brand’s unique voice. If marketing and sales are an everyday part of your business, you’re probably sending many letters written at different times by different people. This can cause your messages to sound disjointed. Using a pre-made copy as a starting point for each email helps preserve the uniformity of the brand voice in all of them.
4. You can be confident in your campaign’s effectiveness. Once you see which templates work for your audience, you can keep them as a backup. When you can’t come up with a fresh idea, you can re-use the successful template to avoid jeopardizing your campaign.

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8 best cold email templates

1. “Hey, I get it”
2. “Straight to the point” 
3. “Asking for referral” 
4. “Building trust” 
5. “Event attendee” 
6. “Quick question” 
7. “Additional value” 
8. “Giving praise” 

1. “Hey, I get it,” or AIDA cold email template

Let’s start with probably the most common cold email template for sales – AIDA. The name of this framework stands for Attention, Interest, Desire, and Action. A letter based on the AIDA framework should feel less like a cold outreach email and more like a friendly message from one fellow professional to another.

Use the example below to write the AIDA-based message.

Notice how brief this message is. That’s because making your letter as short as possible increases the chances of the recipient reading it in full. Speaking of brevity, let’s check out the next short business email example.

2. “Straight to the point” cold email template

People appreciate brevity and simplicity. Don’t ask for an appointment or beat around the bush. Leave out all the unnecessary adjectives, and don’t use overly elaborate words or sentence constructions. The best cold outreach emails are usually the most personalized and shortest ones because every word has value.

Use the example below to write a short and sweet message.

3. “Asking for referral” cold email template

Sometimes, you’re not sure if you’re reaching out to the right person. Maybe you gathered your prospective company’s employee contacts from the website. Maybe you found someone from the company on LinkedIn or other social media.

It’s best to clarify that they are decision-makers from the outset to avoid wasting your and your recipient’s time.

Use the following cold emailing template to ask for the right person’s contact information.

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4. “Building trust” or data-heavy cold email template

B2B decision-makers often rely on data to select one product over another. This is especially true for high-priced products and companies with long decision cycles. In such cases, your message should contain data that piques your prospect’s interest.

Use the following cold email example to craft a message that proves your product’s value.

5. “Event attendee” cold email template

According to the PFL report, 82% of marketers consider events an effective channel for a B2B company to market their product. The best part is that event attendees can usually download a list of other participants’ emails. You can save time by feeding this data to your email automation software.

Use the following cold email sample to reach out to fellow event attendees.

6. “Quick question” cold email template

Did you know that including a question in your subject line helps attract the recipient’s attention?

Indeed, such emails get opened more frequently. But don’t just insert a question mark into your subject line and continue with a completely unrelated text. Choose a question that’s personalized to your prospect’s goals and pain points. 

Use the following cold email sample to grab your prospect’s attention by asking them an important question.

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7. “Additional value” cold email template

There’s a stark possibility that your prospect is already getting a lot of sales and marketing messages. Most senders are asking for something, so you can stand out by offering value instead. 

Include relevant research, a case study, or a guide that your recipient can download. Make your message sound like a no-strings-attached gesture to win over your lead.

Use the following mail example with a download link to start building a relationship with your prospect.

8. “Giving praise” cold email template

It’s a great time to contact your leads when their company has won an award, achieved an important milestone, or had positive news coverage. Referencing your prospect’s achievements makes an opening line work as a hook to grab their attention. 

It’s essential to keep your message balanced. Highlight a real, specific, and significant achievement. Don’t overpraise, either. Point out just one or two things that make your prospect stand out to keep the human touch without sounding too salesy.

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Use the example below to deliver a message referencing a recent announcement from your prospect’s company.

How to write a cold email to increase open rates

Good email templates don’t guarantee that your prospects will read them. So here are some additional cold email tips that will ensure high open rates for your campaign!

1. Verify your contact list

Sending messages to the wrong people or inactive addresses will diminish your open and response rate and hurt your outreach. Ensure that your mailing list is full of qualified leads with active emails.

2. Personalize your subject line

A study done by Klenty proves that people become more interested in opening messages with a personalized subject line.

Just configure your marketing automation tool to insert your lead’s name into the subject line. It takes virtually no time and massively boosts your open rates.

3. Craft a compelling introduction

Many mail clients show the opening line of your message along with the subject line. This means your introduction can make or break your open rates. 

To craft the opening line that will hook your recipient, use the following strategy:

• Personalize your introduction by including your recipient’s first name.
• Research your prospect’s pain points and reference them in the opening paragraph.
• Reference a shared experience if you have any.
• Keep the introduction concise.
• Offer value.

4. Don’t bombard your prospects with messages

Follow-up messages are a must in a marketing campaign but be careful not to overdo it. Personalize the follow-up letters. Send more useful resources that your recipients can download. Configure your marketing automation software to have a delay of at least 2-3 days between sending emails.

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Pay attention to the response rate

Now, let’s say you’re putting all those cool email templates to good use. You write letters that land in your prospects’ inboxes, and most recipients open them. But are you getting the desired results?

A successful email marketing strategy usually includes getting responses from your prospects. Otherwise, building a relationship with and converting them is impossible. Monitor your campaigns’ response rate to understand how well they engage your prospects.

Your next steps

Writing cold emails that work is a rather complicated task, but now you don’t have to reinvent the wheel. Include email template examples from this article in your outreach strategy to generate leads and build stronger relationships with prospects.

Want to learn more about building email campaigns that sell? Join our free course to explore more advanced emailing techniques for B2B sales.

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