How To: Write a Cold Email That Gets Results

When I launched Tech In Boston, I started getting a lot of PR pitches and cold emails out of nowhere and started to notice they had one thing in common - they all sucked.  This is frustrating because it’s not hard to write a good cold email - there's information available everywhere today on the person you are reaching out to.

Here are four ways to make your pitch or cold email stand out and get opened.

Perfect your subject line

This is one seems obvious right? Then why don’t more people do it? The subject line is the single most important line in your email.

You can spend an hour of your day writing what you think is the best pitch in the world, but it will all go to waste because no one is going to open your email since it’s titled “Interview suggestion!” or “The leading cloud-based software in hyper-local social media marketing.”

Figure out what you are trying to say and boil it down to 5–7 words, and make sure those words are relevant, valuable and clear. One of the best ways to get someone’s attention is to put their name in the subject line. I use this every time I am doing cold outreach. For example: “Chris — source for your article on Wayfair IPO.” “Scott — quick idea based on Sunday’s article.”

Make it clear why you are reaching out to them

Write a pitch, copy, paste, send, repeat. This is what most bad PR people and bad sales reps do.

Use this to your advantage! Make it clear why you are reaching out to them. What made you email this person specifically? If you saw this person out in public and had to walk up and say hi, how would you start your conversation? You wouldn’t jump right into your pitch. Most likely you’d start with something like “Hey Scott — I’m Dave. I read your column every week and love how you’re focused on startups in Boston. I wanted to talk to you about my company because ___.”

Show that you did your homework

Showing that you did your homework isn’t just important because you need to be relevant, but it shows that you put some time and effort into reaching out. As Scott Britton points out, this is one of the best ways to prove that your email isn’t just another canned message from a JV sales rep or a PR hack.

Is your pitch in response to an article they just wrote? Are you a regular reader and think this is something that other readers would really like?  Do you follow them on Twitter and know that their favorite TV show is also The Wire? Make that clear. Show them that you did your homework and try to connect on a personal level.

Keep it short, sweet, and to the point

We don’t need another article by someone in the tech community telling us about how much email they get (here, here, here, and here to name a few) to know that everyone is busy and their inbox is stuffed. Keep your email short, sweet and to the point. Would you read a five paragraph essay from someone you’ve never talked to before?

The best way to keep things short: write like a human. Talk to them like you would if you were out at a bar, or waiting in line to get coffee.