No matter what type of cold email outreach campaign you’re involved in, cold email templates can be a good place to start and a great way to speed up your process.

You can use templates as a base to learn how to write and inspire unique cold emails for your business. 

In this article, you’ll learn cold email best practices, share a few ideas on how sales reps can improve the email copies, and we’ll share with you some of the best cold email templates that helped us get tremendous results.

How to write cold emails that sell?

Great cold email strategy works. People have built careers and launched start-ups on the back of cold emails. 

Product Hunt started with an email outreach campaign and so did Timehop and Storefront. 

But here’s the kicker: Sending cold emails and getting amazing results are not mutually inclusive. 

Your approach to cold emailing your prospects is what determines the outcome you get at the end of the campaign.  

Shane Snow, the co-founder of Contently, shared an eye-opening experiment on cold email. 

For the first campaign, he sent out 1,000 cold emails to C- and VP-level executives from the Fortune 500 (some of the busiest businessmen on the planet). 

Result? He got almost no response. 

But Shane tried again after learning and applying a few principles and got better results:

Truth is, cold email can yield mind-blowing results. But the results you get depend how you approach it and the practices you implement. 

Here are a few practices you need to implement.

Define your IDC and build your buyer persona

When drafting your prospects’ list, it’s essential to clearly define your ICP. Cold outreach campaigns without an ICP are pointless guesses. 

Until you know who you’re trying to attract, it is impossible to target and convert new customers.

That’s the very reason you need to conduct thorough research on your target companies and determine the best profiles that identify your customers. This should include information like:

• industry and the niche; 
• geographical location and time zones; 
• company size; 
• revenue; 
• business goals and missions; 
• pain points and any other attributes you deem necessary.

These will provide you with essential detailed information about your targets and you can qualify business leads based on key factors like their situation, budget, timeline, and industry.

After this, you still need to research and determine the individuals that must sign off on the deal, that’s where the buyer persona comes in. Technically, it’s a continuation of your ICP research and builds upon it to find the appropriate person. 

The buyer persona outlines the attributes of the key decision-makers on your prospect list. In addition to everything already mentioned in your ICP, it will include the following: 

• job title; 
• income level;
• goals;
• interests, attitudes, beliefs, and personality;
• preferred technologies; 
• why they buy your product – what’s their primary purpose;
• how often they buy it;
• objections – what would cause them not to buy

Now that you have all the firmographic and technographic data on your prospects, it’s time to look for their email address.

Here’s how. 

Find the right email address of your prospects 

There is no point in getting ready to send cold emails without an email list.

Email addresses are the heart of cold emailing. Mind you, not just an email list, but a list of verified and authentic email addresses.

If you don’t know how to get those, here’s a quick guide.

LinkedIn Search 

Few people know that the majority of their prospects have their email addresses on LinkedIn.

To find it, just head to the LinkedIn search bar and search for your prospect by name.

Then click on “Contact info” and you’ll see all their details including the official email address, website, birthday, Twitter profile, etc.

Here you go.

Read more: LinkedIn InMail Vs. Email: Which Closes More Deals?

Lead magnets 

Also known as opt-in offers, lead magnets are free products or services that you give away for the sole purpose of collecting the contact information of your prospects. Here is an example from Nerdy Joe.

So, these can include: 

• ebooks; 
• PDFs; 
• trial subscriptions; 
• samples; 
• white papers; 
• spreadsheets; 
• analysis reports;
• free consultations or free courses, etc.. 

Whatever you offer as a lead magnet, make sure it is valuable to your target audience. 

Read more: 650+ Power Words to Boost Your Conversion (+ Templates)

Email finder tools 

If you are racing against the clock, then the above two techniques may not be appropriate. 

And in that case, nothing beats email search tools as they can help you get a list of verified email addresses in minutes. The best tool we recommend here is Hunter Email Finder. 

It is a powerful tool that helps you find the contact information of your prospects in no time. Simply put in their name and company URL. And the trick is done.

How it works: Hunter gathers all the data found on the web – email formats, email addresses, verifications, and other signals – then shows you the right contact information in seconds.

Now you have the email addresses in your pocket. It’s time to personalize your cold email templates to grab the attention of your prospects.

Here is how.

Personalize your cold email templates

Cold email templates should never be copied and sent as they are. 

Personalization shows the prospect that you have done your homework, and that you’re not just another spammer. It increases your deliverability rate. 

If you wonder how you can add personalization to your cold email campaigns, here are some practices you may want to consider.

1 – Use icebreakers 

If you’re sending a cold email, it means your prospects don’t know about you and you are landing in their inbox as an unsolicited guest. Common sense would require you to smoothen the atmosphere before you start talking business, that’s the whole point of using icebreakers. 

In the context of cold email, icebreakers are complementary or factual sentences you lead your outreach message with. The idea is to pique your prospects’ interest and make yourself interesting enough so that they want to read what you have to say. Here is how to go about it.  

Start your copy with a simple yet punchy phrase that indicates that you know your prospects and what they do very well. . You can also use a greeting that makes them feel connected to you right from the get-go, a shout-out, or a compliment.

Examples:

• Congratulations on your new role as General Manager of Digital Media and Games at the XYZ Foundation. You’re charting an impressive career path. Keep up the good work.
• I read John Doe’s recommendation on your LinkedIn profile and I must say good job. You are the type of marketing executive that every company dreams of. Keep up the good work.
• Your work experience with XYZ is very inspiring. Congratulations on your 10th anniversary at the company. 
• I’m probably late to the party but congratulations on your new role as Vice President, at XYZ. By the way, you’re charting an impressive career path. Keep up the good work.
• Etc.

Read more: How to Write Cold Email Opening Lines That Get Replies

2 – Mention the technologies they use

If you sell a competitor product, having an idea of the technologies your prospects use is another effective way to break the ice—plus, it’s a clear sign that you’ve done some research on them prior to the email campaign launch. 

BuiltWith is a great tool to find this. It’s a tool that shows you all the technologies a company uses on its website.

Examples:

• Since you use XYZ for SEO, I wanted to know if you are also facing X and Y problems.
• We’ve recently talked with 30 professionals who use XYZ to gain more business and we’ve learned that they all struggle to achieve ABC. 

3 – Mention relevant social media activities

If your prospect has recently shared, liked, commented, engaged with a post, or participated in an event (whether related to you or not), you can mention and comment on their engagement and kick off the conversation from there.

Even better, if it’s related to what you sell and want to discuss with them, you can spark it as the reason why you’re reaching out to them. 

Examples:

• Noticed you liked the {{XYZ}} post about X—I wanted to ask about [related topic].
• Loved your LinkedIn post about X. It’s so relatable!
• I just came across Jane Doe’s post about ABC and enjoyed reading your comment on the issue. I like your unique take on how we must implement CDE to achieve ABC for the long term. 

4 – Touch on their goals and responsibilities and avoid stating the obvious

Check out your prospect’s Twitter or LinkedIn profile. Reference a specific goal or responsibility they listed and use it to explain how you can help make their job easier and more impactful.

Example:

• I recently found out that you are responsible for increasing advertising ROI at {{company name}}. Have you tried [strategy]? Happy to share my learnings if not.
• Saw that you handle localization and translation at {{company name}}. Are you the right person to contact about your internationalization strategy?

5 – Leverage a highly personalized P.S. Note

One of the best ways to add value to your content without detracting from your main message is to leverage P.S. notes. 

If you and your prospect have common passions or backgrounds, you can use them. 

Example: I discovered we have some overlap in AirForce. I was in from 2004 to 2006 as a Medic. Thanks for your service!

Read more: How to Create Cold Email Sequences That Drive Sales

Common mistakes most B2B companies make when cold emailing 

Let’s look at some common mistakes B2B companies make while sending out cold emails.

Poor, lengthy subject-line

For such a small word count (4 to 6 on average), your subject line has a lot of power. The subject line is one of the first elements recipients see about your cold email. A poor one can nullify all your efforts to get your emails open and read. 

Unfortunately, most B2B companies don’t get it right.

Some make it too long whereas the majority of emails are now read on mobile devices. So if it’s too long, it won’t fit on the smaller screen of your mobile device. 

• Gmail displays the first 70 characters of your subject line 
• the iPhone email client only accepts 41 (in portrait mode) 
• on an Android phone, the subject line can only contain 30 characters

And the fact is, if people don’t get to read the entire subject line, chances are they won’t be excited enough to open your email.

Surface-level personalization

We can’t stress enough the importance of laser-focused personalization in cold emails. Gone are the days when the {{prospect.first_name}} and {{company name}} attributes alone could account for personalization. Nowadays, you need to dig deeper. A lot deeper, indeed. 

221.19 million emails compete for attention every minute. The lack of personalization just makes your email another one in the inbox that never gets clicked. 

Obsessed with scaling rapidly

One more reason why most cold email campaigns from B2B companies fail is that they are too focused on volume.

Sure, you need to scale up at some point in time. But first, you need a formula that works.

If that means sending emails one by one in the beginning, then do it. True, it’s slow, but it’s much better than sending hundreds of emails at once with no response. There’s no point in settling for a game of numbers.

Once you find your own repeatable personalization process, then you can start scaling your campaigns.

Proven sales cold email templates

Tim Watson, the founder of Zettasphere, put it so well when he said: “the fundamental principle of email will never change. Send the right message to the right person at the right time.”

To further help you craft and send the right email for the right contexts, we’ve compiled a list of proven templates that you can use.

Remember, these are no cure-all. 

Edit, shorten, or change them as you see fit to make your message relevant to your prospects.

Let’s get started.

Cold email templates with a direct approach 

It is estimated that approximately 319.6 billion emails were sent and received every day in 2021 alone.

That’s 13.31 billion emails per hour and 221.19 million emails per minute. It’s substantially enormous, and thus it’s sometimes useful to get straight to the point. 

Using cold email for selling products? Here is a cold email template you can use.

Why it works: This type of email works very well because you don’t waste your prospect’s time using excessive wording. No fluff. You get right to the point.

If you are targeting the always busy executives, this template can be the best choice as it also offers social proof to support your straightforward claim.

The attention-interest-desire-action (AIDA) cold email template

AIDA is a popular content-writing formula widely used by marketers. It simply involves writing a cold email with an approach to:

• Grab their attention
• Create interest in your offer 
• Get them to build the desire
• And eventually, get them to take your desired action.

Here is a template you can use for this approach.

Why it works: This cold email template starts strong with a unique offer, provides social proof and ends up with a clear call to action. 

Value-based cold email templates

You can also create a cold email that highlights your value proposition in your email body and ends with a quick call request.

Why it works: Add value first, then sell. 

Problem-Agitate-Solve (PAS) cold email template

This is one of the simplest ways to create cold emails. Simply mention one problem your prospect is facing, ignite the problem, let them know how it’s holding them behind, and then introduce your solution as the hero they need.

Why it works: The cold sales email template highlights the customer’s pain points and provides a solution. 

Humor-based cold email templates

People get tons of emails every day, and one of the best ways to stand out is to integrate humor. If used appropriately, humor can get even the most defensive prospect to lower their guard and engage with you. 

Why it works: Starts a fun, relatable subject line that invites the reader in. It is also a casual email you can use even when you have no prior connection with the prospect. 

Follow-up cold email template 

Why it works: This cold sales email template reminds the prospects of the solution and ends with a strong call. It’s also kept short and to-the-point. 

Direct offer cold email template

If you want to make an offer to your target prospects without wasting a single second on their time, this is your template. 

Why it works: Highlighting your prospects’ pain points always works. If you can write a short cold email that highlights their pain points and how your products solve their pain, you’ll always win. 

Handling objections after 1st touch email

Running a cold email outreach and getting results is not anything like a screwdriver on a screw.

Especially since they didn’t know about you. People are bound to have objections. That’s why you’ll need to prepare a second cold email to handle their objections. 

Why it works: The main reason this cold email is effective is because it allows you to tell your prospects stories of other people they can easily identify with.

Doing so in your cold email outreach suppress doubt and they can easily take your desired action. 

Before-After-Bridge (BAB) cold email template

The marketing industry owes this cold emailing approach to Buffer. The idea behind the approach is to help you customers imagine what their lives would be like after integrating your solution.

Here is a template for this. 

Why it works: It reminds your prospects of the pains they’re facing right and paints a bright future for them. 

Product introduction cold email template

Are you launching a new product and want to sell it to your target customers by way of cold emails?

Here is the perfect cold email template for this situation.

Why it works: This cold email template rapidly provides context and introduces the new product. It also mentions companies the new service is currently serving and the audience can easily identify with it.

Cold email template for giving more advantages 

If you’ve already sent one cold email and your prospects don’t reply, you might want to consider sending another email that provides even more advantages.

Here is a template you can use.

Why it works: This cold email template is the perfect follow-up to your previous cold email. 

Cold email template for when you don’t know if you have the right prospect

You have this amazing offer but you are unsure as to whether the person you are contacting is the right person. We’ve got you covered.

Here is your cold email template.

Why it works: This email is a friendly and polite request. Your prospect will most likely redirect you to the right person if it’s not them. 

Cold email that flatters your prospect’s ego

Flattering your prospect’s ego is one of the fattest ways to win them over in your sales process. It’ll get them to care and hear out what you have to offer. 

There are lots of ways you can flatter their ego, from mentioning their blog post you love to.

Why it works: This cold email flatters their ego and easily gets their attention.

Key Takeaways

• Cold emails that truly bring results are the ones that are personalized and super-focused on making target prospects feel individual and understood. Also ensure your cold email subject lines are well-written and are position to drive action.
• Copy-pasting and blasting email lists with templated emails across your cold email outreach campaign is not a good idea — it will not work. You’ll only see your churn rate spike and your reputation slump after a single cold email campaign. 
• The one way to be successful in your cold email outreach campaign using templates is to strike a healthy balance between the cold email templates and personalization. You need to research your target prospects and edit the templates to come up with 100% super-targeted cold emails that align with your prospects.

Quick question.

How do you get replies like this from CMOs, CEOs, executives, or any busy decision-makers?

Well, you send them an email that catches their attention. 

How?

By using well-researched and hyper-personalized cold email opening lines.

In this article, we’ll share successful cold email opening line templates with you that you can emulate or use to craft excellent opening lines that hook your readers. 

Why is your cold email opening line so important?

Your opening line is one of the critical elements in your cold email that guarantees excellent engagement metrics for your campaign. How?

Just like your subject line and sender information, prospects will have access to (and can read) a snippet of the first sentence of your cold email—and that’s literally the starter of the opening line. 

So, before even opening your email, prospects can read a snippet of the opening line. It might not seem like much, but it can be enough to chew on to decide whether or not to open a cold email.

If it seems generic or fails to interest prospects, they mightn’t open the email — nor read it — even with an excellent subject line. 

Also, there is an immediate correlation between all the key components that make up an email copy, and your cold emailing success is dependent on this. 

Here is how. 

After prospects open your cold email from an enticing subject line, if you fail to interest and hook them from the get-go, they might bounce, and all downward efforts to get them to take your desired action will be in vain. 

That’s why you need to ensure an excellent opening line to your cold emails.

Nailing the opening line is an effective way to win the hearts of your audience, gain their trust, and establish yourself as a worthy marketer. 

From there, you’ll be able to ensure a thorough and end-to-end read of your cold email, and you can be sure your marketing objectives are being met. 

How we approach the email opening line at Nerdy Joe and why we do icebreakers instead

Typical cold email or general email opening lines can be summed up as simple greetings. We are sure you can tell. They generally fall along the lines of phrases like the following.

• Allow me to introduce myself.
• Good afternoon.
• Good morning.
• How are you?
• Hope this email finds you well.
• I hope you enjoyed your weekend.
• I hope you’re doing well.
• I hope you’re having a great week.

Simple greetings, yeah? That’s how most marketers and sales rep approach their email opening lines. 

Now we are not saying that these don’t work or that there’s something wrong with these sentences.

What we mean is that they are poor. Let’s discuss why we do icebreakers instead to really show why we do that instead. 

Why do we do icebreakers instead?

Most prospects or leads you will be targeting with your cold emails don’t know about you or your product.

You already have that working against you. So, capturing their full attention and having a good first impression are vital to your success.

To do this:

1. First, you need an opening line that rapidly differentiates you from other marketers and hooks your prospects or partner to read your cold email. 
2. You need a phrase that makes your leads feel valued and makes the statement that you did your homework before reaching out to them. 
3. You need an opening line that helps remove the cold from your cold message and conditions the recipient to be more receptive to your message. 

In light of all this, simple greetings can’t cut it. That’s why we do icebreakers. 

Icebreakers are opening-line sentences integrated at the beginning of your cold message to facilitate interaction with your recipients.

As the name implies, icebreakers are designed to help you break the ice between you and your prospects. 

Instead of simple greeting phrases, we take it to the next level and bring interesting facts and personalized elements about the prospects to personalize the opening line and make it more impactful.

Here is how we do it at Nerdy Joe before launching our cold email campaigns. 

How we proceed to write icebreaker opening lines that our prospects love

We start by checking prospects’ activities on social platforms and popular online communities. 

In most cases, LinkedIn and Twitter work for most B2B professionals. 

Next, we look at their latest activities, their company’s activity, or anything else. The idea is to find a recent interesting aspect or element from their life and spark it at the beginning of the message to smoothen the conversation. 

So, we look at things like posts, likes, comments, a recent promotion, a job recommendation, an impressive career path, a share, a mention, a selfie, and whatever data we can talk about to create a unique first touch.

Sure, it does not seem much like it, but it truly boosts your credibility as a marketer (or a cold emailer), and prospects can easily take an interest in what you have to tell them and read through.

Here is an example of how we keep it all in a spreadsheet before the campaign.

Now, here’s what it looks like in real life. I pitched CoSchedule’s then Head of Content Ben Sailer and asked him if I could write for them.

Here’s what he replied 1 hour later.

How long should the icebreaker opening line be?

The volume of the opening sentence should be around 10% to 30% of the entire volume of your cold email. 

It should clearly and precisely address why you are reaching out to the prospects. 

Keep in mind that the shorter and more relevant your opening sentence is, the more likely it is to be read and appreciated by your leads. 

It’s always best to be brief and to the point for your first touch with your prospects and leads. 

You should write your opening sentences strategically so that even the busiest prospects will take their time to read and execute your call to action. 

Email opening line templates (+ 15 examples)

There are various types of cold email opening sentences. We have created icebreaker opening line templates with examples that have been successful for companies so you can easily use them.

Sales email opening lines.

Sales email opening lines are a particular group dedicated to sales reps. These are also applicable to business emails. Here are several ways to write these introductory email sentences to generate high interest in your business.

Opening line 1: Mention a company 

One of the most effective ways to write a sales email opening line is to mention a company you have collaborated with in the past. Ideally, a famous company that is in the same field as them.

Try this: 

Template: We have recently collaborated with [put the name of the company,] and we have helped them to carry out [such and such tasks]

Example: We recently collaborated with ActiveCampaign and helped them build their content marketing strategy. 

Opening line 2: Name the company you’re working for

You can also start your introduction by giving the name of the company you are working for. 

Template: At [the name of your company], we improve [enumerate a current need that the company has and that you can provide solutions to] 

Example: At Nerdy Joe, we write compelling cold emails for newsletters of your type. 

This kind of opening line makes you more trustworthy and boosts your chances of getting positive replies.

Opening line 3: Lead with an intriguing question

Start with a question that engages your prospect’s interest. That one should be simple and catchy. Here is a template you can follow:

Template: How beneficial could it be for your brand to [write something achievable?]

Example: How successful would your cold email marketing campaign be if you invested in writing excellent icebreakers? 

Remember that all these models should be adapted to your needs and expectations.

Opening line 4: Mention a recommendation from their LinkedIn page with a genuine compliment

This lets your leads know that you did check them out before sending your email. And even if they have a busy schedule, they will take the time to check your outreach emails.

Template: I just came across your LinkedIn profile and I must say the recommendation [name of person] left for you is amazing. You are the type of [job title] that every company dreams of. Keep up the good work.

Example: I just came across your LinkedIn profile and I must say that the recommendation Eric Anderson left for you is amazing. You are the type of General Manager & Marketing Executive that every company dreams of. Keep up the good work.

Opening line 5: Appreciate their work experience with their company

Appreciating their work experience is also showing them that you did your research on them. It can even feel like you’ve been monitoring their work for quite some time.

Template: Your work experience with [Company name] is very inspiring. I look forward to congratulating you on your fifth anniversary as [Position]. Keep up the good work.

Example: Your work experience with Nexthink is very inspiring. I look forward to congratulating you on your fifth anniversary as VP of Marketing. Keep up the good work.

Opening line 6: Congratulate and appreciate them on a recent achievement

This can be anything like recent funding, a job promotion, an industry event they hosted, a personal approach they developed for something, etc.

No matter what you find, mentioning it can catch your prospect’s attention and get them to read your email. Here is a template for a job promotion.

Template: Congratulations on [XYZ] your new role as [New position] at [Company]. You’re charting an impressive career path. Keep up the good work.

Example: Congratulations on your new role as General Manager of Digital Media and Games at the Linux Foundation. You’re charting an impressive career path. Keep up the good work.

Follow-up email opening lines

Follow-up email opening lines are a particular category of introducing sentences that allow you to keep an eye on the status of your previous email and give them the chance to be answered or to catch your lead’s attention once again.

Follow-ups are, for that reason, critical. So here are three templates of cold email follow-up opening sentences that can benefit you. 

Opening line 1: A gentle reminder

This opening line template is one of the best and most effective for a quick follow-up.  

Template: I’m [The name of the prospect]. I hope this email finds you well. This is to get more information about the email I sent you last time.

We all receive a bunch of emails that we often get lost, and the simple fact of receiving this type of email makes us curious and willing to check out what the previous email was about.

Opening line 2: Polite greeting, straight question

The other effective way to write a cold email opening line is to ask a question to the lead directly. Then, just after a polite greeting, you may pop your request.

Example: Hello. I hope you are doing well. Did you take the time to read my previous mail?

Opening line 3: Value their time

This opening line helps readers realize how much you care about them and how you recognize that they are overwhelmed with messages at any given time. 

Template: I know you’re very busy and get many messages daily. So I’m writing to you to follow up on my email in case you missed it in your inbox. 

This opening line allows the reader to remember your previous mail quickly and maybe reply to you. 

Link-building email opening lines

Link-building and email opening lines aim to create a partnership between companies. Here are some templates you may use to write your link-building introductory sentences.

Opening line 1: Tell how you found their masterpiece

Template: I am [Your name] from [Company]. I was looking for [The topic] when I came across your article about [The article title]. 

Example: I am Peter from Active Campaign. I was reading up on how to increase my online sales rates when I came across your article “Tips to increase online sales.” 

This opening sentence is relatively straightforward. It tells your leads why you are sending the email. This makes it easier for the reader to read your entire message and follow up on it.

Opening line 2: Appreciate their work

You could also begin by appreciating the business you want to collaborate with in your opening sentence.

But, anyone would love to hear others say they are good at their work. That’s why this type of opening line is so successful. 

Template: I’m [Your name] from [Your company name]. We like and appreciate the great work you’ve been doing when it comes to [Name the field].

Example: I’m John from X. We appreciate the work you’ve been doing when it comes to writing relevant content. 

Content promotion email opening lines

Here are two opening line templates with examples that will help you better promote your articles. 

Opening line 1: Butter up, then but

Template: I just read your blog post on [The title of the article]. I liked how you approached it [List some points that impressed you].

However, I did realize that you did not address [List relevant points that were not addressed in the blog post].

Example: I just read one of your posts on how to write high-quality content, and I liked how you approached the theme. However, you did not mention the need for writers always to keep their target audience’s pain point in mind. 

Although it may seem lengthy, this kind of opening sentence offers you a clear concept of how the essay should be structured and it easily catches your recipient’s attention. 

Opening line 2: Be straight, direct

Template: We published a blog post on [The topic] and thought you might find this type of content useful. Since we target the same audience I think it can help your customers in solving [pain point]

Example: We have published the ultimate guide on writing the best subject line templates, and we thought you’d undoubtedly find it helpful. 

Like the previous email openers, this email introductory sentence helps the reader save time and avoid wondering why you’re writing to them.

Collaboration and partnership request

Collaboration opening lines are meant to establish partnerships between the companies involved.

Here are some templates that can be personalized and samples to support them. 

Opening line 1: Mention a mutual connection or a mutual acquaintance

Template: [Mutual or familiar connection] and I were talking when they told me you were looking for [the service that you can provide]

Example: Emy and I were discussing when she told me you were looking for a copywriter expert. 

Using this type of sentence offers you several advantages at the same time. The first one refers to the name that you both have in common.

The second is that this first sentence contains the reason for your email.

Opening line 2: Clarify your intent from the get-go

Collaboration opening lines may also be written as a direct question. 

Template: I am [Your name] from [Your company name]. What do you think about collaborating between [Your company] and [Their company]? 

Example: I am Peter from Company. What do you think about a collaboration between Company and Active Campaign?

This opening sentence instantly gives your intent while stimulating the lead to follow up on your request. 

Digital PR email opening lines

PR email opening sentences are the most used and best-adapted category for sending professional emails.

For this reason, we have created templates that you can adapt to your needs. 

Opening line 1: Shoot for their heart

Template: I just came across your [The title of the article]. It was very enlightening. I shared it with my colleagues here at [Your company name]

Example: I just came across your article about the importance of email marketing for businesses. I just shared it with my colleagues at Active Campaign. 

This opening line helps you save time and quickly build relationships with your target. It’s also a way to tell them that you’re in the same industry as them and that you’re open to discussions. 

Opening line 2: Care and flatter

Template: My name is [Your name]. I work for [Your company name]. I enjoyed your report. Relevant pieces of information were included in it. I really enjoyed it. 

Example: I’m John from Active Campaign. I liked your report. It was full of relevant information. 

This introduction line is quite polite and flattering, but more importantly, it shows that you care about the readers and respect their business. 

All these templates serve as suggestions and directives. To be more effective, you have to personalize them.

That’s why we give you in the following part our expert advice to be more effective when you write your opening lines.  

Our experts’ tips for writing the best opening line

Here is a list of tips you can use to personalize your opening lines.

Focus on trigger events

Considering the tons of emails people receive daily, it would be much more strategic to write opening lines that address their current situation or make them realize that you know them better than they can imagine. 

Trigger events are usually related to the company’s news or the prospects’ professional life. Various factors can be used to guide you. 

A new position

If the prospect you are writing to has recently relocated to a new place, you may use this news to build a relationship with the company and, at the same time, generate their interest in your email.

Reaction to competitors

Another way to draw the prospect’s attention is to start telling them about their competitors and then propose a solution or give them your opinion on how they could have proceeded. 

Example: Have you noticed that your competitors are now using digital marketing experts for their strategy? Do you want to follow their example? 

A market shift

This is also an effective way to start your opening line. For example, start by sending them news about the market shift and perhaps be more curious by asking them if they want to take the opportunity.

Compliment them

Everybody likes compliments, so why not use this strategy?

A kudos opening line

Telling your leads that you like what they do will show more interest in your message. 

Example: Hey, I’m Peter. I’ve just finished reading your latest article and appreciate how you approached the topic. Your content is precious. 

Comment on their professional expertise

Your opinion about your prospect’s professional expertise will make them more open to you.

Example: Hey Emy. It seems like you will perform next month during (the event). I just wanted you to know that you’re the reason for my presence at this conference. It is always an opportunity and a pleasure to listen to you sharing your knowledge.

Ask a question 

Asking excellent, relevant questions at the head of your emails encourages your leads to get in touch with you.

Let your curiosity find expression. 

People like it when others show interest in their life and achievements. By asking simple questions about your prospects’ professional life, you have a solid chance to get a reply from them. 

Ask if they need help.

You may also use opening lines that ask questions about the lead’s needs. This helps you know how to propose your services.

Example: Do you have trouble increasing your sales rate? 

Give first, then ask.

Analyzing your prospects and giving them relevant information or freebies can spark interest. It shows that you are concerned about them and know what they do. 

Offer a solution to their pain points.

Offering your something valuable to solve your prospect’s problem can facilitate a partnership between you or even elevate your sales pitch.

It is not supposed to be something huge-just; a little research to find what kind of problem they are facing now and give helpful and appropriate advice.

Share some statistics

Make a complete study about the company you’re writing to and find an interesting statistic about them or their company.

You may also do some research to justify your findings. By doing so, your leads will be impressed and be more open to you. 

Find a connection

Finding something common to start your outreach campaign can help your leads get involved and interested in your sales emails.

It doesn’t have to be something huge—just a beginning sentence mentioning a shared connection.

Use your common background.

People are more likely to work with others if they have something in common. So try to find a link between you.

It might be something from high school, a morning coffee, an internship, or whatever. 

Use a mutual connection or a mutual friend.

One of the best ways to get replies to your cold emails is using a personal relationship. It might be a friend you both have in common, a relative, a favorite author, etc.

Just find someone closer to your lead who can help you make it. 

Read more: How To Write A Follow-up Email After No Reply (+ 10 Templates)

Key Takeaways

• Your cold email campaign success is not only based on the quality of your subject lines. Opening sentences also play a considerable role in it.
• Excellent opening lines act as icebreakers and help you connect with your recipients and make them more open to receiving your emails. 
• Ensure to properly research your prospects before creating icebreakers directed to them. Because poor opening lines will only hurt your results. 

Choosing the words used in your emails is always a delicate task.

You want to present your products in the right way, entice the reader to engage with your message and take your desired action, and yet stay on the good side to avoid words that trigger spam filters. 

But sometimes, while pushing for compellingness and ensuring that the email is conveying the purpose of your message, the use of certain words pushes email service providers’ spam filters to place your emails in the spam folder. 

In this article, we share the latest list of spam trigger words to avoid you need to be aware of to keep your emails safe from landing in the spam folder and ensure you always get delivered. 

What are spam trigger words?

Email spam trigger words are words and phrases included in your email that email providers’s email filtering algorithms see as red flags and consider malicious for the recipient of the email and therefore block the email being delivered.

These are mostly words that are used in email subject lines as well as email bodies in an attempt to get an action or reaction from the reader.

They trigger spam filters that consider them spam words because they find them suspicious, misleading, or too good to be true and send the email to the spam folder.

Spam trigger words can tip your beautifully-written email to the wrong side of the inbox of your recipients, who will, therefore, not receive your communication — even if you don’t mean to use those words and phrases.

The main reason email marketing specialists need to learn about email spam words to avoid is that constantly having your email marketing campaigns sent to spam folders hurts email deliverability.

Down the road, constantly having your emails flagged by spam filters damages your sender reputation, and spam filters will always send your email campaigns to the spam folders anytime they receive emails from your domain.

Before we reveal the list of email spam trigger words to you, it is important to put things in context to show you the types of words that get flagged as spam emails. 

What types of words do spam filters flag?

There are a gazillion words and phrases that get flagged by email spam filters. It can seem hard to always know which ones, but there is a pattern.

Spam filters only catch suspicious words and phrases associated with the following:

• Scams: setting up dishonest schemes or frauds and using words and phrases like ‘free money’, ‘instant weight loss’, ’billions’.
• Manipulation: creating unnecessary urgency with words like ‘Urgent’, and ’Don’t delete’. This also includes using words that are too specific to marketing and the idea of sales.
• Gimmicks: adding tricky words to elicit emotions or drive action.  
• Promises: constantly making promises across the email.
• Free gifts: include too many gifts and promising free stuff in your email subject line or content. 
• Neediness: sounding desperate and needy with words like ‘Help’, and ’Distress’
• Sleaziness: using inappropriate, out-of-context, or sex language with words like hot babes, or adult. 
• Shadiness: ethically or legally questionable behavior.
• Being too cheap: making unrealistic discounts with words and phrases including ‘Free’, 100% off, Full Discount.

450+ spam trigger words per category and business industry

There is a list of words and phrases that are considered suspicious or potentially spammy by email providers.

These will be detected, trigger some sort of red flag, and the spam filters in your recipient’s inbox will likely place your email in junk status to protect the recipient.

Here is the ultimate list of email spam trigger words. 

Marketing and Sales Email Spam Trigger Words To Avoid

• Ad
• Affordable
• All natural
• All new
• Amazed
• Amazing
• Amazing stuff
• As seen on
• Auto email removal
• Bargain
• Be amazed
• Beneficiary
• Best price
• Big bucks
• Bill 1618
• Billing
• Billing address
• Billion
• Billion dollars
• Bonus
• Bulk email
• Cancel at any time
• Cannot be combined with any other offer
• Chance
• Cheap
• Check
• Check or money order
• Click
• Click below
• Click here
• Click to remove
• Compare rates
• Compete for your business
• Dear friend
• Direct email
• Direct marketing
• Discount
• Email harvest
• Email marketing
• Free call
• Free consultation
• Free DVD
• Free hosting
• Free priority mail
• Free sample
• Free trial
• Free website
• Increase sales
• Increase traffic
• Increase your sales
• Incredible deal
• Info you requested
• Information you requested
• Internet marketing
• Marketing
• Marketing solutions
• Mass email
• Month trial offer
• More internet traffic
• Multi-level marketing
• No purchase necessary
• No questions asked
• No selling
• Offer
• Offer expired
• Once in lifetime
• One hundred percent free
• One hundred percent guaranteed
• One time
• One time mailing
• Online biz opportunity
• Online marketing
• Opt in
• Sale
• Satisfaction
• Satisfaction guaranteed
• Save $
• Save big money
• Save up to
• Search engine listings
• Search engines
• Sign up free today
• Special promotion
• Special promotion
• Tells you it’s an ad
• This isn’t a scam
• This isn’t spam
• This won’t last
• Traffic
• Trial
• Vacation
• Vacation offers
• Visit our website
• Web traffic

Financial Email Spam Trigger Words To Avoid

• Accept credit cards
• Additional income
• Avoid bankruptcy
• Calling creditors
• Cards accepted
• Cash
• Cash bonus
• Cash Cash Cash
• Cents on the dollar
• Consolidate debt and credit
• Consolidate your debt
• Costs
• Credit
• Credit bureaus
• Credit card offers
• Debt
• Don’t hesitate
• Double your
• Double your cash
• Double your income
• Drastically reduced
• Earn
• Earn $
• Earn extra cash
• Earn per week
• Eliminate bad credit
• Eliminate debt
• Exclusive deal
• Expect to earn
• Expire
• Explode your business
• Extra
• Extra cash
• Extra income
• Fantastic deal
• Financial freedom
• Financially independent
• For just $ (some amount)
• For just $xxx
• Free
• Free gift
• Free grant money
• Free investment
• Free leads
• Free membership
• Free money
• Free offer
• Free preview
• Full refund
• Get out of debt
• Get paid
• Great offer
• Hidden assets
• Hidden charges
• Income
• Income from home
• Investment
• Investment decision
• It’s effective
• Loan
• Lower interest rates
• Lower monthly payment
• Lower your mortgage rate
• Lowest insurance rates
• Lowest Price
• Luxury
• Luxury car
• Luxury car
• Make $
• Make money
• Mortgage
• Mortgage rates
• No cost
• No credit check
• No fees
• No hidden
• No hidden costs
• No interests
• No inventory
• No investment
• No middleman
• Only $
• Opportunity
• Pennies a day
• Quote
• Refinance
• Refinance home
• Refund
• Requires initial investment
• Risk free
• Serious cash
• Serious only
• Subject to cash
• Subject to credit
• Talks about hidden charges
• The best rates
• They keep your money — no refund!
• Thousands
• Unsecured credit
• Unsecured debt
• US dollars
• Wants credit card
• Warranty
• Your income

Medical Email Spam Words To Avoid

• Cell phone cancer scam
• Collect child support
• Cures
• Cures baldness
• Diagnostics
• Fast viagra delivery
• Human growth hormone
• Life
• Life Insurance
• Lifetim
• Lose weight
• Lose weight spam
• Medicine
• No medical exams
• Online pharmacy
• Removes wrinkles
• Reverses
• Reverses aging
• Stop
• Stop snoring
• Valium
• Viagra
• Vicodin
• Weight
• Weight loss
• While you sleep
• Will not believe your eyes
• Xanax

eCommerce Email Spam Trigger Words To Avoid

• Be your own boss
• Boss
• Buy
• Buy direct
• Buying judgments
• Congratulations
• Gift certificate
• Give it away
• Giving away
• Here
• Hidden
• Join millions
• Join millions of americans
• Laser printer
• Limited supplies
• Million
• Million dollars
• Money
• Money back
• Money making
• Never
• New customers only
• Order
• Order now
• Order shipped by
• Order status
• Order today
• Pennies a day
• Potential earnings
• Price
• Produced and sent out
• Profits
• Purchase
• Pure Profits
• Rates
• Rolex
• Round the world
• Shopper
• Shopping spree
• Stock alert
• Stock disclaimer statement
• Stock pick
• Strong buy
• Stuff on sale
• Supplies
• Supplies are limited
• While supplies last
• Why pay more?

Legal Spam Trigger Words To Avoid

• Certified
• Claims
• Claims not to be selling anything
• Claims to be in accordance with some spam law
• Claims to be legal
• Clearance
• Confidentially on all orders
• Copy accurately
• Easy terms
• Guarantee
• Guaranteed
• In accordance with laws
• Insurance
• Legal
• Message contains
• Message contains disclaimer
• Name brand
• No catch
• No claim forms
• Obligation
• Reserves the right
• Terms
• Terms and conditions
• The following form

Employment Email Spam Trigger Words To Avoid

• Apply online
• Free access
• Have you been turned down?
• Home
• Home based
• Home based business
• Home employment
• Hybrid work
• Meet singles
• Member
• Member stuff
• No age restrictions
• No experience
• Online degree
• University diplomas
• Work from home
• Work remotely

Email Spam Trigger Words With Numbers

• 100%
• #1
• $$$
• 0% risk
• 100% free
• 100% more
• 100% satisfaction
• 100% Satisfied
• 4U
• 50% off
• One hundred percent guaranteed
• Thousands

Urgency Words and Phrases To Avoid Spam

• Act now
• Action
• Call now
• Can’t live without
• Do it today
• Fast cash
• Get it now
• Get started now
• Limited
• Limited time
• Limited time offer
• Limited time only
• Take action
• Take action now
• Time limited
• Urgent
• What are you waiting for?
• What’s keeping you?

Other Words and Phrases to Avoid to Ensure Email Deliverability

• Acceptance
• Access
• Accordingly
• Avoid
• Call
• Call free
• Cancel
• Casino
• Celebrity
• Collect
• Dig up dirt on friends
• Don’t delete
• Dormant
• F r e e
• Fantastic
• For free
• For instant access
• For Only
• For you
• Form
• Instant
• Junk
• Laser printer
• Leave
• Legal
• Long distance phone offer
• Lose
• Mail in order form
• Maintained
• Medium
• Miracle
• New domain extensions
• Nigerian
• No gimmick
• No obligation
• No strings attached
• No-obligation
• Not intended
• Not junk
• Not spam
• Offshore
• Open
• Outstanding values
• Passwords
• Per day
• Per week
• Performance
• Phone
• Please read
• Pre-approved
• Presently
• Print form signature
• Print out and fax
• Priority mail
• Prize
• Problem
• Promise
• Promise you
• Real thing
• Removal
• Removal instructions
• Remove
• Request sample
• Safeguard notice
• Score
• Score with babes
• Section 301
• See for yourself
• Sent in compliance
• Serious
• Social security number
• Spam
• Stainless steel
• Talks about prizes
• Teen
• They’re just giving it away
• Undisclosed recipient
• Unlimited
• Unsolicited
• Unsubscribe
• We hate spam
• We honor all
• Weekend getaway
• You are a winner!
• You have been selected

What if you cannot do without these words? 

You will be bound to use some spam trigger words. Sometimes, it only makes sense to use them to formulate your message or make your offer compelling to your audience.

In some contexts even, they can operate as power words to inspire your recipients to take action. 

So, you’re probably asking yourself whether you will get your email flagged as spam anytime you include any of these words in your emails or subject lines.

From our experience, the real problem is the frequency with which you use them and how many of them you include in your email that triggers the spam filter. 

The reason we believe this is that spam filter algorithms work based on a scoring system rather than simply seeing the word and instantly flagging the entire email as spam.

They consider your sentences and the number of potentially spammy words or phrases it contains — both your email subject lines and copy. 

Based on the data gathered, they score your email an overall spam score, which determines whether your email lands in the spam folder or the inbox.

Of course, the higher your spam score the lower your chances of getting your email delivered in the inbox. 

So back to your question. Yes, you can use the words and phrases that make sense to you. It’s only a matter of density.

Spam filters are becoming more and more sophisticated and allow for nuance. It is a matter of context and sensible use. So, you make sure you include these words or any kind of power words in your email copy sparingly. 

Key Takeaways

• The risks linked to these words are constantly evolving, so stay tuned, we update this list regularly. Finally, note that although using these words is risky, you can continue to use them, but sparingly.
• If you want to maximize your chances, refrain as much as possible from placing them in the subject line of your message. This requires a little effort, a good dose and a lot of creativity, but the results of your campaign will be all the better.
• Also, always ensure that you follow the CAN-SPAM Act laws and include an unsubscribe link in your email campaign. CAN-SPAM Act laws govern commercial emails — emails sent by a company attempting to sell or promote its products. Always aligning with them will help with your email deliverability and avoid fines owing to poor email marketing.