Cold email templates

A cold email is a first message to someone who has never heard of you. The ones that get answers are short, about the reader rather than the sender, and specific enough that they could only have been sent to that person.

The templates below are starting points, not mail merges. Each has a gap you fill with something true about the reader: what you saw on their site, their Google profile or a public post. If you cannot fill that gap for a lead, that lead is probably not a good fit yet.

On this page:

1. Local business without a website
2. Local business with few reviews
3. Business with a site that is hard to use
4. B2B software to a team
5. Agency or freelancer offering a service
6. Someone who asked publicly for a recommendation
7. Partnership or integration
8. Asking for the right person

Cold email templates to copy

Words in braces, like {first_name}, are placeholders: replace every one before you send. The copy button copies the first subject line and the email.

1. Local business without a website

For web designers and agencies writing to a business that has a Google Maps listing but no site of its own. A Facebook page or a booking link does not count as a website.

Hi {first_name},

I found {business_name} on Google Maps while looking for {category} in {city}. You have {review_count} reviews and people mention {detail_from_reviews}, but there is no website linked from your listing, so anyone who wants to see your prices or book has to call.

I build simple sites for local businesses: one page with your services, photos, hours and a booking or quote form, linked from your Google profile.

If it would help, I can send a rough mock-up of what yours could look like, free and with no obligation. Would that be useful?

{your_name}
{your_business} · {your_phone}

Other subject lines: Saw {business_name} on Google Maps · Quick question about {business_name}

Why it works

• It proves you looked: the reviews and the detail from them can only come from their listing.
• It names a problem they recognise (people have to call) instead of a feature (responsive design).
• The ask is small and free: a mock-up, not a meeting.

2. Local business with few reviews

For review, reputation and marketing services, writing to a well-rated business with only a handful of reviews. Check the Maps results first: only say the places above them have more reviews if they do.

Hi {first_name},

{business_name} has a {rating}-star rating on Google, which is better than most {category} businesses near you, but only {review_count} reviews. The places above you in Maps results for “{category} {city}” have a lot more.

I help local businesses ask happy customers for reviews in a way that is simple and within Google’s rules: a short link, a card at the counter and a follow-up message after each job. No fake or paid reviews.

Would a 10-minute call this week be worth it to see whether it fits how you work?

{your_name}

Other subject lines: Your {rating}-star rating in {city}

Why it works

• It starts with a compliment that is true and checkable.
• It says plainly what you will not do: fake reviews and review gating break platform rules, and a business owner who has been burned will be glad to hear it.
• One clear ask with a time limit the reader controls.

3. Business with a site that is hard to use

For web, SEO or conversion agencies, writing to a business whose site works but makes something important hard: no prices, no booking, no mobile layout.

Hi {first_name},

I was on {website} trying to {task, e.g. book a cleaning} and couldn’t find a way to do it on my phone; I had to look for your number instead. I suspect some visitors give up at that point.

I fix exactly this kind of thing for {category} businesses: {one concrete change, e.g. a booking button on every page that opens your calendar}.

If you like, I can send a short screen recording of what I saw and what I’d change. No charge for that. Shall I?

{your_name}

Other subject lines: Something I noticed on {website}

Why it works

• It describes one real problem you hit, not a vague “your site could be better”.
• The offer (a screen recording) is useful even if they never hire you.
• It never insults the site; the owner may have built it themselves.

4. B2B software to a team

For a SaaS product writing to someone whose team has the problem you solve. Works best with a trigger: a job post, a launch, a public complaint, a new market.

Hi {first_name},

Saw that {company} is {trigger, e.g. hiring two more support agents}. Teams at that stage usually start to feel {problem, e.g. the same questions arriving in three different inboxes}.

{product} {what it does in one sentence, e.g. puts every customer conversation in one queue, so nothing is answered twice or missed}. {similar_customer} uses it for {result in their words, only if true and allowed to share}.

Is {problem} something you are dealing with right now? If not, no worries, and I won’t keep writing.

{your_name}
{title}, {product}

Other subject lines: Question about {team} at {company}

Why it works

• The trigger shows timing: you are writing now for a reason.
• One sentence on the product, no feature list.
• The question can be answered with a yes or no, and the promise not to keep writing lowers the pressure.

5. Agency or freelancer offering a service

For content, ads, design or development services pitching a company that matches your ideal customer profile.

Hi {first_name},

I read {something they published, e.g. your post on moving to usage-based pricing}. {One specific, honest reaction or idea that follows from it}.

I run {your_business}, a small {service} studio. We recently {relevant work, with a link}, which had a similar problem: {problem}.

I have two or three ideas for {company} along the same lines. Would it be useful if I wrote them up in a short email, no call needed?

{your_name}
{portfolio_link}

Other subject lines: {company} + {specific idea}

Why it works

• It leads with their work, and an idea they can judge on its own.
• One example of your own work, linked, beats a list of clients.
• The ask is a written follow-up, which busy people prefer to a call.

6. Someone who asked publicly for a recommendation

When someone asked for a tool or service in a public thread on Reddit, Hacker News or a forum and invited people to email or message them. If they did not, reply in the thread instead, as yourself.

Hi {first_name},

You asked in {community} for {what they asked for, in their words} and said email was fine, so here I am.

Full disclosure: I make {product}, so I am biased. It does {the part of their question it answers}. It does not {an honest limitation that matters to them}.

{Link to the most relevant page, not the home page}

Whatever you pick, {one genuinely useful tip about their problem}.

{your_name}

Other subject lines: Your post in {community}

Why it works

• It quotes their request, so it is clearly not a blast.
• Disclosing that you are the maker is honest, and many community rules require it (see self-promotion).
• Naming a limitation makes the rest believable, and the tip helps even if they choose something else.

7. Partnership or integration

For two products with the same customers: an integration, a co-written guide, a bundle or a shared webinar.

Hi {first_name},

I run {your_product}, {one line on what it does}. A number of our users also use {their_product}, and {how you know, e.g. three asked this month whether the two connect}.

Would you be open to {specific idea, e.g. a simple integration that sends X to Y}? We would build our side and write the docs.

If it is not a priority, I understand. Is there someone on your team who handles partnerships I should talk to instead?

{your_name}

Other subject lines: Our users keep asking about {their_product}

Why it works

• It brings evidence of demand from shared customers.
• It offers to do most of the work.
• The fallback question gets you to the right person even if the answer is no.

8. Asking for the right person

When you have a company that fits but no named contact, or the person you found is not the one who decides.

Hi {first_name},

I am trying to reach whoever looks after {area, e.g. local marketing for your clinics} at {company}. Would that be you, or could you point me to the right person?

For context, I help {type of company} with {outcome, one line}.

Thank you,
{your_name}

Other subject lines: Quick question

Why it works

• It is easy and polite to answer, even for someone who is not a buyer.
• An introduction from inside the company is warmer than a second cold email.

How to personalise a cold email template

Personalisation is not “Hi {first_name}”. It is one sentence that shows why you are writing to this person and not a thousand others. Good sources, in order of how much they say:

• Something they did recently: a launch, a job post, a new location, a post or a talk.
• Something you noticed as a customer would: a missing booking form, no prices, a slow mobile page.
• Something from their public profile: their Google Maps reviews, rating and categories, their bio or their site’s about page.
• Something you share: a community you are both in, a mutual customer, the same tools.

Write that sentence first, then decide whether the rest of the template still fits. If it does not, change the template, not the facts.

Cold email subject lines that read like a person

The subject line decides whether the email is opened, and a subject that looks like marketing gets treated like marketing. A few habits that help:

• Keep it short and in lower case or sentence case, like a note to a colleague.
• Use their name, their business or the thing you noticed, never “Partnership opportunity!!!”.
• Do not fake a thread with “Re:” unless you are really replying to something they wrote.
• Avoid words that trigger spam filters and suspicion: “free money”, “guaranteed”, all capitals, lots of exclamation marks.

Cold email rules: honesty and the law

A cold email is only worth sending if it would be fine to receive. The basics:

• Write to business addresses about something relevant to their work. In the US the CAN-SPAM Act requires an honest subject and sender, your postal address and a way to opt out; in the EU and UK, GDPR and e-privacy rules apply to personal data and to emails to individuals.
• Never buy email lists. Bought lists are full of old addresses and spam traps, and the people on them did not expect to hear from you.
• Send from a domain set up with SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and in small numbers, so your email deliverability survives.
• Stop when someone says no, and honour every opt-out straight away.
• Do not pretend to know someone, invent a referral or claim results you cannot show.

None of this is legal advice. Laws differ by country and change; if email is a large part of how you sell, check the rules that apply to you and the people you write to.