Cold Email: Best Practices for Getting Results in 2025
Cold emailing remains one of the most effective—yet misunderstood—tools in the modern business toolkit. Whether you’re reaching out to potential clients, investors, journalists, or collaborators, a well-crafted cold email can open doors that were previously closed. But in a world saturated with spam and inbox fatigue, how do you make sure your message gets read?
Here are the best practices for writing cold emails that convert in 2025.
1. Do Your Homework
Generic blasts don’t work. Research your recipient. Understand their company, recent projects, and pain points. Show them you’ve done the work with a personalized first line that proves you’re not just another spammer.
Bad:
“Hey there, I thought you might be interested in our product.”
Good:
“I saw your recent post on sustainable design—impressive work on the Nairobi housing project.”
2. Craft a Killer Subject Line
You have 3 seconds. That’s how long it takes for someone to decide if your email is worth opening. A good subject line is personal, relevant, and curiosity-inducing.
Examples:
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“Quick idea to boost retention at [Company Name]”
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“Saw your article—had to reach out”
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“Intro from someone who knows your pain”
Avoid clickbait. You’ll lose trust immediately.
3. Lead with Value, Not a Pitch
Most cold emails fail because they jump straight into selling. Instead, frame your offer around the value or outcome you can deliver.
Example:
“I help ecommerce brands like yours reduce abandoned carts by 30% using AI-driven remarketing—thought that might be relevant as you scale.”
4. Keep It Short and Sweet
Your recipient is busy. Respect their time.
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Stick to 3–5 sentences max.
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Use simple, readable language.
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Break into short paragraphs for easy scanning.
5. End with a Clear Call to Action (CTA)
Don’t make them guess what you want. End with a low-commitment CTA.
Examples:
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“Open to a 15-minute call next week?”
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“Would it make sense to explore this further?”
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“Can I send over a short case study?”
Avoid vague endings like “Let me know what you think.”
6. Follow Up Without Being Annoying
People are busy—not necessarily disinterested. Follow up 2–3 times over the next 10 days. Keep it polite and value-driven.
Follow-up tip:
“Just bumping this up—worth a look if boosting user engagement is still a priority this quarter.”
7. Use a Professional Signature
Make it easy to verify who you are. Include:
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Full name
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Title/company
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Website or LinkedIn link
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Contact info
It builds trust and shows you're legit.
8. Test and Iterate
Great cold emailers don’t “set and forget.” They test:
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Subject lines
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First sentences
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CTA phrasing
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Send times
Track open rates, reply rates, and positive responses. Use tools like Mailtrack, Lemlist, or Instantly to optimize.
9. Avoid These Red Flags
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Too many links (looks spammy)
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Large attachments (can trigger filters)
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Overuse of bold, caps, or exclamation marks
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Writing like a marketer, not a human
10. Bonus: Let AI Help
In 2025, there’s no excuse for writing from scratch. Use AI tools like ChatGPT to:
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Generate variations
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Summarize research on a lead
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Personalize intros at scale
AI can help you stay human and efficient.
Final Thought
The best cold emails are not sales pitches—they’re the beginning of conversations. When written with empathy, clarity, and value in mind, a cold email can be the warmest path to a new opportunity.
Now go hit send—just do it right.
cold emails changed my life.
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
they got me:
• a $20,000 scholarship increase
• high-paying clients (no fancy network)
• a six-figure job i wasn’t “qualified” for
most people are terrible at cold emails.
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
you won’t be after this.
after sending hundreds of cold messages
and getting ghosted more times than i can count
i finally figured out what actually gets people to respond.
8 reasons your cold emails get ignored (and how to fix them) 👇
#1 your subject line is trash
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
“following up”
“quick question”
yeah, no.
steal these we used to get 70%+ open rates @fdotinc:
• “you probably should be in class rn, but read this instead”
• “you say you want to build — so why aren’t you in SF?”
• “72 HOURS LEFT TO LOCK IN”…
#2 your opener is cut & pasted (and you can tell)
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
“hope you’re doing well” = delete.
you’ve got 1 line to make me care.
use:
• “i’ll keep this short bc you don’t care yet.”
• “saw your post on [x], about [x] and had to reach out.”
• “built something that might 10x what…
#3 your ask feels like homework
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
no one wants a vague calendar invite to nowhere.
if responding feels like work, they won’t do it.
don’t say: “would love to connect”
do say: “mind if i send a 2-min demo?”
or: “got 5 min for a quick yes/no?”
make it too easy to say yes.
#4 your email is too damn long
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
walls of text = walls between you and a reply.
the formula:
1️⃣ hook
2️⃣ why it matters
3️⃣ your ask
4️⃣ low-effort CTA
5️⃣ sign off
bonus: format for skimmers.
line breaks are your friend.
#5 you ghost yourself
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
most replies don’t come from the first email.
they come from follow-ups.
• day 3: “just bubbling this up in case it got buried”
• day 7: “worth a quick look or should i close this out?”
no reply ≠ no
people are busy.
follow up or get forgotten.…
#6 you make cold emails all about you
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
don’t say:
"let me know if there's anything you need help with" 🤡
say:
"this might save your team 5 hours a week"
"this could help you grow 2x faster"
"this made [similar company] 30% more efficient"
no one cares about what you built.…
#7 you're too formal
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
keep it casual. yes, even punctuation.
this is not your thesis. it’s a vibe check.
we're all humans here.
write like a smart friend. not a desperate applicant.
your tone matters more than your resume.
#8 you're treating every platform the same
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
• twitter/x DMs → short, casual, to the point.
• cold emails → structured, but still direct.
• investor emails → lead with traction, no fluff.
cold outreach changed my life.
— Adrianna Lakatos (@adriannalakatos) April 30, 2025
got me into rooms i had no business being in.
got me opportunities before i even knew to ask.
you don’t need to buy another course.
you just need to start writing cold emails that don’t suck.
Cold Email: Best Practices for Getting Results in 2025 🧵👇 @adriannalakatos
— Paramendra Kumar Bhagat (@paramendra) June 3, 2025
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