Warm up Prospects with These Cold Email Introduction Do’s and Dont’s

You never get a second chance to make a first impression — and when it comes to cold emails, you often won’t get a second chance at all.

Your cold email introduction could mean the difference between a potential buyer saying “tell me more” or sending your message straight to spam.

Not everyone has mastered the art, though. The industry average open rate is around 6%, suggesting a lot of cold emails completely miss the mark. Buck that trend and make your cold emails captivating from the very start with our tried-and-tested formula.

With a few of your own updates to our suggested email copy below, you can personalize, engage, and convert your prospects. Here’s how to create the perfect cold email introduction, including what to do, what to avoid, and sales email examples you’ll want to swipe and start using right now. 

In just 5 minutes, you could be a better cold email writer…

So stick with us! 

Why is the cold email introduction so important?

Any and every email you send is like a lottery ticket.

According to Chris Calkin, the CRO of Revenue at Census, email remains the single most powerful channel for generating revenue.

“People check their emails daily and relatively few completely ignore their inbox,” he says, “Email is truly the great equalizer.”

There’s just one problem that stops any email campaign in its tracks — someone actually has to read your email (shocker, we know). B2B email outreach needs to generate interest and that needs to happen in the first sentence or two.

Second only to your subject line, the most important part of B2B email outreach is the introduction. It forms part of that all-important first impression, alongside the:  

• Sender name 
• Subject line 
• Preview text 

Third-party contact databases help with the first part, connecting you with new customers, and filtering them by persona, job title, location, and more. Once you have a list of names, it’s time to start creating personalized emails.  

This is where your subject line and preview text come in. 

While subject lines can be tricky to master in their own right, preview text is based on the first few lines of your introduction. This text is the short snippet recipients see in their inbox next to the email subject line. And if it doesn’t pique their interest, your email might as well slip into a dark void. 

Email introductions that avoid the void are strong enough to hook your readers, grab their attention, and let them know why they should keep their eyes on your message. 

It’s safe to say there’s a lot of pressure to get your introduction just right — but don’t stress. We’ve rounded up some do’s and don’ts you’ll want to bookmark and keep handy.

The do’s of writing a strong cold email introduction 

There’s an art to writing the perfect cold email introduction — and it’s based on a simple formula. Once you’ve mastered the formula, you can adjust the contents in a snap to suit any prospect. 

DO: Personalize your opening line 

It’s easy to forget you’re writing to an actual human when you have to crank out tons of email copy at the speed of light. So much to send, so little time. 

But if you don’t take the time to include their name, why should they bother reading your email? Using a person’s name and mentioning the company or vertical they work in can help create an instant sense of connection (and increase revenue by 40% to boot…)

A lot of email prospecting best practices say not to introduce yourself in the first sentence. But when combined with a killer subject line and some common ground, it can help create an authentic connection with your prospect. Sam McKenna, CEO of #samsales Consulting, uses this technique to get an incredible 43% open rate and 20% reply rate. 

(Sam has a free course on the Apollo Academy for writing cold emails that anyone will respond to — if that sounds like your speed. Here's a sneak peek...)

One of Sam's favorite strategies is to bring up something hyper-personal — like a mutual connection, congratulating them on a recent achievement, asking them about their newest product launch, or bringing up one of their interests.

Start with anything that puts the focus on them and makes them feel valued. Something like:

Hey {{Name}}, We haven’t been introduced, but I’m {{Your Name}}, from {{Company Name}}. I used to work with {{Name of Mutual Connection}} at {{Company Name}}. Please say hi from me! I’m also reaching out to chat about… 

Why it works: This brief, non-salesy introduction creates a sense of connection and allows for a smooth transition into the reason for your email — the value proposition. 

DO: Get to the point — fast 

People have a lot of emails to wade through. They'll switch off if you don’t get to the point quick enough. Analysis of effective sales emails shows they typically contain less than 100 words, so aim to keep your entire email within this range. That means your introduction needs to be short and snappy. Here's an example.

Hey {{Name}}, I noticed you used {{Name of Your Platform or Solution}} at your previous company and recently joined {{Name of New Company}}. Would love to help you jump-start your roadmap to success in this new role.

Why it works: This introduction is one that Apollo SDRs have had a lot of success with. It can be used to target contacts who had previous experience with your product, but recently changed jobs. It’s also a great way to re-engage a user more likely to become a customer due to their previous experience. 

Pro tip: Apollo’s Job Change alerts can help you find which contacts have recently changed roles, so you can send a cold sales email at just the right time.

DO: Establish credibility and value 

Your introduction also needs to convince the reader you can give them something of value, and have the expertise to make it work. 

But rather than spell out exactly what you do, it’s better to focus on a specific pain point you can help solve — and using a relevant case study or success story from their industry can offer proof. Try:

I’m reaching out to chat about {{topic}}. Like many in {{industry}}, you might be experiencing {{specific pain point or challenge}}. That’s precisely what we solve at {{Company Name}}, by {{details of how your product can help solve that challenge}}. 

Why it works: Using insights from your experience with other companies, these

brief sentences establish credibility while also addressing a specific challenge the prospect is facing. It then introduces the value proposition by addressing how your solution can solve this particular issue.   

DO: Test, test, test 

These elements we’ve covered above are all well and good. But how do you know which approach will work best for you? It’s testing time! 

Frequent, consistent A/B tests can help determine which version of your email engages more prospects. And when you’re sending out thousands of emails, one or two words can be the difference between booking dozens of additional meetings (or not).

The sales team at Lemonlight, for example, conducts tests with up to 7 different email variations in Apollo and are now directly sourcing 70% of all net new meetings from their outbound campaigns.

Learn more about using A/B tests in your emails here.

The don’ts of cold email introductions 

We’ve all pressed the “send” or “publish” button, then immediately wished we could take it back. Missteps happen, but you can also avoid these blunders during your B2B email outreach.

DON’T: Take personalization too far 

There’s a fine line between personalizing your cold email introduction and coming off as creepy. 

Base your research on professional sites like LinkedIn and company websites (a good rule of thumb is avoid Facebook and other social media platforms — that’s when personalization starts to veer into invasion.)

The goal is for personalization to create an authentic tie-in with what you’re trying to say, so it needs to be relevant. If your introduction could apply to hundreds of potential contacts, they’ll probably know you haven’t done any research. They’ve already seen 50 other emails just like yours — and that’s just today. 

Instead of saying, "I saw the Facebook post of you and your family at the beach — so cute!"

Try:

Congrats on your recent move to {{Company Name}}. I know you’re an expert in {{topic}}, and wondered if you’d been experiencing {{specific pain point}}. At {{Company Name}} we’ve been working on a solution, by {{details of how your product can help solve that pain point}}. 

Pro tip: Use Apollo Signal Filters to sub-segment your list and create relevant, personalized emails for a whole segment of prospective customers.

DON’T: Ask before you give 

The opening line of a cold email is no place for a big ask. (Save that for later.) Requesting a meeting, phone call, or referral right out of the gate might destroy any interest the reader may have had in you or your business (after all — they’re only just meeting you).

Instead, focus on giving them something of value, with no expectation of anything in return. Maybe it’s a strategy doc, e-book, a link to a related article or podcast, or even just the promise of a solution to their problems. 

Instead of saying this: Let’s schedule a 30-minute call next week. Here’s a link to my calendar.  

Try this: I created this quick strategy doc on {{topic}}. I’d love to send it over if you’re interested. 

DON’T: Overload with links and attachments

If your email contains too many links and attachments, it’s more likely to get flagged as spam. And if your email does get through an ESP’s spam filters, an overload of links will surely trigger a reader’s own internal “spam filters”.

Stick to a single, clear, call to action. 

Instead of dumping a bunch of links to case studies, articles, company brochures (blah, blah, blah...)

Try something less intense, like a simple: "If you’re interested in learning more, I’d love to schedule a chat whenever it works for you."

Cold email introduction templates to captivate your prospects 

When it’s all put together, it will end up looking something like this:

Hi {{first_name}},

We haven't been properly introduced, but I’m {{sender_name}}, from {{company_name}}. I used to work with [insert name of mutual connection] at [insert company name]. Please say hi from me! 

I’m reaching out to chat about [insert topic]. Like many in {{Industry}}, you might be experiencing [insert specific pain point or challenge]. That’s precisely what we solve at [insert your company name] by [insert details of how your product can help solve that challenge]. 

[Insert 2 sentences around a value-driven insight or case study]

Would love to send over [insert resource] if helpful. Let me know!

Best,
{{sender_name}}

Many of these elements — the ones in the {{curvy brackets}} — can be automatically filled in with dynamic variables in your email sending platform. This makes introduction personalization at scale much more do-able.

Templates make it more do-able, too — and Apollo has a lot of them.

For more out-of-the-box email copy and automations, check out Apollo’s template library 

Send better emails behind an AI-powered tool

Applying these cold email introduction best practices will get you more replies. 

And, doing it within an AI sales platform? That will get you scalable and repeatable revenue.

Equipped with the best database, powerful automation tools, and robust workflows, Apollo has the tools you need to perfect your cold email outreach in less time across each ICP.

To get more specific:

• Use AI Power-ups for deep research. You can prompt Apollo AI to do deep research across your lead list and by inserting the Power-up into an email, it will automatically insert a hyper-specific insight into your intro for each prospect.
• Workflows automate sends based on triggers. Create a perfectly timed email campaign by building an outbound workflow that fires based on specific conditions (e.g. when a prospect changes jobs, when a new contact is added, when a prospect visits your website)
• Hyper-personalize your B2B email outreach with Snippets. When you use Snippets, you can piece together the best parts of different emails and personalize your approach without friction to drive more success from your Sequences.
• Track email and Sequence performance with Analytics and Custom Reports. Gain valuable insights about your target audience and make data-based adjustments.

Email writing skills get you far. But an AI-powered end-to-end sales platform will get you even farther. 

Give Apollo a try today for free.