How To Write A Cold Email In 2025

In this article, I show you how to write a cold email that actually gets responses.

I’ll show you the framework I use, plus common mistakes to avoid.

I will cover the following:

- The best cold email framework
- Common mistake to avoid
- Best practices
- Final thoughts

The best cold email framework

I recommend that you follow the below structure when writing your cold emails:

1. State what your product does and why it’s awesome
   
2. Give a clear call to action that doesn’t require time from your prospect

That’s it.

No one wants to read your essay.

Instead, get straight to the point and make it really easy for your prospect to move forward if they are interested.

Most cold emails look the same (long, templated, confusing), so if you can keep your email simple and direct (as described above), then you will look different and stand out in your prospects’ inboxes.

Below is an example email I would write if I was selling Emailchaser:

Subject:
Instantly

Body:
David - my team and I built a sequencer tool that’s superior to Instantly, and doesn’t charge you extra for each feature (like Instantly does).

Would you be interested in trying our product at no cost for 6-months? If so, let me know, and I’ll send you the sign up page.

Common mistake to avoid

Probably the most common mistake in cold email is making your email look like a cold email.

I know if it's a sales email just by glancing at it.

If the shape and vibe of an email fits a certain pattern (like 99% of emails I receive), then my brain immediately triggers an alert that says: “This is a sales email about something I probably don’t care about.”

I then proceed to delete the email without reading it.

You need to make your email look different.

It needs to be a pattern interrupt in the inbox of your prospect.

My LinkedIn post below shows an example of this:

Best practices

Below are some best practices that you should follow when writing your cold emails:

Follow ups
You should only include two follow-up emails max in your sequence.

I often only include one follow-up email, since too many follow-up emails results in a high spam complaint rate, which negatively impacts your deliverability.

Additionally, I’ve been running a lot of campaigns where I include no follow-up emails in the same sequence, and instead, I’ll send just one email to each lead, and then I’ll contact the same lead list in a new campaign once per quarter.

This means that I’m still following up with my leads, but only once a quarter, as this reduces the likelihood of being marked as spam, and also increases the odds that I contact them at the right time.

If you want to learn how to write a great follow-up email, then check out my article How To Write A Follow-Up Email.

Plain text
You should send your cold emails as plain text (not html).

Plain text emails have much better deliverability, meaning that you are more likely to land in the primary inbox (not spam).

If you send your cold emails through Emailchaser, then your emails will be sent as plain text by default. You can learn more about why plain text emails are great in my article Plain Text vs HTML: Which Is Better For Email Deliverability?

Length
You should keep your cold email under 100-words.

If your email is too long, then your response rate will be significantly lower, since no one has time to read an essay.

“If I had more time, I would have written a shorter letter.”

Signature
You should include a signature in your cold emails, as it helps your leads understand quickly who you are, thus increasing the likelihood that they will respond.

Emailchaser allows you to add a signature to your emails. You can learn how to add a signature to your cold emails in Emailchaser in my article How To Write An Email Signature For Cold Email.

Final thoughts

The best way to write a cold email is by following the below framework:

1. State what your product does and why it’s awesome
   
2. Give a clear call to action that doesn’t require time from your prospect

If you need inspiration, check out my article 7 Best Cold Email Templates For B2B Outreach.

Finally, if you want to launch a campaign that generates new leads for your business each week on autopilot, then read my article How To Create An Evergreen Cold Email Campaign.