DG-201c · Module 1

Email Copy That Converts

3 min read

Cold email copy follows rules that are the opposite of marketing email copy. Marketing emails are designed to be opened. Cold outbound emails are designed to be replied to. Opens are a vanity metric in outbound — they tell you the subject line worked. Replies tell you the message worked. Every word in a cold email should be evaluated by one criterion: does it make the prospect more or less likely to reply?

Do This

  • Keep cold emails under 100 words — every word beyond 100 reduces reply rate
  • Open with the prospect, not yourself — "I noticed your team..." not "My company helps..."
  • End with a question, not a request — "Is this on your radar?" converts better than "Can we schedule a call?"
  • Write at an eighth-grade reading level — simplicity signals confidence

Avoid This

  • Write 300-word emails that explain your entire value proposition
  • Open with your company name, founding year, or customer count
  • End with a calendar link in the first email — it presumes a relationship that does not exist
  • Use jargon, buzzwords, or marketing language — prospects have been trained to delete these

Subject lines matter less than you think. A/B tests consistently show that simple, lowercase, conversational subject lines outperform clever ones. "quick question" outperforms "Unlocking 3x Pipeline Growth with AI-Powered Demand Generation." The prospect is deciding whether to open based on sender name and the first line of the preview — not the subject line creativity.