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copywriting-principles.md

copywriting-principles-md.md

Cold Email Copywriting — Principles

Core philosophy, rules, components, tips, and spam avoidance for writing cold emails that actually get replies.

For named frameworks, see copywriting-frameworks.md. For sequence structures (Email 1–3 variations), see copywriting-sequences.md. For e-commerce specific playbook, see copywriting-ecom-playbook.md.

The Core Philosophy

If you want your emails to draw attention, you need to make the reader think:

"There's no way this email was for anyone else but me."

Three things make a cold email NOT boring:

  1. Personal — feels written for that one person
  2. Short — gets the point across in as few lines as possible
  3. Valuable — gives something worth their time

What Makes Cold Emails Boring

  • Impersonal or irrelevant (or both) — "industry leaders like yourself" sent to 10,000 people
  • Unnecessarily long — nobody reads essays from strangers
  • Generic value props — "optimize," "streamline," "save time"

The Rules

Bend these at your discretion — copywriting is more art than science. But these are the defaults:

  1. Under 100 words (ideally 60–90)
  2. More about them than you
  3. Benefits over features
  4. Solve a problem they actually have
  5. Personalize or make it hyper-relevant
  6. Pick your offer wisely
  7. Provide value before asking for anything

Main Components of a Cold Email

Every email should have most of these:

1. Observation (Opener)

What you noticed about them. This is your hook — it must be relevant.

Two types:

  • Trigger-based — a relevant event (hiring, funding, product launch, tech change)
  • Recency-based — something recent (news, blog post, LinkedIn activity)

Good observations tie to the problem you solve:

  • Change in their industry likely to impact their business
  • Hiring trends / headcount growth or reduction
  • Opening of new office locations
  • Appointment of a new C-level
  • Launch of a new product
  • Increase in ad spend
  • Merger / acquisition
  • Recent fundraising
  • Bad Glassdoor reviews (if selling HR/culture tools)
  • Remote-first setup (if selling remote collaboration tools)
  • Average employee tenure (if selling retention tools)

The observation becomes your opener:

  • "Hey, I was looking at {{company}} on LinkedIn, and I noticed the average tenure is below 6 months"
  • "Saw that Reach's latest blog post doesn't include a Meta tag which can affect its online visibility"
  • "Noticed you have over 50 open positions on your job portal"

2. Value Proposition

What you actually do, stated in terms of outcomes:

  • Make money — increase revenue, pipeline, conversions
  • Save money — reduce costs, prevent waste
  • Save time — automate, simplify, eliminate manual work

Be specific, not generic:

  • Bad: "We help companies optimize their sales process"
  • Good: "We help tech scale-ups reduce new employee churn from 30% to 10% or less"

3. Social Proof

Quantifiable results from real companies:

  • "Companies like Uptech & Metadata increased average goal achievement by 40%"
  • "LinkedIn, Netflix, and Indeed save 100s of hours weekly using our tool"
  • "We recently helped {{client}} achieve {{result}} in {{timeframe}}"

Rules for social proof:

  • Use numbers (%, $, time saved)
  • Name real companies (if they're recognizable)
  • Keep it to one sentence max

4. Call to Action (CTA)

Soft CTA (lower commitment — usually performs better):

  • "Would this be something you're looking to solve?"
  • "Worth exploring?"
  • "Can I share how?"
  • "Sound relevant?"
  • "What do you think?"

Hard CTA (direct ask):

  • "Worth a chat?"
  • "Open for a quick call this week?"

Avoid: "Let me know" and "Let's get a call" (too vague or too pushy).

Always end with a question — it invites a reply.

5. P.S. Line (Bonus)

A great spot for:

  • A personalized joke or observation
  • A second social proof point
  • A cheeky line that shows personality
  • "P.S: Let me know if someone else would be the right person to talk to about this"

Research & Segmentation

Before writing the email, ask: Who should I go after? Who is struggling the most with the problem I solve?

Finding Buying Signals

If you have existing clients, ask:

  • What made them want to reach out?
  • What made them buy?
  • What patterns do they share?

Examples of Buying Signals

Signal What It Means Example Use
Bad Glassdoor reviews High churn, unhappy employees Selling HR/culture/retention tools
Remote-first company Harder to monitor wellbeing Selling remote collaboration/engagement
Short average tenure (<6mo) Active retention problem Selling employee engagement platforms
Hiring for specific roles Budget allocated, active need Selling tools that serve those roles
Recent funding Fresh capital to spend Any B2B solution
Increasing ad spend Growing acquisition efforts Selling marketing/creative services
Tech stack changes Open to new vendors Selling competing/complementary tools

The signal becomes the opener. The opener draws attention because you're highlighting an issue they know they have.

Tips from the Best

Ask Yourself Before Sending (Eric Nowoslawski)

  1. How can I make this email worth this person's time?
  2. How can I say it like a human would say it?
  3. What can you say in a cold email that your competitors can't say?

Be Cheeky (Josh Braun)

People don't lose their sense of humor when they go to work. When you make a prospect smile, their brain says "Hey, that made me feel good; I'm going to respond."

Funny sign-off examples:

  • "Awaiting your fair but stern reply."
  • "Awaiting your profanity-filled response."

Be Specific / Crispy (Josh Braun)

The more specific you are, the more credible you are.

Don't say this → Say this instead:

Don't Do
"Lose 50 pounds in 2 weeks" "Are you open to a different perspective for losing weight without dieting?"
"Build a $1M portfolio in 60 days" "How are you protecting your portfolio against market downturns?"
"Increase sign-ups by 10X" "Have you considered using finfluencers on TikTok to reach young customers?"
"We reduce shipping costs" "We're seeing e-com companies in the pet space overpaying for shipping by 10-15%. One reason is the weight and dimensions of boxes for pet products. Worth exploring for Animal Pharm?"

Write with an Eraser (Josh Braun)

Cut ruthlessly. Every word must earn its place.

Use Loss Aversion

Frame what they're losing by NOT acting, not just what they'd gain.

Offer Rules

Don't make the offer too good to be true (even if it is). Plausible > grandiose.

Subject Lines

  • 1–3 words on the subject matter
  • Add a space or two before the subject to create a pattern interrupt
  • Keep it casual and curiosity-driven

Personalization: Dos and Don'ts

Don't

  • Generic AI compliments ("Loved your post about leadership!")
  • Sound the same as what the prospect already gets
  • One bit of irrelevant info about their school or hobby

Do

  • Custom prompts that reference real, relevant data
  • Interests/facts that prospects consistently care about
  • Observations tied to the problem you solve

Example: Personalizing based on when the business was founded — founders are immensely proud of their longevity.

Spam Word Avoidance

Why It Matters

Email providers scan content for spam patterns. Too many trigger words = higher spam score = junk folder.

Common Spam Word Categories

Category Examples to Avoid
Urgency & Pressure "Act now," "Limited time," "Urgent," "Don't miss out," "Expires soon"
Money & Offers "Free," "Discount," "Cash," "Save big," "Double your," "Earn $," "100% free"
Too Good to Be True "Guarantee," "No obligation," "Risk-free," "Winner," "Congratulations"
Salesy Language "Buy now," "Order today," "Click here," "Call now," "Subscribe"
Suspicious "This isn't spam," "You've been selected," "Dear friend," "As seen on"

Generic Words to Avoid in B2B Copy

"Optimize," "streamline," "save time," "save money," "leverage," "synergy," "cutting-edge," "best-in-class" — everyone uses them, so they don't stand out.

Spam Checker Tools

Best practice: Run every campaign through a spam checker before sending. If it flags issues, rewrite with more natural, conversational language.

Resources & People to Follow

People

  • Michel Lieben — AI & sales software recommendations
  • Alex Vacca — AI sales SaaS landscape & B2B outbound systems
  • Louis van Wyk — Clay templates & outbound automations
  • Ivan Falco — GTM/growth funnels, ABM and ads
  • Monika Grycz — Copywriting pro tips & sales software
  • Josh Braun — Cold email philosophy, before/after rewrites
  • Thibaut Souyris — "Do the Math" framework
  • Jordan Crawford — Upfront value approach
  • Will Allred — Pattern interrupt / ask before pitch
  • Ethan Parker — Leverage content in outbound

Videos

Articles

Built by Frontal & Ivan Falco. For questions on implementation or anything not covered here, reach out to Ivan directly on LinkedIn.