Glossary
Cold email
A cold email is an unsolicited email sent to someone who has no prior relationship with the sender, usually to start a sales conversation, and written for that specific person with a relevant reason to reply.
What Is Cold Email?
In short Cold email differs from spam by targeting and relevance, and from marketing email by format.
It goes to a chosen person at a company that fits your ideal customer profile, reads like a short note from one person, and asks for one small next step, usually a reply. A campaign usually runs as a short sequence: a first email and a few follow-ups spaced several days apart.
Deliverability decides whether anyone reads it. Google asks every sender to Gmail to keep the spam rate reported in Postmaster Tools below 0.10% and never reach 0.30%. Senders of more than 5,000 messages a day to Gmail must also set up SPF, DKIM and DMARC, and their marketing messages need one-click unsubscribe. Yahoo sets matching rules for bulk senders. Cold email teams usually send from secondary domains, warm up new mailboxes and verify every address.
Cold Email Example
For example, a payroll software company emails 1,000 finance managers at restaurant groups with 10 or more locations. The first email names one specific pain (tip pooling errors across locations), runs 85 words and asks for a 15-minute call. Over three emails, 42 people reply (4.2%), 15 are interested and 9 book a meeting.
Cold Email in Practice
The law depends on where recipients are. The FTC states that CAN-SPAM makes no exception for business-to-business email: messages need honest headers and subject lines, a physical address and a working opt-out honored within 10 business days. Other places, such as Canada and the EU, set stricter consent rules, so check each market before you send.
FAQ
Is cold emailing legal?
In the US, yes, if you follow CAN-SPAM: accurate headers, no deceptive subject lines, a valid physical address and an opt-out you honor within 10 business days. Other countries have stricter consent rules, so check the law where your recipients are.
What is the difference between cold email and email marketing?
Email marketing goes to people who opted in, often as a designed newsletter with links. Cold email goes to people with no prior relationship, reads like a personal note and asks for a reply.
How many cold emails can I send per day?
There is no official safe number. Teams spread sending across several mailboxes and keep each one to a modest daily volume. What Gmail measures is the result: keep spam complaints below 0.10% and never reach 0.30%.
Do cold emails need an unsubscribe link?
Every commercial email needs a clear way to opt out under CAN-SPAM, and a reply-to-opt-out line can meet that. Gmail and Yahoo also require one-click unsubscribe for marketing messages from bulk senders.
Do This in Ken
Do This in Ken
Ken covers each part of a cold email campaign: Ken Search for the list, Delivery for mailboxes, warmup and DNS setup, Campaigns for the sequence and Inbox for replies.
- Module
- Campaigns
- Open in Ken
- /how-it-works
The new Ken opens to the waiting list in batches.
Related
- GTM Glossary
Every GTM term, grouped by topic.
- Email sequence
- Email warmup
- SPF (Sender Policy Framework)
- Prospecting
- Cold calling
- Email open rate
- How Ken works
Sources
| Source | Checked |
|---|---|
| Google: Email sender guidelines | |
| Yahoo Sender Hub: Sender best practices | |
| FTC: CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide for business |
Changelog
- Page published.