Cold Emailing

Cold-email opening tips to break the ice

Mihaela Cicvaric
LAST UPDATED
June 10, 2024
READING TIME
7 min.

Merely 8.5% of emails prompt a reply - but fear not!

These cold email opening tips will help you captivate and spark curiosity in your recipients so you can funnel more replies with less effort.

(Hidden gem at the end!🔥)

Break the ice with just one email

#1 Personalize your cold email

Hearing crickets?

It’s time to ditch the generic 'Dear Sir/Madam' openings!

Want to grab attention? Make it about them.

Show you're invested by referencing in their business wins, recent social posts, or mutual connections.

Find a unique angle that feels natural and relevant to the goal of your email.

A personalized opening resonates, making them feel seen and valued.

For example,

Hi Jane, I was really impressed by your recent quantum computing analysis in 'Tech Digest'.

Don’t stop there, however - tell them exactly what you liked and why you liked it.

Be sure to keep it short!

Something like,

...Your take on its potential impact on cybersecurity was eye-opening! What inspired you to consider the connection?

If you can’t find a fitting reference, cut straight to the chase instead…

#2 Get to the point

Another way to stand out, is to keep your cold email short, snappy, and crystal clear.

Skip the jargon and aim for curiosity, not confusion.

Keep it simple to catch their interest fast.

Highlight a pain point right out the gate in clear, everyday words.

For example,

Hi James, let me cut to the chase - let's update your project management software together.

#3 Offer immediate value

Give them a reason to care from the get-go.

Your opening line needs to promise value: solve a problem, boost efficiency, or offer game-changing info - without any strings attached.

Start strong by showing what's in it for them to ignite a conversation.

Once they actually engage, you’ve got the green light to pursue them.

For example,

Hi Lauren, I've got a hack to slash your content production time by half.

#4 Spark curiosity

Ever heard of George Loewenstein's Information-Gap Theory of Curiosity?

It explains why hooking with a fascinating fact, a gripping question, or a bold statement works. When curiosity is piqued, it's like a mental itch for closure.

But here's the key: tie that curiosity to your value proposition.

Align their need to know more with what you offer, and voilà!

You've merged neurology and persuasion for a killer email strategy.

For example,

Hey Alex, are you aware that 70% of your website visitors leave without engaging?

This only works if you’ve done your research and target the right people.

Sally, the remote marketer, will probably not be interested in industrial grade cooling-systems - no matter how ‘cool’ your hook.

#5 Be real

Forget corporate formalities and ho-drum email openings.

Be you in that email - write as you would speak in your cold email.

This is immensely important when your goal is to build a foundation of trust and transparency - which, let’s be honest - it should be.

Here’s an example:

Hey Sarah! Noticed a glitch on your website's checkout page—could affect customer purchases. Would you like some help with that?

We have an list of 25 high-conversion intro lines if you’re in doubt about how to start your email.

Pro Tip: Emails with social profile links in the sender's signature score an average 9.8% higher response rate (Backlinko) - check out our email signature guide to add credibility to your outreach.

lemlist AI icebreakers

You can side-step all this manual labor by crafting personalized cold email openings with AI!

lemlist’s AI icebreaker is one of our favorite built-in tools!

You can use it in campaigns that have been created manually and in AI generated sequences so your campaigns can run on auto-pilot!

Here’s a quick overview of the process:

From your list of leads, you’ll have an option to either

  1. Immediately generate all icebreakers for all leads from the list by clicking on “Generate all icebreakers
https://assets-global.website-files.com/5de921a1902d8d39a699f77e/64cd1d15b4209e4c433d2b9e_image%20(58).png

      2. Select the leads you want to create your icebreakers → Click on Generate X icebreakers

https://assets-global.website-files.com/5de921a1902d8d39a699f77e/64cd1d1c826b24d6e64d130f_image%20(59).png

This will turn your {{icebreaker}} custom variable into a fully customized, AI-generated intro line that will push your prospects to read and reply to your email!

https://assets-global.website-files.com/5de921a1902d8d39a699f77e/64cd1d22826b24d6e64d193c_image%20(60).png

You will also have an option to choose the tone of your icebreaker, and to regenerate until you find the perfect fit for your niche!

Sounds cool?

Our free trial comes with 100 PAYG credits to activate specialized AI features.

Have fun!

Key takeaways

Craft compelling email openers using personalization, clarity, value, curiosity, and authenticity.

Perfecting these 5 elements can significantly boost your response rates!

Want to level up your cold email strategy on all fronts?

Grab our complimentary cold emailing Ebook today.

Mihaela Cicvaric
Content Marketing Manager @ lempire | Sharing everything you need to get replies to your cold emails
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G2 Rating
Price
Best for
Standout feature
Con
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/mo
$75/mo
$2,999/mo
Large, distributed sales teams
AI evaluation precision, gamified KPIs
Lack of tracking system
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Sales operations and finance teams
Powerful configurability
Limited training resources and complex to navigate
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Mid-market and enterprise businesses
Comprehensive incentive management
Potentially high cost and steep learning curve
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$15/user/mo
$40/user/mo
Enterprise: custom price
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Complex sales structures and businesses of all sizes
Steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Collaborative teams
Connected planning
Complexity and steep learning curve
4.6
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with complex sales structures
Complex incentive compensation management (ICM) with high efficiency and accuracy
Complexity for smaller teams and potentially high costs
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies who want to automate commission calculations and payouts
Simplicity and ease of use
Lack of features like redirection
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
$30/user/mo
$35/user/mo
Custom: upon request
Businesses that need a comprehensive and user-friendly sales compensation management software
Ease of use and adoption
Lack of ability to configure the product based on user needs
4.8
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with modern sales culture and businesses who want real-time insights
A built-in dispute management and real-time visibility
Users say it works slowly, customer support is slow
4.9
star
star
star
star
star
$30/user/mo
$50/user/mo
Smaller sales teams
Powerful automation
Lesser user base and average user interface
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Not publicly available
Companies with scalable needs
Automated Commission Calculations
Lack of filtering by date, no mobile app
ERP vs. CRM
ERP
CRM
Summary
Backbone of a business's internal operations.
Backbone of customer-centric interactions and operations.
Goal
To centralize and streamline core business processes in a company.
To increase customer experience, satisfaction and loyalty, and boost sales.
Focus
Internal operations and processes across departments (finance, accounting, inventory, supply chain, HR, and sales).
All interactions with leads and customers.
Manages
Internal business data like financial data, inventory levels, production details, supply chain, HR info.
All customer data like contact info, purchase history, communication history, customer preferences and more.
Users
Finance, accounting, operations, supply chain, and HR departments.
Customer-facing teams like sales, marketing, and customer service.
Benefits
Streamlines operations, improves data accuracy, enhances decision-making, boosts collaboration, increases productivity.
Improves customer relationships, increases sales, strengthens customer service, personalizes marketing campaigns, provides insights.
Price
$150 per user per year on average.
$10 to $30 per user per month on average.
PRM Tool
Rating
Feature
Pro
Con
Mobile App
Integrations
Free Plan
Pricing
4.65
star
star
star
star
star-half
Org-wide alignment
User-friendly layout and database
Suboptimal as a personal CRM
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-check
Team: $20/month
Business: $45/month
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Social Media Integration
Easy contact data collection
No marketing/sales features
square-check
Lack of tracking system
square-xmark
7-day trial
$12/month
4.75
star
star
star
star
star-half
Block Functions
High customization capability
Not a dedicated CRM
square-check
Limited
square-check
Plus: €7.50/month
Business: €14/month
N/A
Open-source
Open-source flexibility
Requires extensive manual input
square-xmark
Limited
square-check
Self-hosted
$9/month or
$90/year
3.1
star
star
star
Simple iOS app
Ideal for non-tech-savvy users
iPhone only
square-check
iOS only
Limited
square-xmark
1-month trial
$1.49/month or
$14.99/month
3.6
star
star
star
star-half
Smart Contact Management
Feature-rich and flexible
Reported bugs
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
7-day trial
Premium: $13.99/month
Teams: $17.99/month
4.4
star
star
star
star
star-half
Customizable Interface
Customizable for teamwork
Pricey for personal use
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
Standard: $24/member
Premium: $39/member
4.7
star
star
star
star
star-half
Integrated Calling
Integrated Calling
Too sales-oriented & pricey
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
Startup: $59/user/month
Professional: $329/user/month
4.8
star
star
star
star
star
Business Card Scanning
Business Card Scanning
Mobile only
square-check
Limited
square-check
$9.99/month
4.45
star
star
star
star
star-half
160+ app integrations
Comprehensive integrations
No free app version
square-check
Rich
square-xmark
14-day trial
$29.90/month or
$24.90/month (billed annually)
Capterra Rating
Free Trial
Free Plan
Starting Price (excluding the free plan)
Maximum Price (for the most expensive plan)
Best for
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-check
€15/month/seat billed annually
€792/month/3 seats billed annually + €45/month for each extra seat
Versatility and free plan
4.2
star
star
star
star
square-check
30-day
square-xmark
But it offers reduced price to authorised nonprofit organisations
€25/user/month
€500/user/month billed annually (includes Einstein AI)
Best overall operational CRM
4.3
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-xmark
square-check
Limited to 3 users
Comprehensive incentive management
€52/user/month billed annually
Small-medium businesses and automation
4.5
star
star
star
star
star-half
square-check
14-day
square-xmark
€14/seat/month billed annually
€99/seat/month billed annually
Sales teams and ease of use
4.1
star
star
star
star
square-xmark
square-check
Limited 10 users
$9.99/user/month billed annually
$64.99/user/month billed annually
Free plan for very small teams up to 10
CRM goal
Increase the sales conversion rate for qualified leads from marketing automation campaigns by 10% in the next 6 months.
SMART Breakdown
1. Specific: It targets a specific area (conversion rate) for a defined segment (qualified leads from marketing automation).
2. Measurable: The desired increase (10%) is a clear metric, and the timeframe (6 months) allows for progress tracking.
3. Achievable: A 10% increase is possible based on historical data and potential improvements.
4. Relevant: Boosting sales from marketing efforts aligns with overall business objectives.
5. Time-bound: The 6-month timeframe creates urgency and a clear target date.
Actions
Step 1: Refine lead qualification criteria to ensure high-quality leads are nurtured through marketing automation.
Step 2: Personalize marketing automation campaigns based on lead demographics, interests, and behavior.
Step 3: Develop targeted landing pages with clear calls to action for qualified leads.
Step 4: Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-potential leads for sales follow-up.
Step 5: Track and analyze campaign performance to identify areas for optimization.
Outcomes
Increased sales and revenue
Improved marketing automation ROI
Marketing and sales alignment
Data-driven marketing optimization
Table
CDP Software
CRM Software
Approach
Data-centric
Customer-centric
Focus
Interactions across various channels and touchpoints, both online and offline.
Sales, marketing, and customer service interactions.
Functionality
Automatically collects, organizes, tags, and makes data available in real-time.
Helps businesses track customer interactions, sales pipelines, prospects, and service requests.
Goals
Personalized customer experiences across all channels.
Better customer relationships, streamlined processes, and improved profitability.
Benefits
Data integration, management, and accessibility, allowing for detailed analysis and segmentation.
Better communication within teams and with customers by organizing information about customer interactions and history.
Data Handling
Handles both identified and anonymous data, stitches together various data points.
Deals primarily with identified customer data.
Use Cases
Personalized marketing campaigns, targeted advertising, content customization across multiple channels.
Managing campaigns and leads, enhancing customer service, providing better customer support, increasing customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Examples
Insider, Bloomreach, Salesforce Marketing Cloud CDP
HubSpot, Salesforce Sales Cloud Lightning Professional, and Zoho CRM
CRM
Free plan
Best feature
Best for
Con
1. HubSpot CRM
square-check
Sales automation
Sales teams
Up to 1,000 contacts
2. Insightly
square-check
Custom fields
Basic needs
Not enough info about the free plan
3. Agile CRM
square-check
Deal and sales pipeline tracking
Small teams
Up to 10 users
4. Zoho CRM
square-check
Lead and contact management
Businesses of all sizes
Limited to 3 users
5. ClickUp
square-check
Unlimited tasks and unlimited members
Personal use
Up to 100MB storage
6. EngageBay
square-check
Live chat
Small and midsize enterprises
Up to 1,000 branded emails per month
7. Bitrix24
square-check
Unlimited users and 5 scrum teams
Big teams
Up to 5GB of cloud storage
8. FreshSales
square-check
Easy to use and simple setup
Beginners
Up to 3 users
9. Mailchimp
square-check
Very beginner friendly
Marketing teams
Send up to 500 branded emails per month
Type of Affiliate Marketing
Unattached
Related
Involved
Format
Paid advertising
Social media or YouTube channels
Dedicated website or blog
Focus
Quick income
Your niche
Your audience
Engagement with your audience
square-xmark
square-check
square-check
square-check
square-check
Very close connection with your audience
Pro
Little effort
Higher credibility thanks to your niche
Long-lasting and scalable
Con
Paid ads cost a lot
Potential for bias since you don’t use the thing you promote
Require time, effort, and dedication

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