Tired of sending cold emails that go unanswered?
Perfect the length of your cold emails to get your prospects’ attention, prompt action, and get more meetings booked!
In this article, you’ll learn how long your cold emails should be, plus how to write them - based on an analysis of millions of cold outreach campaigns.
The best cold email length is about 120 words. This word count got the highest average booking rates of millions of campaigns, at around 50%.
But you can go a little over or a little under: the sweet spot is 75-125 words. This range gets 5-15% higher reply rates than longer or shorter emails.
It also matters how you write the message.
Your recipient is skimming their inbox. Sending long paragraphs makes it harder for them to read quickly, even if you've optimized the number of words.
And if they have to put work into reading your email, they won’t reply.
A good way to measure readability is by number of lines. According to another study, the best click-through rates come from emails with about 20 lines, including line breaks.
So what does this actually look like?
Here’s an example of a cold sales email that has not been optimized for readability:
The text is clunky, long, and hard to read. The prospect has to sift through a block of text in order to understand.
In other words, the prospect will likely move this conversation to the trash.
Here’s that same email, optimized for length and formatting:
Both of these emails have the same number of words. But the second is clearer, easier to read, and more likely to get a response.
Stay concise and break up the text of your emails to ensure your prospects actually respond to them.
When in doubt, aim for a cold email length of about 120 words.
But there’s no specific number that gets a 0% reply rate. In our analysis, even emails with 200+ words sometimes got replies - as long as they were valuable, readable, and targeted to the prospect.
Actually, some studies have shown that longer emails can be more successful, particularly with follow-ups:
That’s because follow-up emails typically need more context, as your prospect may have forgotten your first message.
You may need to add some extra information so they understand what you’re asking for.
Here’s an example of a longer email that had a 85% open rate and 30% reply rate:
Even though this email goes over the sweet spot of 120 words, it is:
✔️ skimmable - the paragraphs are short and well spaced
✔️ readable - the language is simple and easy to understand
✔️ targeted - it mentions the creator’s content and gives a specific offer
…which is why it was still successful!
So you need to keep your cold emails around 120 words - but how should you actually write them?
Here are the components of a successful cold email:
Here's how to optimize each component of your cold email:
Keep your subject lines between 1-8 words, and make them short, sharp, and exciting.
They should be unique and personalized to your prospects: mentioning their recent activity, addressing a pain point, bringing up a common interest, etc.
Here are a few examples of clickable subject lines:
For the data behind subject lines that convert, plus 10+ examples of subject lines with 80%+ open rates, read the complete guide to cold email subject lines.
Use the {{firstname}} tag to show you’ve put more effort in than a basic “hey,” or “hi there.”
Whether to use a more formal “Hello” versus a simple “Yo” will depend on your reader. Do your research to know what your prospects respond best to!
The exact hook to use will vary based on your target audience, cold email strategy, and the type of industry you're in.
It determines the reader’s first impression, and whether they read the rest of the email.
Here are a few successful examples:
For a full breakdown of a cold email intro that converts, plus real examples, use our guide on how to start an email.
Come up with a quick storyline your prospects can relate to.
To accomplish this, you can turn to their pain points, identify their challenges, and try to convince them that you are part of the solution.
Remember to be specific, add as much relevant personalization as you can, and show understanding of your prospect. Communicate the benefits that only you can offer.
If you need help adding sales pitches to your emails, try these 10 sales pitch examples.
Stick to these rules for CTAs:
Want all 7 tips to write email closers that book meetings? Use this guide to CTAs.
Keep your signature simple, with just these details:
Don’t add too much fancy formatting or GIFs, or it will distract from your call-to-action.
To see how it all works together, use this breakdown of a successful cold email.
It’s a classic networking email, with the goal of connecting with other founders, sealing partnerships, and adding integrations.
The subject line is 1 cheeky word that is short and grabs attention. Thanks to this and the audience targeting, this email had a 90% open rate.
The greeting is simple and personalized.
The intro line is personalized to the prospect and draws them in to the rest of the email. An example of the {{Personalization}} variable could be “your XYZ LinkedIn campaign completely changed the way I write cold emails!”
The middle is a short message that goes straight to integration and how it can benefit the prospect.
There is just 1 CTA, it’s clear, and it provides a clear value proposition to the prospect.
The signature is short, sweet, and doesn’t distract from the CTA.
And the email is right around 110 words, with 16 lines (including the line breaks).
Follow the same format to start getting more replies and a higher ctr on your cold email campaigns.
Here’s what to do to craft short cold emails that get replies.
P.S. All of the successful campaigns we analyzed were using lemlist, the AI-powered cold outreach tool that can get you meetings with 17% of your leads. Give it a try for free!
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 |
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 |