Cold Email Sequence Template

This is a workhorse sequence for B2B outbound teams. It's not flashy, but it's a reliable framework for engaging decision-makers over email and LinkedIn.

Use this as a starting point for most campaigns before iterating based on performance data. It balances persistence with professionalism.

This is a 6-step, 21-day sequence that uses a combination of email and passive LinkedIn touches. The goal is to stay top-of-mind without being aggressive or spammy.

The cadence is intentionally spread out. Sending five emails in seven days is a quick way to get your inboxes flagged. This longer duration respects the prospect's time and protects your sending infrastructure.

Each step has a clear objective. The copy examples are intentionally brief snippets, not full templates. They are meant to illustrate the core message of that step.

Step 1: The Opener

1. Timing: Day 1
2. Channel: Email
3. Objective: Deliver a clear, concise message that gets opened and establishes relevance.
4. Example:
   Subject: Question about {{companyName}} or a hyper-personalized line.
   Body: Noticed {{observation}}. Based on that, I thought you might be dealing with {{relevant_problem}}.

Step 2: The Social Connection

1. Timing: Day 3
2. Channel: LinkedIn
3. Objective: Reinforce your name and company in a low-friction way. Do not pitch in the connection request.
4. Example:
   Connection Note: Hi {{firstName}}, saw your work on {{project_or_post}} and wanted to connect. (Or send with no note).

Step 3: The Soft Bump

1. Timing: Day 7
2. Channel: Email (Reply to Step 1)
3. Objective: Bring the original email to the top of their inbox.
4. Example:
   Subject: Re: Question about {{companyName}}
   Body: {{firstName}}, any thoughts on my note below?

Step 4: The Value Drop

1. Timing: Day 12
2. Channel: Email (New Thread)
3. Objective: Provide a genuinely useful resource, not a thinly veiled sales pitch. This repositions you as a helpful expert.
4. Example:
   Subject: Resource for {{companyName}}
   Body: Thought you might find this case study on how a similar company solved {{problem}} useful. No strings attached.

Step 5: The Passive Reminder

1. Timing: Day 15
2. Channel: LinkedIn
3. Objective: A no-ask touchpoint that generates a notification for the prospect.
4. Action: View their profile. That's it.

Step 6: The Breakup

1. Timing: Day 21
2. Channel: Email (Reply to Step 4)
3. Objective: Professionally close the loop and give them one last chance to engage.
4. Example:
   Subject: Re: Resource for {{companyName}}
   Body: Assuming this isn't a priority right now, so I'll stop reaching out. If that changes, feel free to get in touch.

This sequence works best with scalable personalization, not 1-to-1 handcrafted emails for every contact. The structure is the template, but the content requires your input.

Focus your personalization on two key areas:

1. The Opening Line: The {{observation}} in Step 1. This should be a genuine, specific insight about their company, role, or recent activity.
2. The Problem Statement: The {{relevant_problem}}. This must map directly to your solution and the prospect's likely pain points.

The rest of the sequence (bumps, breakup email) can remain largely templatized, using Spintax and Liquid syntax for variation.

Running any sequence at scale introduces risk. Sending from your primary corporate domain is a mistake that can get your entire company's email flagged as spam.

Here’s the baseline for safe sending:

1. Send Volume: Keep sends to 30-50 new leads per inbox, per day. High volume from a single inbox is a massive spam signal.
2. Dedicated Domains: Never use your primary domain. Purchase secondary domains (getcompany.com, trycompany.com) exclusively for outbound. If one gets burned, your core operations are unaffected.
3. Inbox Rotation: To scale beyond 50 sends a day, you need more inboxes across multiple domains. Rotating sends automatically distributes the load and minimizes the risk profile of any single asset.

For most B2B SaaS, PE, and agency targets, you're sending to corporate inboxes (Google Workspace, Microsoft 365). These systems are sophisticated and track domain reputation closely. A sudden spike in volume or a high bounce/spam complaint rate on a new domain will get it shut down quickly. Gradual warmup and disciplined sending are non-negotiable.

Tools like SuperSend exist to handle this infra and orchestration so teams don't have to duct-tape it inside a primary inbox.