Glossary
What is cold outreach?
Cold outreach is contacting people who don't know you yet, by email, LinkedIn or direct message, to start a conversation about your product, a partnership, a link or coverage. It works when it's targeted, personal and short. In many countries, cold email to businesses is regulated by laws such as CAN-SPAM and GDPR.
When it works
- Early customer conversations with a precise ideal customer profile.
- Partnership and integration requests.
- Podcast, newsletter and journalist pitches.
- Link reclamation and broken link building.
A message that gets replies
- Why them, specifically (one line).
- What you can offer or what you noticed.
- One small ask.
- Under about 100 words.
Legal basics
In the US, the CAN-SPAM Act requires honest headers and subject lines, identification, a physical address and a working opt-out. In the EU and UK, GDPR and ePrivacy rules restrict unsolicited email, especially to individuals. Check the rules for where your recipients are.
Example
A founder emails 30 newsletter authors who wrote about her category, each with a line about a specific issue they published and an offer of original data. Six reply; three feature the data.
FAQ
Is cold email legal?
Generally for business contexts, with rules: honest content, identification and opt-out. Rules are stricter in the EU and UK.
What reply rate is normal?
Low single digits for generic campaigns; much higher for well-researched, personal messages.
Should I automate cold outreach?
Sending can be automated; personalisation is what gets replies.
How many follow-ups should I send?
One or two polite follow-ups are normal; more starts to annoy.