cold-email-outreach

Cold Email & Outreach

Design, optimize, and scale cold email outreach with high deliverability and compliance.

Install

git clone https://github.com/thatrebeccarae/claude-marketing.git && cp -r claude-marketing/skills/cold-email-outreach ~/.claude/skills/

Deliverability Fundamentals

Authentication (Required)

| Record | Purpose | Check | |--------|---------|-------| | SPF | Authorizes sending servers | dig TXT domain.com | | DKIM | Cryptographic message signing | DKIM selector lookup | | DMARC | Policy for failed auth | dig TXT _dmarc.domain.com |

Domain Warming

New domains or IPs need gradual volume ramp:

| Week | Daily Volume | Notes | |------|-------------|-------| | 1 | 5-10 | Known contacts only | | 2 | 15-25 | Mix of known and new | | 3 | 30-50 | Monitor bounce/spam rates | | 4 | 50-100 | Scale if rates healthy | | 5+ | 100-200 | Max per domain/day |

Dedicated sending domain: Use a subdomain (outreach.company.com) to protect your primary domain reputation.

Health Benchmarks

| Metric | Healthy | Warning | Critical | |--------|---------|---------|----------| | Bounce rate | <2% | 2-5% | >5% | | Spam complaint | <0.1% | 0.1-0.3% | >0.3% | | Open rate | >40% | 20-40% | <20% | | Reply rate | >5% | 2-5% | <2% |

Sequence Design

Optimal Sequence Structure

Email 1 (Day 0)  — Value-first introduction
Email 2 (Day 3)  — Follow-up with new angle
Email 3 (Day 7)  — Social proof / case study
Email 4 (Day 14) — Breakup email (last attempt)

Timing

• Best send days: Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday
• Best send times: 8-10am recipient timezone
• Avoid: Monday morning, Friday afternoon, weekends
• Follow-up spacing: 3-5 days between emails (never daily)

Subject Line Formulas

| Formula | Example | Open Rate | |---------|---------|-----------| | Question | "Quick question about [company] growth?" | High | | Mutual connection | "Saw your talk at [event]" | Very high | | Specific result | "[Company] could save $40K/year on [X]" | High | | Curiosity | "Idea for [specific initiative]" | Medium-high | | Direct | "15-min call about [pain point]?" | Medium |

Rules: Under 50 characters. No ALL CAPS. No spam triggers (free, guarantee, act now). Personalized > generic.

Email Body Framework

Line 1: Personalized opener (research-based, NOT "I hope this finds you well")
Line 2-3: Pain point or observation specific to them
Line 4-5: How you solve it (one sentence, with social proof)
Line 6: Low-friction CTA (question, not demand)

Length: 50-125 words. 3-5 sentences max. Mobile-readable.

Personalization Tiers

| Tier | Effort | When | Example | |------|--------|------|---------| | Researched | High (5+ min/email) | Top 50 accounts | Reference specific blog post, recent funding, or LinkedIn activity | | Templated | Medium (1 min) | Mid-tier prospects | Company name, industry pain point, role-specific angle | | Dynamic | Low (automated) | Scale outreach | First name, company name, industry via merge fields |

Compliance

CAN-SPAM (US)

• Clear sender identity (real name and company)
• Accurate subject line (not misleading)
• Physical mailing address in footer
• Unsubscribe mechanism (honor within 10 days)
• Mark as advertisement if applicable

GDPR (EU/UK)

• Legitimate interest basis for B2B cold email (document it)
• Clear identity and purpose in first email
• Easy opt-out mechanism
• Do not email personal email addresses without consent
• Data retention policy for prospect data

Best Practices

• Always include unsubscribe link
• Respect opt-outs immediately (automated)
• Never buy email lists
• Verify emails before sending (reduce bounces)
• Keep records of consent and opt-outs

Anti-Patterns

1. Mass blasting — sending same email to 1000+ at once kills deliverability
2. No personalization — "Dear Sir/Madam" or obviously templated
3. Feature dumping — listing product features instead of addressing pain
4. Aggressive follow-ups — daily follow-ups = spam reports
5. No unsubscribe — illegal under CAN-SPAM and GDPR
6. Misleading subjects — "Re:" or "Fwd:" on first contact
7. Too many links/images — triggers spam filters
8. No domain warming — sending 500 emails day 1 from new domain

Integration with Other Skills

• copywriting-frameworks — Apply PAS, BAB, QUEST to cold email copy
• icp-research — Define ideal customer profile before building prospect lists
• email-composer — General email writing (cold-email-outreach is specifically for outbound sequences)
• klaviyo-analyst — For marketing automation email (different from cold outreach)