email-drafting

Email Drafting

Pure reasoning skill for writing cold emails. No scripts, no tools — just frameworks, patterns, and examples from real campaigns that consistently generate replies.

When to Use

Use this skill when:

• User says "write a cold email", "draft outreach", "help me with email copy", "write a sequence"
• Any task requires cold email copy — subject lines, full sequences, or individual emails

Phase 0: Intake

Collect campaign context before writing anything. Ask all questions at once, organized by category. Skip any the user has already answered.

Campaign Context

1. What product/service are you selling?
2. What problem does it solve? Who feels this pain most acutely?
3. What's the campaign angle? (hiring signal, competitor displacement, pain-based, event-triggered, etc.)
4. Is there a specific signal or trigger? (job posting, G2 review, LinkedIn engagement, funding round, etc.)

Audience

1. Who is the recipient? (title, seniority, department)
2. What keeps them up at night? (daily frustrations relevant to your product)
3. What objections will they have? (budget, switching cost, "we already have X", timing)

Proof & Credibility

1. What social proof do you have? (customer logos, case studies, metrics)
2. Name 2-3 peer companies the recipient would recognize as similar to them
3. Any hard metrics? (cost savings, speed improvement, % lift)

Tone & Style

1. What tone fits? (casual-direct, professional-sharp, provocative, empathetic)
2. Who is the sender? (founder, AE, SDR — this affects voice)
3. Any brand guidelines or words to avoid?

Sequence

1. How many touches? (default: 3)
2. What's the desired CTA? (call, demo, reply, resource download)
3. Email-only or multi-channel? (email + LinkedIn, email + phone)

Phase 1: Draft Emails

Email Structure Formula

Every cold email follows this skeleton:

Hook (1 sentence) → Evidence (1-2 sentences) → Offer (1 sentence)

Word count targets:

• Cold intro (Touch 1): 50-90 words
• Follow-up (Touch 2-3): 30-50 words
• Breakup (final touch): 20-40 words

Frameworks

Pick the framework that matches the campaign angle:

| Framework | Structure | Best For | |-----------|-----------|----------| | PAS | Problem → Agitate → Solve | Pain-based signals (complaint posts, operational friction) | | BAB | Before → After → Bridge | Aspirational buyers (growth-stage, scaling companies) | | AIDA | Attention → Interest → Desire → Action | Cold database outreach (no specific signal) | | Signal-Proof-Ask | Signal → Proof → Soft ask | Signal-based campaigns (hiring, engagement, events) |

Personalization Tiers

Choose based on campaign size and expected ROI per lead:

| Tier | What It Means | Lead Volume | Expected Reply Rate | |------|---------------|-------------|-------------------| | Tier 1 (Generic) | Merge fields only ({first_name}, {company}). Same template for everyone. | 500+ leads | 1-3% | | Tier 2 (Segment) | Industry/role-specific pain points + proof swaps. One template per segment. | 50-500 leads | 3-7% | | Tier 3 (Deep) | Reference a specific signal (their post, comment, job posting, news). Unique per lead. | 1-50 leads | 8-20% |

Subject Line Patterns

8 proven patterns from real campaigns:

| # | Pattern | Example | |---|---------|---------| | 1 | Signal reference | "Before you fill that [role] role" | | 2 | Peer framing | "What TIA members are doing with AI workers" | | 3 | Question | "Is [Company] still [doing thing product fixes]?" | | 4 | Replacement | "Looking for a [competitor] replacement?" | | 5 | Data hook | "$150K agency study → $8K. 48 hours." | | 6 | Empathy | "When [event that affected them]" | | 7 | Direct | "[Topic] for [Company]" | | 8 | Curiosity | "How [peer company] did [interesting thing]" |

Rules for subject lines:

• Under 50 characters
• No ALL CAPS, no exclamation marks, no emoji
• No "quick question" or "touching base"

Tone Guidance

| Tone | When to Use | Voice Example | |------|-------------|---------------| | Casual-Direct | SDR sending to peers, startup-to-startup | "Hey — saw your post. We work on the same problem." | | Professional-Sharp | Enterprise outreach, VP+ recipients | "I wanted to reach out because [specific reason]." | | Provocative | Competitive displacement, challenger positioning | "Your current tool is costing you more than you think." | | Empathetic | Orphan capture, pain-based outreach | "I know switching platforms mid-cycle is brutal." |

Sequence Design Principles

| Touch | Timing | Purpose | Length | Notes | |-------|--------|---------|--------|-------| | Touch 1 | Day 1 | Hook + proof + soft CTA | 50-90 words | The only email that can be longer | | Touch 2 | Day 3-5 | New angle or asset | 30-50 words | Different proof point, not a "bump" | | Touch 3 | Day 7-10 | Different proof point or social | 20-40 words | Shorter = better this late | | Touch 4 | Day 14-21 | Breakup (optional) | 20-30 words | Remove pressure, leave door open |

Sequence rules:

• Never repeat the same CTA across touches
• Each touch needs a new reason to reply
• Later touches = shorter emails
• Never send a "just checking in" or "bumping this" — add value or stop

Hard Rules

These are non-negotiable. Every email must pass all 10:

1. No filler openers. Never "I hope this finds you well", "I hope you're having a great week", "just reaching out"
2. No "just checking in" follow-ups. Every touch adds a new reason to reply
3. Max 4 paragraphs per email. Most should be 2-3
4. Every email references something specific to the recipient. Title, company, signal, industry — never fully generic
5. Exactly one CTA per email. Always low-friction (15-min call, "worth a look?", "open to chatting?")
6. Never lie about how you found them. If it was a database search, don't say "I came across your profile"
7. No filler words. Ban: synergy, leverage, circle back, loop in, touch base, align, ping
8. Subject lines under 50 chars. No caps, no exclamation marks, no emoji
9. No selling in the first sentence. Lead with them, not you
10. Sign off simply. Name only, or Name + one-line title. No "Best regards", no "Looking forward to hearing from you"

Phase 2: Review & Refine

1. Present 3-5 draft variants for Touch 1 (different angles/frameworks)
2. Ask user to pick a direction or combine elements
3. Generate the full sequence based on chosen direction
4. Iterate max 3 rounds — after that, ship it

Example Library

Real emails from real campaigns. Use these as structural templates — swap product, proof, and signal for the current campaign.

Type 1: Signal-Based (Hiring)

Signal source: LinkedIn Jobs — company posting for role that product replaces Framework: Signal-Proof-Ask

Subject: Before you fill that {role_title} role

Hi {first_name} — I noticed you're hiring for a {role_title} at {company}. Before you finalize that hire, worth a quick look at what companies like DHL, Werner, and MODE Global are doing instead — deploying AI workers for exactly this function.

4x cheaper than a BPO equivalent. 10x the call capacity. Runs 24/7. Happy to send over a quick overview or jump on a 15-minute call if the timing is right.

Why it works: Opens with their specific hiring signal (proves relevance). Names peer companies (social proof). Quantifies the alternative (4x, 10x). Low-friction CTA.

Type 2: Signal-Based (Peer/Association)

Signal source: Industry association membership directory Framework: BAB (Before → After → Bridge)

Subject: What TIA members are doing with AI workers

Hi {first_name} — as a TIA member running a serious freight brokerage, you're probably seeing the same thing we are: the best operators are rethinking how they staff carrier-facing functions.

Companies like Werner, MODE Global, and Circle Logistics — TIA members you'd rec