What is Cold Email? Everything You Need to Know in 2025

If you’re new to cold emailing, you probably have a few questions on your mind.

What exactly is a cold email? Is cold emailing still legal in 2025? And how do you find the right people to send emails to?

With all the updates, changing rules, and conflicting advice online, it’s easy to feel unsure. But you’re in the right place. I’ll explain everything you need to know about cold emailing.

I’ll walk you through what cold emailing is, how it works today, and why it still brings results when done right. I’ll also explain the legal side (yes, it’s still allowed in 2025) and show you how to write cold emails that get replies.

Plus, I’ll share the six-step process I personally use, along with examples and key changes you should know before getting started.

What is a Cold Email?

A cold email is a researched and personalized email sent to someone with whom you haven’t previously connected. It’s a message sent for business or professional reasons, to start a conversation or build a relationship.

When sending cold emails, you don’t need to sell right away. The goal is to grab attention, spark curiosity, and start a conversation with the right prospect. This approach eventually gets you a sale, a partnership, or a potential meeting. 

Let me give you an example. 

You’re selling HR software and see a startup that raised $5M to scale. You send a personalized email mentioning the news and explaining how your tool helped similar teams hire 30 people during their early growth phase. That’s a cold email.

Cold Emailing vs Email Marketing

Cold emailing is all about starting new conversations. You are connecting with someone you haven’t interacted with before. Your goal of sending cold emails is either for sales, partnerships, or business outreach. A cold email is a personalized and direct email to gain interest.

On the other hand, email marketing refers to sending emails to those who already know about you and are in touch with your brand. For example, sending emails to your subscribers, customers, or leads. This channel is used to share updates, promotions, or helpful content that keeps your audience engaged.

Let’s now understand if cold emailing is legal in 2025.

Is Cold Email Legal in 2025?

Yes, cold emailing is still 100% legal in 2025. The only condition is that you must follow the email laws of the country or region you’re targeting.

Each country has its own set of rules for accepting unsolicited emails. You don’t need prior consent in most cases, but there are certain conditions you must meet to stay compliant.

Here are the basic rules to follow when sending cold emails. 

• Introduce yourself and what your company does
• Make sure your message is relevant to the recipient’s role or business 
• Explain the reason for your outreach
• Keep your communication transparent from the start
• Never use any misleading information, and always offer an option to unsubscribe

Tip: If you want to understand the rules better, take a look at CAN-SPAM (US), GDPR (EU), and CASL (Canada). These cover everything you need to know to send cold emails.

6-Step Cold Email Process I Personally Use (And You Should Too)

After sending thousands of cold emails (and making more mistakes than I’d like to admit), I’ve finally nailed down a process that actually works.

1. Create Your Ideal Customer Profile
2. Find Prospects That Align With Your ICP
3. Set Up Your Email Domain
4. Write a Personalized Cold Email Copy
5. Set Up Your Follow-Up Sequences
6. Launch, Track, and Optimize

1. Create Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP)

Cold emailing doesn’t start with an ‘email’; it starts by defining who your perfect customer is. 

• What kind of industry is your prospect part of?
• How large is your prospect’s company or team?
• What specific problems or challenges are your prospects facing right now?

The more specific you get, the better your results will be.

I personally spend 2 to 4 hours mapping out my Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) before setting up my cold email campaigns. (Trust me, this one hour saves you from weeks of shouting into the void)

2. Find Prospects That Align With Your ICP

The moment you know who exactly you are looking for, Saleshandy Lead Finder, Apollo, Zoominfo, or Lusha, to find people who match your criteria.

Forget mass lists and random leads, quality beats quantity every single time.

This step separates successful cold emailers from those who send generic mass emails. Taking time with prospect research directly correlates with higher reply rates.

3. Set Up Your Email Domain

This technical stuff might seem boring, but it’s important for deliverability. Proper authentication is the difference between landing in the inbox versus the spam folder.

Here’s what you need to configure in your DNS records:

1. SPF tells email providers which servers can send emails using your domain.
2. DKIM adds a digital signature to your emails, so recipients know it really came from you and not someone pretending to be you.
3. DMARC brings both SPF and DKIM together and tells email providers what to do if something does not check out.

Your cold email journey doesn’t stop at deliverability. It’s the base that helps your emails reach inboxes and get real replies. Email deliverability is important for your campaign’s success.

4. Write a Personalized Cold Email Copy

Every email should feel like it was written specially for that prospect; it should be personalized.

• What has the prospect been up to?
• What are the prospect’s most important pain points?
• How can you and only you solve that pain point? 

It is easy to send a personalized email, but at the same time, sending cold emails at scale can be very challenging.

You can use cold email tools like Saleshandy to create personalized sequences for thousands of prospects with near-zero manual effort.

Remember, generic emails often get deleted, but personal emails tend to receive replies.

5. Set Up Your Follow-Up Sequences

Most people won’t reply to your first email, and it’s completely valid because why would they reply to a stranger?

It’s important to build a follow-up sequence that adds value with every touchpoint (follow-up). The goal is to be relevant without being repetitive.

When you’re managing large-scale outreach, automation will help you stay consistent and save time.

According to my experience, some of the best conversations have started after the third or fourth email. Therefore, well-timed follow-ups play a necessary role in cold emailing.

6. Launch, Track, and Optimize

It’s okay if your first sequence is not perfect; it won’t be on your first try. The goal is to improve with each round. (Because, even if your first email campaign crushes it…You probably forgot to turn tracking on.)

Start sending, monitor your metrics, and continually improve based on what the data reveals. Testing is bringing results, as you get to know what works, what doesn’t, and what you need to improve in cold email.

Focus on tracking these key metrics that actually matter:

• Deliverability Rate – Are your emails reaching inboxes or getting blocked?
• Reply Rate – How many people are actually responding to your outreach?
• Booking Rate – What percentage of replies actually convert?

These key metrics will help you optimize your campaign and lead you to get a meeting booked or get a sale.

3 Cold Email Examples to Get You Started

Here are three cold email examples I’ve used across different use cases to get real replies and start conversations.

Example 1: Sales Outreach

Subject: How {{company_name}} boosted lead conversion by 3x with us

Hi {{first_name}},

I wanted to quickly share something that might be relevant to you. One of our B2B SaaS clients recently used our email automation platform and saw their lead conversion rate increase by 3x.

Given where {{company_name}} is headed, I thought it might be worth a quick conversation to see if we could help you achieve something similar.

Would you be open to a short call next week to explore this?

Best,

{{sender_name}} 

{{sender_company}}

This template works because it leads with proven results and positions your solution as something that delivers real outcomes.

Example 2: Networking Approach

Subject: Seeking your quick advice on starting out in {{industry}}

Hi {{first_name}},

I must say your profile is quite impressive, like the way you’ve come so far in your career in {{industry}}.

I am exploring a similar path and was wondering if you could share some of your brain for advice on how I should navigate the field.

It would be a great help for me if you shared your insights.

Warm regards, 

{{sender_name}} 

{{sender_company}}

This template suggests an approach because it’s humble, personalised, specific, and asks for advice rather than trying to sell something. 

Example 3: Product Outreach

Subject: Built for you, {{job_title}} – want early access?

Hi {{first_name}},

I’ve been following you as a {{job_title}} over the past year, and I am really impressed by the work you do.

I wanted to reach out and see if you might be interested in beta testing software that generates social media posts in 5 minutes for marketing professionals.

I promise you it’ll be worth your while!

Here’s what it does:

• AI-powered content generation with brand voice matching 
• Built specifically for busy social media managers 
• Designed for content planning and creation 

If it sounds like a tool you were already looking for, I am just a reply away.

Thanks! 

{{sender_name}} 

{{sender_startup_name}}

How to Write an Effective Cold Email: 9 Tips to Follow

Writing cold emails that get replies requires following a proven process. Here’s the exact framework I use:

1. Check your prospect’s LinkedIn, company website, and recent updates to understand them better.
2. Write a subject line that feels personal by mentioning specific details about your prospect or their company.
3. Keep the email short, which means the body message is between 50 and 120 words. 
4. Start with a personalized line that shows you’ve done your homework.
5. Explain clearly how you can help or solve a specific problem they might have.
6. Add a strong call-to-action (CTA) that tells them what to do next.
7. Sign off with your name, role, and company by keeping it simple and professional.
8. Send 4–6 follow-ups that each offer value and guide your prospects.

Recent Updates in Cold Emailing You Should Know in 2025

Cold emailing in 2025 looks a lot different from what it did a few years ago. Here’s what’s changed and what you need to stay on top of.

1. Gmail Warning Banners for Tracking Pixels
2. Value-Driven Follow-Up Emails
3. Warm Up Your Email Every 3 Months
4. Authentication Requirements (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)
5. Custom Tracking Domains
6. Monitor Inbox Placement

1. Gmail Warning Banners for Tracking Pixels

Gmail now shows warning banners when emails include tracking pixels. They say things like “This message might be suspicious or spam.” That is the first thing your prospect sees, before they even read your message. 

It instantly creates distrust. Additionally, it increases the likelihood that your email will be marked as spam. Instead of risking your sender reputation, turn off open tracking. Focus on real metrics like replies and conversions.

2. Value-Driven Follow-Up Emails

“Just checking in” no longer cuts it. Every follow-up should offer something valuable, like:

• A relevant blog post, case study, or resource
• A solution to a challenge they might be facing
• A new feature or update they may find useful
• Industry insight or data related to their role or goals

Think of each email as a small burst of value, not just a random check message. Make your cold email worth their time to open and read.

3. Warm Up Your Email Every 3 Months

A regular warmup helps keep your emails out of spam. Slowly increase your sending volume to build trust with inbox providers.

Perform this task every 3 months to maintain the health of your domain. Warming up your emails helps you to protect your deliverability.

Pro Tip: If you don’t want to do manual warm-ups, you must use an automated email warm-up tool like TrulyInbox. 

4. Authentication Requirements (SPF, DKIM, DMARC)

These technical configurations are now mandatory for good deliverability. Without proper authentication, your emails will end up in spam.

If these acronyms look scary, don’t worry. Most email tools can help you set them up properly. It’s a one-time setup that makes a huge difference in how ESPs view your emails.

How to set them up:

Start with SPF first – add a TXT record to your DNS with your email provider’s requirements. Next, configure DKIM through your email provider’s admin panel by generating the necessary keys and adding them to your DNS records. At last, wait 48 hours, then set up DMARC with a policy starting for monitoring.

Read this complete guide on how to set up email authentication records like SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.

5. Custom Tracking Domains

Instead of your tool’s default domain, using custom tracking domains improves deliverability and trust amongst the prospects.

Hosting tracking pixels on your own domain makes your email look more credible and can seriously boost your chances of actually landing in an inbox (not the spam folder). It may sound like a minor technical adjustment, but it has a big impact that extends far.

6. Monitor Inbox Placement

You need to keep an eye and actively monitor where your emails are landing  (inbox, spam, promotions) and customize your strategy as per that.

Sending emails is only the first half of the battle. Making sure they actually get delivered is the other half. 

I recommend using tools like Glock Apps or MailGenius to check your email deliverability regularly.

Advanced Tip: Use tools like ZeroBounce and NeverBounce to validate your email lists and maintain a strong sender reputation.

Launch Your First Cold Email Sequence in Minutes

I know that cold emailing can feel like a lot when you’re just starting.

You’re not sure what to say, how to begin, or whether anyone will even respond. That hesitation? Totally normal.

Sending cold emails to strangers might seem random, but think about it. You’ve probably (every one of us would have) purchased a course or digital product that started with a cold email.

That person also started somewhere. The key is to target the right audience, initiate conversations, and get results on time.

Now’s a good time to start small, apply what you’ve learned, and just send that first email. One step at a time is all it takes.

FAQs About Cold Emailing

1. What is the difference between cold email and spam?

According to me, cold emails are personal and valuable. Spam is a generic mass email sent to a large number of recipients. Cold emails target specific individuals who are potential prospects.

2. Does cold emailing really work?

In my personal experience, yes, cold emailing does work when done correctly. It is scalable, provides high ROI, and allows you to personalize each cold email to get results.  

3. How many cold emails should I send per day?

You can start with 10-20 emails per day to avoid spam filters and create a sender reputation at first. Once established, you can scale to thousands without deliverability issues.

4. What is the 30/30/50 rule in cold emailing?

The 30/30/50 rule refers to bifurcating your work, like 30% into subject lines, 30% into sending emails to the inbox, and 50% into follow-ups. This approach gets you replies.

5. How do I start off a cold email?

To start with cold emailing, you need to write a personalized subject line, followed by a strong opening. Your next steps are to introduce yourself, explain why you’re reaching out, showcase the value you bring, and end with a CTA.