7 cold email templates and frameworks: How to write an enticing B2B message

Cold outreach — the process of reaching out to potential customers who haven’t interacted with your business or expressed interest in your products, typically through cold emails or cold calls — is getting harder than ever before.

This is due to a confluence of factors. 

For starters, there’s an oversaturation problem, with the average prospect receiving 121 emails every day. As spam filters become more robust, privacy concerns abound, and customers are increasingly cognizant about the dangers of interacting with messages from unknown senders, sales teams face an uphill battle when it comes to cold outreach success.

Despite these challenges, it’s still possible for sales reps to cut through the noise and win with a strategic cold outreach campaign targeted at the right buyers. 

To do that, teams need to understand the three layers of personalization that should apply to cold emails, and they also must make sure each message answers three key questions. At the same time, they need to ensure their emails aren’t too long and are easy to read.

If you’re looking to improve cold outreach, you’ve come to the right place. Keep reading to learn more about the best practices teams should follow when writing B2B emails along with seven cold email frameworks you can use to guide your efforts.

3 layers of personalization that should apply to all cold emails

According to recent research from McKinsey, 71% of customers expect personalization today, and 76% of them are frustrated when they don’t get it. With that in mind, it comes as no surprise that successful cold emails are usually personalized.

As you begin writing cold emails, it’s important to ensure you have some layer of personalization attached to each of them. That’s not as tall of an order as it might sound because there are three different ways you can personalize emails to folks you don’t know too well:

1. The individual layer of personalization includes talking about current events, common interests, and internal feelings. For example, you might talk to a prospect who lives in Connecticut about the recent NCAA men’s basketball championship game. You can also talk to them about things you have in common (e.g., a love for trying new restaurants) or their personal dreams and aspirations (e.g., of becoming even more effective at work and climbing the corporate ladder).

2. The company layer of personalization is all about referencing company news. Did the prospect’s organization close a recent round of financing recently? Did they release new products, hire new key executives, or announce any mergers or acquisitions? Including this sort of information is an easy way to make cold emails relevant because it demonstrates that you’re paying attention to their organization.

3. The industry layer of personalization involves sharing insights into trends and best practices that are impacting the vertical the prospect works in. For example, a B2B sales rep that is selling cybersecurity software might spin up cold sequences that address recent data breaches in the healthcare, financial services, and technology sectors.

Should every sales email be personalized?

Personalization is a critical element in successful cold email campaigns. While there may be some instances where cold emails might not need to be personalized — think blasting a very broad audience — you should personalize emails for more targeted campaigns or when reaching out to high-value prospects. By personalizing outreach, you demonstrate a genuine interest in the recipient, increasing the likelihood of improved response rates.

Every email should answer these three questions

As you begin creating new cold email sequences, make sure each message you send answers these questions:

• Why are you reaching out now?
• What is your hypothesis of the prospect’s current state?
• What will the ideal state look like when working with you?

To help jumpstart the message creation process, here’s my cold email framework; please feel free to use it:

To help jumpstart the message creation process, here’s my cold email framework; please feel free to use it:

Subject line: 1-3 words

Hi [First Name],

Sentence 1: Why you’re reaching out (trigger or observation)

Sentence 2: The problem associated with your observation

Sentence 3: How your solution solves the problem, with social proof

Sentence 4: Interest-based call-to-action (CTA)

Thank you,

[Your Name]

P.S. (Personalization for specific prospect)

Cold emails: A note on length and spacing

When writing cold emails, it’s important to strike the right balance between length and spacing. In our age of distractions, it’s critical to capture the recipient’s attention as fast as possible and convey your message effectively.

Generally, cold emails should be concise; somewhere between 50 and 125 words is a good spot to aim for. You also need to think about readability, too. Write short sentences and break up text with bullet points and white space to make each email more visually appealing.

Ultimately, your goal is to provide enough information to pique the recipient’s interest while leaving them wanting to learn more so they take the desired action.

7 B2B email templates and frameworks to try

Need some more help jumpstarting your cold outreach email sequence creation? Here are seven popular B2B cold email templates that can get you thinking in the right direction.

1. 4T

The 4T framework stands for truth, think, third-party validation, and talk. 

• Truth. Start off by establishing a single truth.
• Think. Get your prospect to start thinking differently. 
• Third-party validation. Use social proof as third-party validation. 

Talk. Close your email by giving your prospect the floor and seeing if they want to talk

2. AIDA framework

The AIDA framework stands for attention, interest, desire, action. 

• Attention. Grab the recipient’s attention with an interesting opening line or fact.
• Interest. Generate interest by explaining what you have to offer or how you can solve a problem they have.
• Desire. Build desire by detailing the benefits of what you’re offering — to the point it becomes irresistible.

Action. End your message with a clear call to action that makes it easy to tell what they’re supposed to do next.

3. PAS framework

The PAS framework stands for problem, agitation, solution. 

• Problem. Highlight a problem or pain point the recipient is likely experiencing. 
• Agitation. Amplify the problem by discussing its implications or making it more relatable.‍
• Solution. Present your offering as a solution to the problem and detailing how it can help the prospect overcome the challenges they’re facing

4. 3-B plan

The 3-B plan stands for brevity, bluntness, and basic. 

• Brevity. Keep the email short and to the point.
• Bluntness. Be direct about the purpose of each message by avoiding fluff.
• Basic. Make sure your emails are easy to understand, lacking jargon and complex terms. 

5. BAB framework

The BAB framework stands for before, after, bridge.

• Before. Describe the current situation or problem that the recipient is facing.
• After. Paint a picture of what their situation could look like after using your product or service.
• Bridge. Explain how your product or service can get them from “before” to “after.” 

6. STAR framework

The STAR framework stands for situation, task, action, result.

• Situation. Set the context by describing a situation relevant to the recipient.
• Task. Explain the task or challenge that arises from the situation.
• Action. Detail the action you propose to take to address the task.‍
• Result. Highlight the positive results or outcomes from taking the action.

7. 3Ps framework

The 3Ps framework stands for praise, picture, push.

• Praise. Start with a genuine compliment or positive remark about the recipient or their company. 
• Picture. Create a vivid picture of how your product or service can benefit the prospect or improve their current situation. ‍
• Push. Conclude with a nudge toward taking action, such as scheduling a call or requesting a demo.

Wondering how to write B2B emails that are personalized?

Cold outreach is difficult to do well, but it’s a critical tool in every sales and GTM team’s arsenal. By ensuring every message is personalized, answers appropriate questions, and is written in a way that is easy to consume, reps can increase the chances their cold email efforts return dividends.

Wondering how you’re going to find enough hours in the day to personalize all of your cold outreach? Don’t be. 

Request a demo today to see how you can uncover research insights and use AI to power your cold email outreach in just a few clicks.