How do I write a cold email first line?
The first line should only fit that person or that tiny segment. A hire, a post, a product page change, a tool in their stack. "I came across your website" fits everyone. Delete it.
Compliments are suspicious in cold mail. If you did not read the thing, they can tell. If you did, quote a concrete detail, not "loved your insights."
After the first line, one sentence of relevance and a question. That is the whole email for a lot of good campaigns.
Merge tags are not a first line. {{company}} is a hole you fill. The thought still has to be true.
If you have no fact, wait or use a role-based problem you can defend ("teams hiring three AEs often stall on ramp"). Role-based is weaker than a trigger and stronger than a fake compliment.
Frequently asked questions
Not verbatim. The subject got the open. The first line should advance.
Yes if they can answer it without a meeting. "Got a minute?" is not a question. It is a trap.
Only if you did something specific there. "Saw you on LinkedIn" is empty. "Saw the hiring post for two AEs" is a first line.
If the first line wraps twice on a phone, it is two sentences. Split it.
Run the outreach from your own LinkedIn account
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