# Run a cold email campaign that gets replies (and stays out of spam)

> Warm a separate sending domain, verify the list, write a four-line email that asks one question, send small volumes daily, and track replies rather than opens.

- **Section:** Launch & marketing · **Region:** Global · **Difficulty:** medium
- **Time:** 2–3 weeks of domain warm-up · then ongoing
- **Cost:** $10–$30 for a secondary domain · $30–$100/month for sending and verification tools
- **You end up with:** A compliant outreach system with a replies-per-100 baseline and a follow-up sequence
- **Last reviewed:** 2026-09-05 · **Canonical:** https://for.do/p/cold-email-outreach/

## Before you start

- A clear target: who exactly, and what you want them to reply to
- A separate domain for outreach so a spam complaint cannot damage your main domain

Cold email works when three things are true at once: the mail arrives in the inbox, it is sent to the right person, and it asks for something small. Most campaigns fail on the first — deliverability — before the message is ever read, which is why this playbook spends its first two weeks on infrastructure.

## 1. Set up a separate sending domain

- [ ] Register a variant of your domain (yourcompany-hq.com, tryyourcompany.com) for outreach only.
- [ ] Create 1–3 mailboxes on it with a real name and a professional signature with your physical address.
- [ ] Redirect the domain to your main site so the link resolves.

## 2. Authenticate: SPF, DKIM, DMARC

- [ ] Publish an SPF record for the sending provider; publish the DKIM key; add a DMARC record (start with p=none and a reporting address).
- [ ] Verify all three with a checker; Gmail and Yahoo junk unauthenticated bulk mail.
- [ ] Add a one-click unsubscribe (List-Unsubscribe header) via your sending tool.

## 3. Warm up for two to three weeks

- [ ] Use a warm-up service or a manual routine: 10–20 emails a day between real mailboxes with replies.
- [ ] Increase volume gradually; keep bounce rate under 2% and spam complaints near zero.

## 4. Build and verify the list

- [ ] Define the segment precisely (role, company size, trigger event). Fewer, better-fit contacts.
- [ ] Verify every email with a verification tool; remove catch-all and invalid addresses.
- [ ] Record one personal detail per contact (a recent post, a product, a hiring page) for the first line.

## 5. Write the four-line email

- [ ] Line 1: the personal detail. Line 2: the problem you solve for people like them, in their words. Line 3: proof (a number, a customer). Line 4: one small question.
- [ ] No links in the first email, no attachments, no images; plain text.
- [ ] Subject: 3–5 words, lowercase, specific.

## 6. Send small and daily

- [ ] 20–50 per mailbox per day, spread across working hours in the recipient's time zone.
- [ ] Follow-up 1 after 3–4 days (reply in the same thread, add a new reason); follow-up 2 a week later; then stop.
- [ ] Honour every opt-out immediately.

## 7. Measure replies, not opens

- [ ] Track replies per 100 sent, positive replies, and meetings booked per segment.
- [ ] Rewrite the email if replies are under 2% after 200 sends; change the segment if they are negative.

## Where people get this wrong

- Sending from the main domain. One bad campaign can land your company mail in spam for months; outreach always goes from a secondary domain.
- Skipping SPF, DKIM and DMARC. Since 2024 Gmail and Yahoo require authentication for bulk senders and reject or junk unauthenticated mail.
- Buying a list and sending to it unverified. Bounces above 2–3% trigger reputation damage; verify every address first.
- Tracking opens. Open tracking is unreliable since mail privacy features and it adds a tracking pixel that hurts deliverability; measure replies.
- Ignoring the law. Cold B2B email is legal in most places with an opt-out and a physical address (CAN-SPAM in the US); consumer outreach is restricted under GDPR and similar laws.

## Questions

**How many emails a day?**  
Start at 10–20 per mailbox per day during warm-up and stay under 50 per mailbox; add mailboxes rather than volume per mailbox.

**What reply rate is good?**  
5–10% replies on a well-targeted list is good; under 2% means the list or the message is wrong, not the volume.

**How many follow-ups?**  
Two or three, spaced 3–5 days apart, each adding one new reason; then stop.

## Tools used

- [MXToolbox](https://find.do/t/mxtoolbox/) — Checks SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX and blacklists for a domain.
- [Google email sender guidelines](https://find.do/t/google-email-sender-guidelines/) (official) — The rules Gmail applies to bulk senders — authentication, unsubscribe, spam rate.
- [Instantly](https://find.do/t/instantly/) — Cold-email sending with mailbox warm-up and rotation.
- [NeverBounce](https://find.do/t/neverbounce/) — Email list verification to keep bounces under control.

## Sources

- [Google — Email sender guidelines](https://support.google.com/a/answer/81126)
- [FTC — CAN-SPAM Act compliance guide](https://www.ftc.gov/business-guidance/resources/can-spam-act-compliance-guide-business)