At Salesforge, we’re passionate about cold email outreach and continuously evolving our understanding of what truly works in this dynamic space. Drawing from years of experience and a recent comprehensive study analyzing over eleven million emails alongside feedback from nearly two hundred sales and marketing decision makers worldwide, we’re excited to share a deep dive into the state of cold email in 2025.
This article distills key findings and actionable insights that anyone involved in sales, growth, or marketing can leverage to boost their cold email performance. Whether you’re a founder, VP of sales, agency professional, or a sales technology vendor, these learnings will help you craft more effective, relevant, and trusted outreach campaigns.
Understanding the Cold Email Landscape
Volume and Relevance: The Cold Email Reality
One of the first eye-opening takeaways is the sheer volume of cold emails decision makers receive. Over 60% of respondents reported getting fewer than 10 cold emails per week, but nearly 40% receive 10 or more weekly. For many, especially founders and CEOs, this can translate to roughly two cold emails a day competing for their attention.
However, relevance remains the biggest hurdle. Alarmingly, 20% of recipients say they never receive a cold email that is actually relevant to them. This creates a mental filter where many quickly dismiss cold emails as noise, underscoring how critical it is to hone in on targeting and message precision.
Channel Preferences: Why Cold Email Still Wins
Despite the common belief that cold email is "dead," our research shows that 61% of decision makers prefer cold email over other outreach methods, with only 10% favoring cold calls. Interestingly, in the US, 71% of decision makers prefer cold email, even though sales leaders often emphasize cold calling.
This preference highlights cold email as a powerful, scalable channel for outreach - especially when done thoughtfully and with respect for the recipient’s time and needs.
Crafting Cold Emails That Get Responses
Relevance Is King: The Key to Engagement
Seventy-one percent of recipients say they ignore cold emails because they lack relevance. Since people spend only about five to seven seconds scanning an email before deciding to delete or engage, your message must quickly communicate value and context.
Effective segmentation is foundational here. Sending a generic email to a broad audience is a recipe for failure. Instead, narrow your target groups as much as possible to tailor your messaging precisely. For example, addressing the wrong role or industry in the opening line can immediately signal irrelevance and cause your email to be discarded.
Think of Cold Email as Advertising
One way to shift your mindset is to treat cold email like a form of advertising. Just like display ads or social media impressions, each email is a “brand touchpoint” that plants awareness in the recipient’s mind. Because only 2-3% of your potential buyers are actively in-market at any given time, consistent outreach over time is necessary to catch them when they’re ready.
From this perspective, follow-ups are not just annoying repeats but vital reminders - but with a caveat: keep the number of emails per prospect low to avoid spam complaints. Two emails per sequence is a good rule of thumb, especially in industries like cybersecurity where anti-spam software is strict.
Personalization: Quality Over Quantity
Personalization is important, but there is a balance to strike. Our data shows that reply rates drop significantly when your segmented list exceeds 100 people, indicating that overly broad lists dilute personalization impact. Also, while adding personalization variables improves response rates, too many (more than five) can overwhelm and backfire.
Using AI tools, like the ones integrated into Salesforge, can help craft personalized messages efficiently by analyzing the prospect’s website, LinkedIn profile, and other digital footprints to deliver relevant, well-crafted emails.
Building Trust to Boost Replies
Use a Professional Domain and Clear Signature
Trust is a major factor influencing reply rates. Emails sent from custom domains receive almost twice the reply rate compared to generic Gmail addresses. But it’s not just about having a custom domain - the domain’s credibility matters too.
Domains like .com, .io, and country-specific TLDs (.fr, .de) tend to perform better, while quirky or unfamiliar domains (.ninja, .xyz) may raise suspicion and increase spam reports.
Additionally, a clear, professional email signature that includes your name, title, company, and contact details reinforces credibility. A simple “Matt” without context is far less likely to elicit a reply than a full signature demonstrating legitimacy.
Avoid Tricks and Gimmicks
Attempts to “trick” recipients with misleading subject lines or fake personas usually backfire. Authenticity and transparency are crucial. If you can’t build trust in the first few seconds, your email will likely be deleted or marked as spam, damaging your brand’s reputation.
Timing and Seasonality: What Really Matters
Contrary to popular belief, timing your emails by season, day, or hour has less impact than you might think. Decision makers say they will engage when the problem is relevant - regardless of whether it’s summer, a holiday, or the middle of the night.
Since predicting exactly when a prospect’s priorities will align with your offering is nearly impossible, the best approach is persistent, respectful outreach combined with highly relevant messaging.
Multi-Channel Outreach: Enhancing Cold Email Performance
While the core of outbound efforts remains cold email, combining it with other channels like LinkedIn and cold calling can significantly improve reply rates. For example, LinkedIn outreach often yields reply rates around 30%, much higher than email alone.
However, multichannel strategies require knowing your audience well. LinkedIn may be highly effective for sales and marketing professionals but less so for industries or roles with limited platform activity.
Using cold calls as a parallel channel can also help, but be mindful that many recipients dislike unsolicited calls, and the connect rates tend to be low (~3%).
Building a strong brand presence online through your website and social media profiles also supports better cold email results. Recipients are more likely to engage if they recognize your company or have seen your content previously.
Addressing Challenges with Limited Data
For industries with minimal digital footprints, such as manufacturing or construction, personalization and relevance become more challenging. In these cases, stronger segmentation combined with well-crafted, straightforward emails is the best approach.
Using lookalike modeling to expand your target list or focusing on a smaller number of highly relevant prospects can help scale outreach without sacrificing quality.
Best Practices Summary
- Segmentation: Keep lists small and targeted for better personalization and higher reply rates.
- Relevance: Craft messages that address specific pain points and value propositions tailored to the prospect.
- Domain and Signature: Use professional, credible domains and include full, informative signatures.
- Email Length: Adapt length based on audience; CEOs prefer shorter emails, technical roles may require longer explanations.
- Sequence Length: Limit sequences to two emails to reduce spam complaints.
- Multi-Channel: Combine cold email with LinkedIn and cold calling where appropriate for higher engagement.
- Brand Presence: Maintain a strong online presence to build trust and recognition.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
How many cold emails should I send per prospect?
Two emails per sequence is generally optimal to balance persistence with avoiding spam complaints. In some industries, like cybersecurity, even one email may be best.
Does email length affect reply rates?
Our data shows email length does not significantly impact reply rates overall, but tailoring length to your audience is important. Shorter emails work better for CEOs, while longer, more detailed emails may be needed for technical roles.
What domains should I use for sending cold emails?
Use professional domains like .com, .io, or country-specific TLDs. Avoid quirky or less credible domains like .ninja or .xyz, which can hurt trust and increase spam risk.
Is cold calling still effective?
Cold calling has a low preference among decision makers (only 10%) and low connect rates (~3%). While it can complement cold email in some strategies, it's generally less favored by recipients.
How important is personalization in cold emails?
Personalization is critical but should be balanced. Use a few key personalized elements to improve engagement but avoid overloading the email with too many variables.
Should I send cold emails in different languages?
Yes. Sending emails in the recipient’s native language can significantly boost reply rates. For instance, French prospects respond twice as often to emails in French compared to English.
How can I reach companies with little digital footprint?
Focus on strong segmentation and write well-crafted, straightforward emails. Use lookalike models to expand your list and keep personalization minimal but relevant.
Closing Thoughts
Cold email remains a highly effective channel in 2025, favored by decision makers over cold calls and other outreach methods. However, the key to success lies in crafting relevant, trustworthy, and well-targeted messages combined with smart sequencing and multi-channel strategies.
At Salesforge, we are committed to helping you optimize your cold email outreach through AI-powered personalization, multi-language support, and robust campaign management tools. By blending human insight with cutting-edge technology, we enable you to build meaningful pipelines while minimizing costs and maximizing results.
For more detailed insights and to explore the full research report, visit Hunter.io’s State of Cold Email 2025.
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