The first line of your cold email sets the tone. Fill it with small talk, and your leads will ignore you.
This is Part 2 of our mini-series on boosting cold email open rates — the DOs and DON’Ts for intro lines that decide whether your email gets read or trashed.
Your intro line has to show value
The first few words compel the recipient to keep reading or skip. Don’t bore them with small talk — even if the subject line is strong.
Avoid this
- “Hope you’re well.”
- “Hope this email finds you well.”
- “Hope you had a lovely week.”
Small talk kills momentum. You’re writing to a decision-maker, not your aunt.
Do this instead
- Keep it tight: about 4 to 12 words
- Make it about them — not you or your product
- Deliver value: value-based intros outperform small talk
3 high-performing intro lines
- “Decided to send you and {{Teammate}} my feedback on {{their Company}}.”
- “While chatting with {{mutual Connection}}, your name came up…”
- “I noticed something interesting about your role at {{their Company}}…”
These openers are personal, signal value, and trigger curiosity. Aim for open rates of 50–90% when combined with strong subjects and deliverability.
More intro line ideas
- “Your recent post on {{topic}} was insightful…”
- “Just saw that you recently became {{name of promoted role}} at {{their Company}}!”
- “{{Funding amount or milestone}} — well, you did it!”
- “{{News in prospect’s industry}} — I would love to hear your take on this.”
- “Just saw that you reacted to my LinkedIn post about {{topic}}.”
- “Following up on my last email {{first Name}},…”
Next up: deliverability
If open rates stay below 50%, check spam folder placement and deliverability next.