How to write cold emails that work for US audiences

Looking to reel in US sales? Here’s how to write cold email templates that get American prospects hooked.

---

Whether you’re a seasoned pro or just dipping your toes into USA prospecting, one thing’s for sure: it’s a challenge.

The United States boasts a massive market, but it’s also fiercely competitive. For your cold emails to be effective, you’ll need to go the extra mile to rise above the noise.

And it all starts with creating your own cold email templates. Copy and paste jobs won’t cut it in the Land of Opportunity, so we’re sharing our top eight rules for crafting killer sales emails.

Are cold emails legal in the US?

As long as you stick to the CAN-SPAM and CCPA guidelines, you won’t get in trouble for sending cold emails to American prospects. The regulations might seem confusing, but they’re fairly simple, and can actually make your sales outreach more effective in the long run. 

It’s best to brush up on the rules before sending any messages. And if you’re using Sopro to run your outreach, compliance is fully built-in to your campaigns from the start. 

8 rules for writing awesome American cold email templates

With almost 60 million cold emails in our arsenal, we’ve gained valuable insights into what actually works when it comes to sales outreach. And it all starts with your template.

So follow these eight rules and you’ll soon be crafting emails that get results in the US: 

1. Get laser-focused with your message

Don’t overwhelm your prospects by pitching too many concepts in one email. It’s tempting to shout about all the great things you’re doing, but you need to remember that prospecting starts with a simple “hello”. What you really want to do is get them on a call, and you can work your sales magic from there. 

Once you’ve got your list of people to target, you’ll need to split it into really focused segments and choose one relevant message for each group. A one-size-fits-all doesn’t cut it at the best of times, let alone in a noisy market like the US. You want to ensure that each email is as relevant to the individual recipient as possible.  

Focusing on one concept that’s most relevant to each segment really ups your personalisation game, leaving the reader feeling like the email has been custom written for them specifically.

2. Focus on the pain points, and how you can solve them

Simply listing the features of your product or service won’t cut it in the USA’s highly competitive market, where countless emails are sent and received daily. Instead, emphasise the key benefits of what you do that’ll solve their specific challenges. 

By highlighting pain points and offering solutions, you not only increase relevance for the recipient but may also address a problem they’re not yet aware of. The earlier you can grab their attention with your unique value proposition, the greater the chance they’ll continue reading your email. 

Remember, save the detailed features for later stages when they’re more bought into your brand. 

3. Keep it short and to the point

Imagine your cold email as a brief encounter: you only have a short window to capture your prospects’ interest. On a cold call, you have about 30 seconds before they hang up. In a cold email, that’s around 100-120 words. 

It doesn’t sound like much, but trust us. You need to get ruthless with your wordcount.

By avoiding unnecessary niceties and fluffy generalisations, you can reduce your word count and focus on why a conversation would be valuable for their business. Get straight to the point and highlight why it makes complete business sense to connect with you.

4. Follow up strategically (and creatively) 

Persistence is important, and while sending more emails may seem like it’d yield better results, you’ve got to find the right balance so you don’t come across as spammy. In the US, it’s generally more acceptable to follow up more frequently compared to the rest of the world. But you should avoid using generic nudges for every client. 

Consider being creative with video content, or dig into your sales enablement content to offer something new and different with each chaser. GIFs and images can help you stand out, but be mindful not to overdo it. 

Remember, the more emails you send, the more you need to think outside the standard format to capture attention in a saturated market.

5. Use language that resonates

To stand out in America’s competitive landscape, you need to invoke emotion and appeal to the human behind the email.

Steer clear of generalisations and generic language: it may have worked when email marketing was a new concept, but now it feels outdated, impersonal, and ineffective.

Opt instead for vibrant language that doesn’t sound like every other sales message out there. 

What could you write that’d make someone say “That was cool” or “I like the way they said that”? Consider adding humour and using alternative greetings for each follow-up to add a personalised touch.

6. Leverage social proof

One way to get US customers hooked is to use tangible examples that are relevant to their industry or market. Highlight client results, share compelling case studies, and include testimonials that showcase the positive impact your product or service has had on others. 

Give generic phrases like “award-winning” a miss, instead finding common ground that you think will resonate with recipients. And don’t overwhelm prospects with too many statistics. Instead, highlight the tangible return on investment (ROI) or other measurable outcomes. 

Social proof is the secret weapon for evidencing your expertise and building confidence in your brand. Use it! 

7. Use tech to personalise your messages, but find a balance

While personalisation is key to creating good cold email templates, you don’t want to rely too heavily on automation. We love technology (it’s how we’re able to personalise thousands of emails at once) but you want to achieve a conversational, one-to-one tone.

Overusing personalisation fields can actually tip the scale the other way, making your emails feel robotic and impersonal. 

Ensure the data points are properly formatted, so that they look natural in an email and not obviously inserted for each recipient to help make genuine connections. But if you’ve followed rules one and two of this list, you’ll have nailed it already.

8. Offer something valuable (ideally on the house)

We all love something for nothing. And while giving stuff for free may not always be feasible, being able to prove your value with something tangible can really build trust and actively demonstrate how great you are. 

Giving prospects a taster of something that’s low-cost to you and high-value to them serves as a powerful door-opener for starting conversations. For example, you could offer a specific solution or workflow that addresses a unique pain point. Mention in your message that – should they agree to hop on a call with you – you’ll come prepared with a solution tailored to their needs that they can have for free.

By presenting something they’ll genuinely find valuable, you increase the likelihood of capturing their interest and motivating them to take the next step.

The best US cold email template

So, put it all together, and what do you get? Well, something that looks like this:

1. Greeting	Hi/Hey *|FIRSTNAME|*,
2. Personalised intro with reason for email and pain point	As the *|JOBTITLE|* at *|COMPANY|* I’m sure you’re all too aware many businesses are struggling to attract and win new clients in 2023. It seems nearly all channels are up in price but down in performance.
3. Introduce selling points and expand on the pain points your business can solve	At Sopro, we’re experts in sourcing and engaging new potential customers, kick-starting sales conversations for |InformalCompanyIndustry|* clients all over the globe. With years of experience we’ve been able to maintain a steady performance for our clients, even through the turbulent last few years.
4. Call to action	Keen to run you through the model if you’ve got some time later this week?

Pretty snappy, right? And while the above serves as a good basis for your template, your messaging will inevitably vary depending on your business and the unique needs of your prospects. 

But trust us, by taking inspiration from this cold email format, you’ll be more likely to see results from your sales outreach campaigns.

Run outreach campaigns that work for US audiences with Sopro

Creating cold emails that stand out in the USA’s highly competitive market is a challenge.

Luckily, with Sopro, finding and connecting with your ideal customers is a piece of cake. Our fully-managed service uses smart technology and up-to-the-minute data to reach out to the right people with the right message. So you can sit back and watch those high-quality leads roll in. 
More touchpoints, more engagement, more time to sell. See how it works.