How To Plan A Cold Email Campaign From Scratch

Most cold email campaigns go wrong before a word is written. People open a blank document, write an email, then wonder why it doesn’t work.

There’s an order to this: size the market, pick a segment and a persona, form a hypothesis, plan the sequence, write the copy, then build the list. Each step feeds the next, so skipping one means getting stuck later.

Step 1: How big is your market?

Start with a rough estimate of your total addressable market: every company that could possibly buy what you sell.

You don’t need a spreadsheet of them yet. You need the number, because it tells you what sending setup you need. 200 target companies needs a very different setup to 10,000.

Step 2: How much infrastructure do you need?

Less than you think.

If you’re starting outbound for your own agency, don’t buy 100 domains and mailboxes. You can send from your own domain, from your own mailbox, and it’s totally fine at this stage.

Don’t think about scale yet. The most important thing is getting messages out to real prospects. Volume and infrastructure come later.

Step 3: Who exactly are you writing to?

Define your segments, then the personas inside each segment.

Each persona gets its own campaign, because they care about different things. The founder of an ecommerce brand and their head of retention have the same company logo on their payslip and completely different problems on their desk.

Step 4: What’s your hypothesis?

Before you write, state what you believe: what problem does this persona have, and what angle are you taking on it?

It’s a hypothesis because you might be wrong. That’s fine. A campaign with a clear hypothesis can be proved wrong and fixed. A campaign that says a bit of everything can’t.

Step 5: What does the sequence look like?

Plan the campaign before the copy:

• How many emails?
• What’s the gap between them?
• Which problems are you rotating through the sequence?

I’ve covered this in more detail in how to structure a cold email sequence.

Step 6: Write the copy

Only now do you write.

Expect this to take as long as all the planning steps combined. Copywriting is a skill in its own right, and it shows when it’s been rushed.

If you’re stuck, keep it simple. Describe the problem you solve, reference where they are now and where they could be, and ask whether it’s a priority or whether they’re already exploring solutions.

Step 7: Build the list to match the copy

This is the step people get backwards. They build the list first, then write to it.

Write the copy first, because the copy tells you what list to build. If your message is about the problems of running a finance function with no dedicated systems person, your list is companies with a finance team and no systems person. The copy dictates the criteria.

If you write a different message, about a different problem, for a different persona, that’s a separate campaign with its own list.

One thing does come before all of this: knowing what you sell, what problems you solve and who you solve them for. If that’s still fuzzy, start with defining your offer.

Which types of campaign will you need?

Over time, probably three:

1. Volume-based. Broad outreach to your whole market.
2. Signal-based. Triggered by something happening at the company, such as hiring or funding.
3. Marketing-led. Tied to a webinar, an event or a piece of content.

You need the volume campaign. Signals alone won’t generate enough pipeline, which I’ve explained in do you need signals and triggers for outbound?.

What to do next

1. Write down a rough number for your total market.
2. Pick one segment and one persona.
3. Write your hypothesis in a sentence: the problem and your angle.
4. Write the copy, then build the list that copy describes.
5. Send it from your own mailbox and see what comes back.

When the results are in, here’s how to diagnose a campaign that isn’t working.

Frequently asked questions

What is the right order for planning a cold email campaign?

Estimate your total addressable market, decide your sending setup, define your segments and personas, form a campaign hypothesis, plan the sequence, write the copy, build the list to match the copy, then test.

Should I build my list or write my copy first?

Write the copy first. The message tells you which companies and people belong on the list. A different message about a different problem is a separate campaign with its own list.

Do I need lots of domains and mailboxes to start cold email?

Not when you're starting outbound for your own business. You can send from your own domain and your own mailbox at this stage. Volume and infrastructure come later, once you know the message works.

How many types of cold email campaign do I need?

Usually three: a volume campaign to your whole market, a signal-based campaign triggered by events such as hiring or funding, and a marketing-led campaign tied to a webinar, event or piece of content.