Cold email formatting

Use formatting to make a cold email feel personal, scan cleanly, and point to a clear next action. The strongest default is a clean, text-forward message. When the primary goal is a click or action, that approach can outperform a heavily designed email.¹ Give each visual choice a job that helps the reader. Build the message in this order: choose the surface, create the scan path, add useful cues, then inspect the rendered email before sending.

Choose the surface

Make this choice before polishing the copy. The surface sets expectations for how much work the reader must do to understand the message.

Start with plain text: cold email runs in plain text, and the open rate you would optimize against is not a number worth making decisions on.² Use minimal styling only when it solves a reading problem. If you cannot name the problem, leave the styling out.

Build the scan path

Give the reader a clear route through the message. Each block should make the next one easier to understand.

Use plain text, short paragraphs, and bulleted points, and keep the email within two thumb-scrolls on mobile.³ Leave enough space between paragraphs for the blocks to separate at a glance. Arrange the message around a trustworthy From line, a specific subject, a recipient-focused introduction, one clear benefit, one easy call to action, and a simple signature.⁴

Let the subject identify the reason for the email and let the opening establish relevance. Keep the benefit and call to action easy to find without making the reader search through a wall of text.

Add visual cues only when they help

Use visual elements to show the reader where to look or what to do while keeping the message lightweight.

Use fewer links, fewer bolded elements, fewer bullets, and mostly plain text in prospecting emails.⁵ Run a linkless review by removing the links and asking whether you would still be happy to receive the email.⁶ If the message loses its point without the links, fix it before adding them back.

A two-line email, a GIF, or distinctive language and tone can make an email stand out.⁷ Use that variation when it gives the message a reason to be remembered. If you include a primary call to action, make it the most prominent element and style it so it stands out.⁸ A text link can gain emphasis through bold font weight and color.⁹ Limit that emphasis to the action the reader should take.

Review before sending

Review the message in the format the recipient will see. Read it as someone moving quickly through an inbox, then remove anything that slows comprehension.

Test the formatting and style of the content before you send the message.¹⁰ Read the email aloud to hear whether it sounds like something a person would say.¹¹ Picture the emails your target recipient receives,¹² then picture a competitor's email arriving immediately before yours.¹³

Check whether the opening, benefit, and action remain obvious when the message is skimmed. The layout should support the words, and the words should still sound natural without the visual treatment.

What not to do

Most formatting failures come from making the message carry too much visual machinery. Use this list during the final review.

• Formatting a cold email like a marketing newsletter, with images, buttons, colored backgrounds, and custom fonts, conflicts with the recommendation that it resemble a personal email and use plain text or minimal HTML.¹⁴
• Sending an HTML-only email with no text part can indicate an autogenerated email or newsletter.¹⁵
• Crowding the message into dense blocks ignores the need for substantial white space.¹⁶
• Open the email design before adding an email link.¹⁷