Cold email template

Cold email template for social media managers

A first email to a local business with a quiet or patchy social account, with a free post plan instead of a pitch for retainers.

Subject: saturday wheel class

Hi Dev, Your Saturday wheel class sells out every week on your booking page, but the last post on your Instagram is from March. I wrote five post ideas from what's already happening in the studio, like the class filling up and the kiln opening, that you could post this month. Want me to send them? Priya

57 words. The business and the people are made up; the shape is what works.

Why this gets replies

It connects two true facts he can check: full classes, quiet Instagram.
It doesn't tell him he's doing it wrong. It shows him he already has things worth posting.
No follower numbers or "engagement". Small owners care about bookings, not metrics.
Five ideas are useful on their own, so saying yes is easy, and they show what working with Priya is like.

Facts to open with

The first line is the whole email. Spend two minutes on their website, shop or Google listing and find one of these:

The last post is months old
Something sells out or has a waiting list but isn't posted about
They have great Google reviews nobody sees on social
Events on the website that never appear on social
A new product or service only on the website

Then say what it means for their customers, not what you'd do about it.

The free offer

Five post ideas built from things already happening in their business, ready to post this month. Small, finished and useful even if they never hire you. That's what makes "yes" an easy reply.

Follow-ups

In the same thread, each one shorter than the first and adding something new. Stop the moment they reply.

About 4 days laterHi Dev, here's one of the five, free: film the kiln opening on a Monday, 20 seconds, no talking. People love the reveal. Want the other four?

Two weeks later, the last oneHi Dev, I won't keep writing. If you want the post ideas later, reply "ideas" and they're yours.

Send this to 50 businesses, each with their own fact. ScoutKite finds small businesses who published their email on their own site, reads each site, and writes this kind of email from one true fact about them. You approve every one; it goes from your own inbox.

Use this template →

The rules ScoutKite will follow

"Use this template" starts a campaign with these rules and the free offer filled in. You can change any of them.

Keep it under 70 words
Open with one fact about their social account or their business that would make a good post
Never mention follower counts, going viral or algorithms
No prices, no packages
End by offering the five post ideas and asking if they want them

Check yours

Writing your own version? Run it through the cold email checker for spam words and length, and get follow-ups from the follow-up writer. More templates: web designers, seo consultants, bookkeepers and accountants, photographers.