cold-email

---
name: cold-email
description: Use when writing outbound campaigns, prospecting angles, and follow-up sequences so the agent follows the marketingskills playbook instead of producing generic marketing advice.
source: https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/cold-email
generated: 2026-06-29T18:00:10.906Z
category: concept
audience: marketing
---

## When to use

- The user asks for help writing outbound campaigns, prospecting angles, and follow-up sequences
- A marketing task needs product, audience, positioning, and channel context before execution
- The agent should create a repeatable cold email workflow instead of a one-off generic answer
- The work needs clear success metrics, deliverables, and next steps for a growth or GTM motion

## Key concepts

### Before Writing

Check for product marketing context first: If .agents/product-marketing.md exists (or .claude/product-marketing.md, or the legacy product-marketing-context.md filename, in older setups), read it before asking questions. Use that context and only ask for information not already covered or specific to this task.

### Writing Principles

Core part of the cold email workflow; use it to keep the agent focused on concrete marketing inputs, decisions, and outputs instead of vague recommendations.

### Write like a peer, not a vendor

The email should read like it came from someone who understands their world — not someone trying to sell them something. Use contractions. Read it aloud. If it sounds like marketing copy, rewrite it.

### Every sentence must earn its place

Cold email is ruthlessly short. If a sentence doesn't move the reader toward replying, cut it. The best cold emails feel like they could have been shorter, not longer.

### Personalization must connect to the problem

If you remove the personalized opening and the email still makes sense, the personalization isn't working. The observation should naturally lead into why you're reaching out. See personalization.md for the 4-level system and research signals.

### Lead with their world, not yours

The reader should see their own situation reflected back. "You/your" should dominate over "I/we." Don't open with who you are or what your company does.

## API reference

```
npx skills add coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill cold-email
```

Install the cold-email skill from coreyhaines31/marketingskills.

```
npx skills add coreyhaines31/marketingskills --skill cold-email
```

## Gotchas

- Do not write outbound before narrowing the ICP, trigger, pain, proof, and one clear CTA.
- Personalization should change the reason for reaching out, not just insert a company name.
- Read product-marketing context first when present; otherwise the agent may ask repeated setup questions or make weak positioning assumptions.
- Do not ship generic best practices without tying recommendations to the product, audience, channel, and conversion goal.
- Separate strategy from execution: clarify the campaign decision before drafting assets or implementation steps.

---
Generated by SkillMake from https://github.com/coreyhaines31/marketingskills/tree/main/skills/cold-email on 2026-06-29T18:00:10.906Z.
Verify against source before relying on details.

File: ~/.claude/skills/cold-email/SKILL.md