email-drafting

# Email Drafting

Pure reasoning skill for writing cold emails. No scripts, no tools — just frameworks, patterns, and examples from real campaigns that consistently generate replies.

## When to Use

Use this skill when:
- User says "write a cold email", "draft outreach", "help me with email copy", "write a sequence"
- Any task requires cold email copy — subject lines, full sequences, or individual emails

## Phase 0: Intake

Collect campaign context before writing anything. Ask all questions at once, organized by category. Skip any the user has already answered.

### Campaign Context
1. What product/service are you selling?
2. What problem does it solve? Who feels this pain most acutely?
3. What's the campaign angle? (hiring signal, competitor displacement, pain-based, event-triggered, etc.)
4. Is there a specific signal or trigger? (job posting, G2 review, LinkedIn engagement, funding round, etc.)

### Audience
5. Who is the recipient? (title, seniority, department)
6. What keeps them up at night? (daily frustrations relevant to your product)
7. What objections will they have? (budget, switching cost, "we already have X", timing)

### Proof & Credibility
8. What social proof do you have? (customer logos, case studies, metrics)
9. Name 2-3 peer companies the recipient would recognize as similar to them
10. Any hard metrics? (cost savings, speed improvement, % lift)

### Tone & Style
11. What tone fits? (casual-direct, professional-sharp, provocative, empathetic)
12. Who is the sender? (founder, AE, SDR — this affects voice)
13. Any brand guidelines or words to avoid?

### Sequence
14. How many touches? (default: 3)
15. What's the desired CTA? (call, demo, reply, resource download)
16. Email-only or multi-channel? (email + LinkedIn, email + phone)

## Phase 1: Draft Emails

### Email Structure Formula

Every cold email follows this skeleton:

```
Hook (1 sentence) → Evidence (1-2 sentences) → Offer (1 sentence)
```

**Word count targets:**
- Cold intro (Touch 1): 50-90 words
- Follow-up (Touch 2-3): 30-50 words
- Breakup (final touch): 20-40 words

### Frameworks

Pick the framework that matches the campaign angle:

| Framework | Structure | Best For |
|-----------|-----------|----------|
| **PAS** | Problem → Agitate → Solve | Pain-based signals (complaint posts, operational friction) |
| **BAB** | Before → After → Bridge | Aspirational buyers (growth-stage, scaling companies) |
| **AIDA** | Attention → Interest → Desire → Action | Cold database outreach (no specific signal) |
| **Signal-Proof-Ask** | Signal → Proof → Soft ask | Signal-based campaigns (hiring, engagement, events) |

### Personalization Tiers

Choose based on campaign size and expected ROI per lead:

| Tier | What It Means | Lead Volume | Expected Reply Rate |
|------|---------------|-------------|-------------------|
| **Tier 1 (Generic)** | Merge fields only (`{first_name}`, `{company}`). Same template for everyone. | 500+ leads | 1-3% |
| **Tier 2 (Segment)** | Industry/role-specific pain points + proof swaps. One template per segment. | 50-500 leads | 3-7% |
| **Tier 3 (Deep)** | Reference a specific signal (their post, comment, job posting, news). Unique per lead. | 1-50 leads | 8-20% |

### Subject Line Patterns

8 proven patterns from real campaigns:

| # | Pattern | Example |
|---|---------|---------|
| 1 | **Signal reference** | "Before you fill that [role] role" |
| 2 | **Peer framing** | "What TIA members are doing with AI workers" |
| 3 | **Question** | "Is [Company] still [doing thing product fixes]?" |
| 4 | **Replacement** | "Looking for a [competitor] replacement?" |
| 5 | **Data hook** | "$150K agency study → $8K. 48 hours." |
| 6 | **Empathy** | "When [event that affected them]" |
| 7 | **Direct** | "[Topic] for [Company]" |
| 8 | **Curiosity** | "How [peer company] did [interesting thing]" |

**Rules for subject lines:**
- Under 50 characters
- No ALL CAPS, no exclamation marks, no emoji
- No "quick question" or "touching base"

### Tone Guidance

| Tone | When to Use | Voice Example |
|------|-------------|---------------|
| **Casual-Direct** | SDR sending to peers, startup-to-startup | "Hey — saw your post. We work on the same problem." |
| **Professional-Sharp** | Enterprise outreach, VP+ recipients | "I wanted to reach out because [specific reason]." |
| **Provocative** | Competitive displacement, challenger positioning | "Your current tool is costing you more than you think." |
| **Empathetic** | Orphan capture, pain-based outreach | "I know switching platforms mid-cycle is brutal." |

### Sequence Design Principles

| Touch | Timing | Purpose | Length | Notes |
|-------|--------|---------|--------|-------|
| **Touch 1** | Day 1 | Hook + proof + soft CTA | 50-90 words | The only email that can be longer |
| **Touch 2** | Day 3-5 | New angle or asset | 30-50 words | Different proof point, not a "bump" |
| **Touch 3** | Day 7-10 | Different proof point or social | 20-40 words | Shorter = better this late |
| **Touch 4** | Day 14-21 | Breakup (optional) | 20-30 words | Remove pressure, leave door open |

**Sequence rules:**
- Never repeat the same CTA across touches
- Each touch needs a new reason to reply
- Later touches = shorter emails
- Never send a "just checking in" or "bumping this" — add value or stop

### Hard Rules

These are non-negotiable. Every email must pass all 10:

1. **No filler openers.** Never "I hope this finds you well", "I hope you're having a great week", "just reaching out"
2. **No "just checking in" follow-ups.** Every touch adds a new reason to reply
3. **Max 4 paragraphs per email.** Most should be 2-3
4. **Every email references something specific to the recipient.** Title, company, signal, industry — never fully generic
5. **Exactly one CTA per email.** Always low-friction (15-min call, "worth a look?", "open to chatting?")
6. **Never lie about how you found them.** If it was a database search, don't say "I came across your profile"
7. **No filler words.** Ban: synergy,