Cold Email Templates

42 cold email templates that get replies

Copy-paste templates for SaaS, agencies, recruiting, and e-commerce — plus 10 designed for 1:1 personalized video bodies. Drop them into Outreach, Apollo, or Outvid.

copy-paste templates

for 1:1 video bodies

60-90

words per template

How to use these

The personalization variables you'll see in every template

Fill them manually or auto-fill with an AI personalization tool. The {{video_personalization}} token is unique to video-body templates.

{{firstName}}Recipient's first name
{{Company}}Their company name
{{role}}Their job title
{{recentTrigger}}Recent event — funding, hire, launch, post
{{specificDetail}}Page, metric, or workflow specific to them
{{video_personalization}}Placeholder for the 1:1 personalized video element — outvid.ai fills with their logo, recent post, or website on-screen

The structure

The anatomy of a template that converts in 2026

Four elements in order. Total length 60–90 words. Anything longer gets skimmed and discarded.

Opening line that signals homework

Reference a {{specificDetail}} or {{recentTrigger}}. Skip 'I came across your name.' Specificity beats greeting every time.

One-sentence pitch

What you do, who it's for, the outcome — in a single line. No paragraphs.

A single specific ask

15 minutes next Tuesday, a one-word reply, a click. Not 'let me know if you'd like to chat.'

Sign-off + p.s. line

P.S. is the highest-read line in the email. Use it for a low-pressure secondary path (a link, a stat, a no-worries-if-not).

SaaS

Cold templates for SaaS prospects

For product-led growth, vertical SaaS, and enterprise platforms.

The funnel-leak hook

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

Saw {{Company}}'s pricing page — looks like the trial-to-paid path skips
{{specificDetail}}. We built Outvid to help SaaS teams test fixes like
this with AI-personalized video sequences to their trial users.

Worth 15 min next Tuesday to compare what we're seeing across {{role}}s
at similar SaaS companies?

— [Your Name]
[Your Company]

p.s. — happy to send a 60-sec teardown instead of meeting.

The competitor-trigger

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

{{Competitor}} just shipped {{recentTrigger}} — figured you might be
mapping a response. We've helped {{role}}s at SaaS companies generate
AI-personalized video outreach to test new positioning in days, not
quarters.

Open to a 15-min call to compare notes?

— [Your Name]

The deck-teardown offer

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

Sent a 90-sec teardown of {{Company}}'s onboarding here:
{{video_personalization}}

3 things I'd change, plus how we'd run AI-personalized video sequences
to your trial users to test fix #1.

15 min next week to talk it through?

— [Your Name]

The single-question

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

One question: how is {{Company}} handling 1:1 outreach to
{{specificDetail}} accounts today?

Asking because we built Outvid for exactly that motion and a few
SaaS teams have seen meaningful reply-rate lift over text-only.

— [Your Name]

Agencies

Cold templates for agencies and services

For biz-dev at design, growth, and dev shops.

The case-study reference

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

Saw {{Agency}}'s work with {{Client}} — the {{specificDetail}} approach
caught my eye. We help agencies generate AI-personalized video pitches
that reference work like that for your prospect's industry.

Open to 15 min to see how it'd apply to {{Agency}}'s pipeline?

— [Your Name]

The proposal-turnaround

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

How long does a typical {{Agency}} proposal take from discovery to
sign-off? Most agencies we work with compress that significantly using
AI-personalized video proposals — every prospect sees a 90-sec video
with their logo and challenge on screen.

Worth a 15-min walkthrough?

— [Your Name]

The pitch-deck angle

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

Reviewed {{Agency}}'s pitch deck (public version) — one slide change
could lift your close rate. Sent a 60-sec video walking through it:
{{video_personalization}}

If it's useful, happy to send our full template library too.

— [Your Name]

Cold templates for recruiting and e-commerce

Two more verticals where AI-personalized video outperforms plain text outbound.

Recruiting & HR tech

The req-spike trigger

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

{{Company}}'s job posts doubled this month — usually means recruiter
load is also doubling. We help {{Company}}'s peer companies cut
time-to-fill using AI-personalized video outreach to passive
candidates.

15 min?

— [Your Name]

The candidate-experience angle

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

{{Company}}'s Glassdoor reviews mention {{specificDetail}} in the
interview process. We've helped peer companies fix that with
AI-personalized video updates at every stage — candidates feel
informed, recruiters save time.

15 min walkthrough?

— [Your Name]

E-commerce & DTC

The checkout-leak

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

{{Brand}}'s checkout flow has a leak around {{specificDetail}}. Sent
a 60-sec video walking through the fix: {{video_personalization}}

Worth 15 min to talk through?

— [Your Name]

The post-purchase flow

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

{{Brand}}'s post-purchase email sequence is a missed upsell window.
We've helped DTC brands lift repeat-purchase rate using
AI-personalized video in the day-7 email.

Quick walkthrough?

— [Your Name]

For video bodies

Cold templates designed for 1:1 personalized video

The body is a 60-90 second personalized video. The template is short on purpose — the video carries the pitch. {{video_personalization}} is where the on-screen personalized element renders.

The 60-second teardown

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

Made you a 60-sec video — your {{Company}} homepage is on screen and
I walk through 3 things I'd change.

{{video_personalization}}

If it's useful, happy to send the full framework.

— [Your Name]

The thumbnail name-drop

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

Your name's on the screen at second 4 — short video for you here:

{{video_personalization}}

90 seconds. No pitch deck.

— [Your Name]

The LinkedIn-post reaction

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

Recorded a 90-sec reaction to your {{specificDetail}} LinkedIn post —
you'll see the post on screen.

{{video_personalization}}

— [Your Name]

The competitor-on-screen

Touch 1

{{firstName}},

Short video — your competitor is in it.

{{video_personalization}}

Specifically: where they're winning that {{Company}} can flip in 30
days.

— [Your Name]

Try this: Pick a template. Drop a prospect LinkedIn URL into Outvid. The platform auto-fills the personalization variables and generates the matching 1:1 video. Get started →

3-touch cadence

Follow-up templates for the 3 touches that matter

Day 3, Day 7, Day 14. Most replies come from follow-ups — and the third touch (permission ask) often outperforms touches 1 and 2 combined.

Follow-up #1 (Day 3) — Re-state hook

Day 3

Re: {{previous subject}}

{{firstName}} — one more thing on {{Company}}'s {{specificDetail}}.

[ONE NEW STAT, EXAMPLE, OR ANGLE — NOT JUST "bumping for visibility"]

Still worth 15 min?

— [Your Name]

Follow-up #2 (Day 7) — Change the angle

Day 7

{{firstName}},

My last note was about {{first angle}} — let me try a different
angle.

What if the bottleneck isn't {{first angle}} but {{second angle}}?
We've seen this pattern at 3 other {{role}}s.

90-sec video here: {{video_personalization}}

— [Your Name]

Follow-up #3 (Day 14) — Break-up

Day 14

{{firstName}},

Closing the loop on {{Company}}. If this is parked for later, no
worries — would you reply with a one-word "later" so I know to ping
in Q3?

If it's a no, also fine — would you reply with "no" so I stop
emailing?

— [Your Name]

At scale

3 tiers of template personalization

How you fill those {{variables}} determines whether the template scales — and whether it gets replies.

Tier 1

Mail-merge

Replace {{firstName}} and {{Company}} only.

Effort: Fast
Result: Low reply rates — instantly detected as automated

Tier 2

Manual research

Fill {{specificDetail}} and {{recentTrigger}} by hand from LinkedIn + company news.

Effort: Slow
Result: High reply rates — but stops scaling past ~20/day per rep

Tier 3

AI research + video

AI fills all variables AND generates a 1:1 personalized video with the prospect's logo, post, or website on screen.

Effort: Outvid automates it
Result: Highest reply rates — scales past 200/day per rep

Avoid these

5 mistakes that kill template performance

Each of these is easy to miss because the sender can't see it. Reply rates suffer silently.

Spam triggers

'Free,' 'guarantee,' '100% free,' multiple exclamation marks. Rewrite the template without them.

Pitching in the first email

'We're a [category] platform that helps…' in the opening paragraph. Lead with {{specificDetail}} about them.

Generic CTAs

'Let me know if you'd like to chat.' Replace with a specific date+time or a yes/no question.

No follow-up

Most replies come from follow-ups, not the first send. Build the 3-touch cadence above into every campaign.

Cold sending domain

Perfect template + cold domain = spam folder. Outvid's warmup scoring is the safety net.

Compared

Template-based outbound vs Outvid

Two different motions. Picking by what your team actually sends.

Dimension	Template tools	Outvid
Format	Plain text + manual variables	Cold email body + AI-personalized video
Personalization	Manual variable replacement	AI fills variables per recipient at scale
Channels	Email only	Email + LinkedIn + WhatsApp + Instagram
Sequence support	Linear cadences	Multi-touch, signal-driven branching
Best for	Quick mail-merge with light personalization	Cold outbound at scale that feels 1:1

Format

Template toolsPlain text + manual variables
OutvidCold email body + AI-personalized video

Personalization

Template toolsManual variable replacement
OutvidAI fills variables per recipient at scale

Channels

Template toolsEmail only
OutvidEmail + LinkedIn + WhatsApp + Instagram

Sequence support

Template toolsLinear cadences
OutvidMulti-touch, signal-driven branching

Best for

Template toolsQuick mail-merge with light personalization
OutvidCold outbound at scale that feels 1:1

FAQ

Cold email template questions

How do I personalize a cold email template at scale?+

Use placeholder variables and fill them via mail-merge, manual research, or AI. AI personalization tools like Outvid also generate a matching 1:1 video per recipient — the highest reply-rate option at scale.

How long should a cold email template be?+

60–90 words total. Longer emails get skimmed and discarded — mobile clients punish length. The subject line + first sentence carry most of the open-to-reply weight.

How many follow-ups should a cold email cadence have?+

Three follow-ups after the initial cold send, spaced Day 3, Day 7, Day 14. Most replies come from follow-ups. The third touch is a permission-ask break-up that often gets more replies than touches 1 and 2 combined.

Should I use AI to write cold email templates?+

AI is good at filling variables and generating personalized video bodies. AI is bad at writing the template structure itself — use a human-tested template you trust and let AI handle the personalization layer.

What makes a cold email template work for video?+

A video-optimized template is short (the video carries the pitch), has a {{video_personalization}} placeholder for the on-screen personalized element, and includes a low-friction CTA — reply, click, watch — not 'book a 30-min call.'

Can I copy these templates directly into Outreach or Apollo?+

Yes. The {{variable}} syntax matches most outbound platforms. You may need to rename variables to match your tool's convention. The {{video_personalization}} token works natively with Outvid; in other tools, replace it with a video embed.

Keep going

120 cold email subject lines 147 sales email subject lines AI SDR Personalized video Video sequences