Cold Email Campaign Checklist

A comprehensive checklist to ensure your cold email campaigns are set up for success.

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Infrastructure & Setup

Set up dedicated email domains (not shared with personal/work email)

Use Outlook or Gmail inboxes with a maximum of 3 mailboxes per domain to protect your main domain reputation

Configure mailbox DNS records (SPF, DKIM, and DMARC)

SPF prevents email spoofing, DKIM cryptographically signs emails, and DMARC tells receiving servers how to handle emails that fail authentication

Set up DNS redirects for mailbox domains

Configure mailbox domains to redirect to your actual website domain

Limit sending to 25 emails per inbox per day

Stay within safe sending limits to maintain inbox reputation and avoid spam filters

Warm up email accounts gradually

Start with lower volumes and slowly increase to establish sender reputation

Content & Messaging

Write subject lines that are clear and value-focused (avoid spam triggers)

Keep under 50 characters, avoid excessive punctuation and caps

Keep email body concise (under 125 words recommended)

Get to the point quickly - respect the recipient's time

Include a clear, single call-to-action (CTA)

One focused ask per email to avoid confusion

Don't use links in emails - ask them to request the link as the CTA

Only send links after they reply positively. Links in cold emails can trigger spam filters and reduce deliverability

Avoid spam trigger words (free, guarantee, limited time, etc.)

Words that commonly trigger spam filters

Use plain text or simple HTML (avoid heavy images/HTML)

Better deliverability and appears more authentic

A/B test subject lines and email content

Test different approaches to improve open and response rates

Proofread for grammar and spelling errors

Typos damage credibility and professionalism

List Building & Segmentation

Build a targeted list

Focus on quality over quantity - better to have 100 perfect prospects than 10,000 poor ones

Create segmented campaigns to improve targeting and increase conversions

Allows for more targeted messaging and better results

Verify email addresses before sending (use email verification tools)

Reduces bounce rates and protects sender reputation

Remove invalid/bounced emails from list immediately

High bounce rates damage domain reputation

Research prospects to ensure they're a good fit

Personalization requires understanding your prospects

Deliverability

Monitor bounce rates (keep under 0.5%)

High bounce rates signal problems to ISPs

Monitor sender reputation scores

Regular monitoring helps catch issues early

Avoid sending during weekends/holidays

Professional emails typically perform better on weekdays

Gradually increase sending volume over time

Sudden spikes in volume can trigger filters

Legal Compliance

Honor unsubscribe requests promptly (within 10 business days)

CAN-SPAM Act requirement

Comply with GDPR requirements (if contacting EU prospects)

May require explicit consent depending on your location and theirs

Review and comply with CASL (if contacting Canadian prospects)

Canadian Anti-Spam Legislation requires consent

Tracking & Analytics

Monitor positive reply rate ratio

Primary success metric for cold email campaigns

Don't (religiously) track opens

Open tracking uses hidden links that can trigger spam filters and the data is often inaccurate. Consider turning them off.

Track conversion rates (meetings booked, demos scheduled, etc.)

Measure business outcomes, not just email metrics

Set up UTM parameters for links (if using)

Better analytics integration with CRM/marketing tools

Use analytics dashboard to monitor campaign performance and A/B testing

Regular review and A/B testing help identify what's working

Follow-up Sequences

Plan multi-touch follow-up sequence (2-3 emails recommended)

Most responses come from the first email, not follow-ups

Space follow-ups appropriately (4-14 days between emails)

Too frequent = annoying, too sparse = forgotten

Use short follow-ups - simple messages like 'Just let me know' often perform best

Short, direct follow-ups tend to get better response rates than lengthy messages

Auto-stop sequence on reply

Avoid sending follow-ups to people who already responded

Auto-stop sequence on unsubscribe

Critical for compliance and reputation

Start a different campaign with a new offer instead of sending 4+ follow ups

Better to recycle leads that didn't engage into fresh campaigns with new offers rather than sending many follow-ups in the same thread

Testing & Optimization

Send test emails to yourself and team before campaign launch

Catch errors and issues before sending to prospects

Use spam checker tools before sending (Mail-Tester, GlockApps, etc.)

Identify potential deliverability issues proactively

Monitor initial campaign metrics and adjust as needed

Continuous improvement based on data

Just getting started with cold email?
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