How to write cold messages people actually respond to

Everyone wants to write “better outreach copy,” but most people focus on the wrong things.

They obsess over clever hooks, heavy personalization, trendy templates, or long-winded explanations of what their product does.

But here’s the truth: Your prospects aren’t evaluating your message. They’re filtering it.

Cold outreach isn’t read the way you think it is. Prospects don’t analyze - they skim. They’re looking for relevance and clarity, not creativity or persuasion.

If your message isn’t instantly easy to read and obviously relevant, it dies. Whether it’s email or LinkedIn, the psychology is the same.

Let’s break down what actually works.

1. Understand how prospects read cold outreach

When someone opens your email or DMs, they’re not thinking, “Let me understand this rep’s pitch.” Their brain is doing rapid pattern-matching:

• Does this look like automation?

• Is this person trying to sell me something immediately?

• Is this relevant to anything I care about?

• How much effort will it take to read this?

If you trigger the wrong pattern, you lose them instantly. Good copy reduces friction. Great copy removes it.

2. The first line carries almost all the weight

Subject lines get opens. The first sentence gets replies.

And here’s the hard truth: Most outreach fails because the first line is about you.

“Hope you’re doing well.”
“My name is…”
“I’m reaching out because…”
“We help companies like yours…”

Delete all of it.

Your first line should prove one thing: This message exists for a reason.

Make it simple. Make it specific. Make it about the reader. For LinkedIn, cut it down by 50%. People have an even smaller attention window.

3. The body should do one job: create curiosity

Bad cold outreach tries to explain everything: the product, the features, the pitch, the ROI, the value prop, the story, the team…

Good outreach focuses on one problem or insight that makes the reader think: “Okay, that’s relevant to me.”

If your message contains more than one idea, you’re forcing the prospect to think - and thinking is expensive.

Curiosity drives replies. Complexity kills them.

4. The CTA must be frictionless

This is where most messages fall apart. Reps go too big:

“Do you have 20 minutes for a call?”
“Can I show you a demo?”
“Are you free sometime this week?”

High-friction CTAs get ignored because they ask for effort.

Your CTA should require almost zero commitment, like:
“Worth a look?”
“Want an example?”
“Should I send over a 10-second summary?”

Email CTAs should feel light. LinkedIn CTAs should feel conversational.

The less pressure, the better the response rate.

5. Good vs. bad messaging patterns

Here’s a rule of thumb: If the message looks like it took a long time to write, it will take a long time to read - and the prospect won’t read it.

Strong messages follow a predictable pattern:

• short sentences

• simple language

• one clear angle

• consistent flow

• no buzzwords

• no rambling

• zero fluff

If a message feels effortless to read, it performs.

6. Email vs. LinkedIn: don’t copy-paste the same message

Email and LinkedIn are both cold channels, but they behave differently.

Email:

• Readers scan in chunks

• You can provide slightly more detail

• Formatting helps structure the message

• You’re competing with the inbox algorithm

LinkedIn:

• Readers skim even faster

• Messages must be tighter

• Tone needs to feel personal

• Overly formal writing kills the conversation

A great multichannel strategy uses complementary messages - not identical ones.

LinkedIn builds familiarity. Email delivers clarity. Together, they raise recognition and keep the reply path open.

Outbound doesn’t fail because reps write bad messages.

It fails because messages ask too much, say too much, or take too long to get to the point.

If your copy is simple, relevant, and respectful of the reader’s time, you’ll outperform 90% of the field.