How to Use AI to Write Cold Emails That Actually Get Replies

The average cold email response rate is just 8.5%, which means that for every 100 emails sent, only about 8 people will respond. This low rate highlights the challenge of crafting emails that stand out and prompt replies, especially when sending them in bulk. Personalization, compelling subject lines, and consistent follow-ups are essential for improving response rates, but they can also be incredibly time-consuming. Thankfully, AI tools can simplify this process, helping you efficiently create emails that engage recipients and boost your chances of getting a response.

Here’s how AI tools can assist with writing cold emails that actually get responses.

1. Personalization: AI Automates the Research

Personalizing your cold emails is key to getting replies, but doing it manually for each recipient can be exhausting. AI tools can automate this process by scanning LinkedIn profiles, blogs, and social media to gather details about your recipient's background, industry, and achievements. AI then uses this data to generate personalized openers that make your email feel tailored and relevant.

Example:
Instead of "I came across your company,” AI might suggest, "I saw your recent LinkedIn post about scaling your startup, your insights on team building really resonated with me.” This makes your email feel personal and thoughtful.

2. Subject Lines: AI Tests What Works

Subject lines are crucial for getting your email opened. AI tools use machine learning to generate multiple subject line options and test them for effectiveness. These tools analyze past campaign data to predict which subject lines are most likely to perform well. Keep your subject lines concise, under 40 characters and straightforward to maximize open rates. AI can help suggest catchy yet clear options.

3. Tone Adjustment: AI Balances Professional and Friendly

Striking the right tone in a cold email is tricky. AI tools evaluate your writing and suggest tweaks to make it sound more approachable or professional, depending on your audience. These tools ensure that your email doesn’t sound too formal or too casual, just right for the recipient.

Example:
An assertive "I would like to discuss the opportunity of collaborating” could be revised to a friendlier "Let’s explore how we can work together on this project.”

4. Keep It Short: AI Summarizes for You

Cold emails that are too long and tend to get ignored. AI summarizing tools can help condense lengthy drafts into more concise messages, ensuring you keep only the most important points.

5. AI-Driven Follow-ups: Automate Without Sounding Robotic

Most replies happen after a follow-up, but sending thoughtful follow-ups can be time-consuming. AI tools automate follow-ups while keeping them personalized. They can trigger follow-ups based on recipient behavior, such as whether they opened your first email, making your follow-up feel more relevant and timely.

6. Data Insights: AI Tracks and Optimizes

AI-powered tools provide detailed data insights by tracking open rates, response times, and engagement. These analytics help you understand what’s working and what’s not, allowing you to continuously improve your email strategy based on actual data, not guesswork.

7. Optimize Your Call to Action

A vague or weak CTA can kill an otherwise good email. Tools powered by AI analyze emotional triggers and suggest CTAs that are more likely to drive action. 

Example:

Instead of generally saying "Let me know if you’re interested,” AI might suggest something more specific like, "Are you available for a 15-minute call this week to discuss how we can help your team scale faster?”

8. Avoiding Spam Filters: AI Keeps You in the Inbox

AI tools analyze your emails for spam triggers like excessive punctuation or spammy keywords to help you avoid the junk folder. These tools flag problematic elements in your email, ensuring it lands in your recipient’s inbox rather than getting lost in spam.

Tools You Can Use

Sending cold emails can feel like a shot in the dark, but AI tools are changing the game by helping you write more engaging, tailored messages that actually get noticed. Here are a few tools mentioned that can help you succeed.

1. Lyne.ai

This tool is designed to help you create hyper-personalized cold emails. Lyne.ai scours the web for information about your contacts to generate personalized subject lines and opening lines, going deeper than many other AI tools. After uploading a CSV of contacts, Lyne can rank research options to prioritize what kind of data it uses (e.g., case studies, podcasts, blog posts).

Key Features

1. Personalized Research

It gathers data from various sources, such as podcasts, case studies, and blog posts, to create highly personalized email subject lines and openers. The tool explores deep into available content about the recipient, ensuring that the email feels highly tailored to their profile. This makes it stand out among generic cold emails, increasing engagement rates.

2. Customizable Prioritization

Users can set preferences for the types of information the tool prioritizes like, ranking data sources like LinkedIn, blogs, or case studies. This ensures the tool focuses on the most relevant and high-quality data. The ability to customize research priorities helps create more relevant and compelling emails.

3. Minimal Data Requirement

Lyne.ai can generate personalized intro lines with just a first name and email address, though providing more data improves personalization. If only minimal information is available, it uses domain-level data to craft engaging lines. This flexibility makes Lyne.ai efficient for users who may not have complete datasets.

Pros

• Extensive Data Sources: Lyne.ai provides highly personalized emails by pulling data from various sources, such as podcasts and blog posts.
• Customizable Research Preferences: The tool allows users to rank the priority of different research options, ensuring that it focuses on the most relevant data for each contact.
• Flexible Input Fields: Lyne.ai can generate personalized lines even with minimal input, such as just a first name and email address.

Cons

• No Unlimited Plan: Lyne.ai can become costly with large contact lists, as there is no unlimited pricing option.
• Limited Content Control: Users have less control over the specific types of content used to generate the personalized lines.

Pricing

It offers pay-as-you-go pricing at $0.30 per contact. There are also prepaid plans that reduce the rate like $25/month for 100 lines or $315/month for 3,500 lines. There’s no unlimited plan, so pricing depends on your contact volume.

2. Writecream

An AI writing service, Writecream, covers multiple writing tasks, from email personalization to blog posts and social media content. Its email personalization tool allows you to quickly generate email openers by using the contact’s website rather than their LinkedIn profile.

Key Features

1. Versatile Toolset

Writecream offers more than just email personalization, including tools for blog posts, social media captions, product descriptions, and personalized images or audio icebreakers. This makes it a multi-purpose content creation tool for various marketing needs. Users can rely on it for different writing tasks beyond cold email outreach.

2. Easy Input

The tool only requires a website URL to generate personalized intro lines, saving users the hassle of manually searching for LinkedIn profiles. This streamlines the input process, reducing time spent gathering information. However, it may trade off some depth in personalization for convenience.

3. Personalized Images and Audio

It can generate customized images or audio messages that you can include in your emails to stand out even more. These unique personalizations give cold emails a more engaging, multimedia element. It’s a helpful feature for users looking to try something creative in their outreach.

Pros

• Wide Range of Writing Tools: Writecream offers various writing tools beyond email personalization, such as blog writing, image icebreakers, and social media captions.
• Simple Input Process: It only requires a website URL to generate personalized email lines, saving time on gathering LinkedIn profiles for each contact.
• Free Plan Available: Writecream provides a free plan with 20 credits, making it accessible for users to try the service before committing.

Cons

• Less Detailed Personalization: Compared to tools like Lyne.ai, the personalization depth is limited due to the simpler input process.
• Shallow Personalization Outputs: Some outputs may lack depth because fewer data points are used, which can result in less relevant personalization.

Pricing

Writecream has a free plan that offers 20 credits (1 credit = one personalized email). Their best deal is the unlimited plan at $29/month. They also offer limited plans, but these are more expensive than the unlimited plan; they are pushing users toward the $29/month option.

3. Warmer.ai

This is a simple, effective AI tool that generates personalized email intros using either company websites or LinkedIn profiles. Warmer.ai produces multiple intro lines per contact, giving you the flexibility to choose the one that fits your outreach best. However, the CSV importer has strict field requirements that may require some manual adjustments.

Key Features

1. Multiple Intro Options

The tool generates several personalized email intro lines for each contact, offering a variety of choices. Users can pick the intro that best fits their communication style or target audience. This flexibility allows for more dynamic and tailored cold outreach.

2. LinkedIn and Website Inputs

Warmer.ai can use either LinkedIn profiles or company websites to gather data, making it adaptable for different types of lead generation. This dual-source capability ensures you can personalize emails even when you don’t have access to all the recipient’s details. It helps create relevant content even with limited information.

3. Modern Interface

It features a clean and intuitive interface that makes it easy to navigate and use. Clear instructions guide users through the process of generating personalized emails, even if they’re new to AI tools. This user-friendly design makes the tool accessible to both beginners and experienced marketers.

Pros

• Multiple Intro Line Options: Warmer.ai generates several personalized intro lines per contact, allowing users to choose the one that best fits their outreach.
• Easy-to-Use Interface: The tool offers a clean, modern interface with straightforward instructions, making it user-friendly even for beginners.
• Flexible Data Input: It works with both LinkedIn profiles and company websites for generating personalized email lines, offering flexibility in data sources.

Cons

• Strict CSV Formatting: The tool’s CSV importer requires full names in a specific format, which may require users to modify their contact lists manually.
• Limited CSV Mapping: Warmer.ai offers fewer CSV mapping options compared to other tools, which can make data management slightly more complex.

Pricing

Warmer.ai’s pricing starts at $97/month for 325 credits (about $0.30 per contact, with five intro lines per person). Higher-tier plans offer discounts, such as $279/month for 1,500 credits ($0.18 per contact). There’s no free plan, so this is better suited for larger cold email campaigns.

Ways to Stand Out Even More in Your Cold Emails

If you want to take your cold emails to the next level, here are five strategies hiring managers appreciate but most candidates overlook.

1. Talk to Their Customers

Reach out to their users and gather feedback on their product. Include specific insights in your email to show you’ve done your homework and understand their audience.

2. Write a Friction Log

Test their product yourself and document any pain points you encounter. Offer thoughtful solutions alongside the problems to demonstrate how you can add value.

3. Reference Their Content Meaningfully

Instead of generic praise, engage with their content by referencing a specific point and expanding on it. For example, "Your insight on X made me consider Y."

4. Show Your Work

Include a sample of what you could contribute. Whether it’s product improvement ideas, competitive research, or a quick mockup. Do this to give them a concrete sense of your skills.

5. Create an AI Prototype

Use AI tools to mock up improvements to their product and share a working prototype or visual enhancement. This shows initiative and a proactive approach to problem-solving.

Final Word

AI is changing how we approach cold emailing. It offers the efficiency, precision, and personalization that manual efforts often miss. Whether it’s crafting the perfect subject line, tailoring the tone, or optimizing the timing of your follow-ups, AI can significantly boost your chances of getting a reply. And the best part? You don’t need to be an expert in AI to start using these tools. They are designed to be user-friendly and integrate seamlessly into your workflow.

By incorporating AI into your cold email strategy, you’re positioning yourself ahead of the competition. So next time you hit "send” on a cold email, let AI do the hard work behind the scenes, and watch your response rates improve.