How to Write a Pitch Email: 5 Tips for Cold Emailing

A pitch email is a message you send a potential client or partner to share an idea, business proposal, or professional opportunity that could be mutually beneficial to you and the email receiver. Pitch examples vary; it could be a sales email sent to a target audience for marketers. For journalists, it might be a media pitch for story ideas or guest posts forwarded to an editor. For startups, a pitch email might seek fundraising or like-minded business partners.

Cold email pitches take mastering no matter the form or content because they can easily be deleted or buried in someone’s inbox. Receivers of these pitches likely won’t know you, which means they won’t feel a strong responsibility to respond. That’s why it’s essential to quickly get to the point so you can hold your reader’s attention and briefly share with them what you have to offer.

For correspondence where the parties do not personally or professionally know one another, your first email is the first impression you give. Increase your cold email’s chance of getting a response by following the email template below:

1. 1. Start with an attention-grabbing subject line. Keep your email subject line to a handful of words, ideally only seven or eight. You want to stand out in someone’s inbox, so it’s vital that recipients not be inundated with too much information in the subject. Nix superfluous adjectives or adverbs while keeping the offer or idea enticing. For bloggers or journalists, your email to editors can lead with “Pitch: XYZ” where the word “Pitch” lets the editor know what they can expect, and XYZ includes the timely information. For influencers or those working in content marketing, you may lead with a tempting offer.
2. 2. Include the recipient’s name. You might have a hard time tracking down the exact address for the person you intend to email, but you can still include the recipient’s name. Check out the staff page for the organization you wish to reach. Even if you cannot find someone’s precise email address, you can still email their info inbox and include the person’s name in the introduction or subject line to increase the chances of reaching them.
3. 3. Write a quick introduction. Before diving into your pitch, lead with a brief intro (one to two sentences). This is your chance to state your name, share your job title and company name, and talk up your credentials that qualify why you are worth the reader's time and attention. If you have a connection to the person you are emailing, you can mention that to create a more personalized message.
4. 4. Create a short and sweet pitch. This part of the email sequence is the meat of your message, but you should still keep it to a few sentences—one paragraph—at most. For a PR pitch, share a preview of the piece of content you think is variable; for a sales pitch, perhaps outline the benefits of your services or your value proposition in bullet points for the sake of clarity and concision. If you must also include a press release, be sure to attach it or put it at the bottom of your email as it can get lengthy, and you want to capture your reader’s attention with something juicier off the bat.
5. 5. Conclude with a polite sign-off. You’ll want to err on the side of formality, so close out your email with “Sincerely” and then your name. Make sure your email signature has your email and phone number, so the contact knows how to get in touch with you as needed.

Send the perfect pitch to help increase open rates, taking you one step closer to clinching a deal or selling a story. Follow these tips to write an effective pitch:

1. 1. Email the right person. If you are looking for publicity, you will email the media contact, not someone who works in IT. You can increase your chances of a recipient opening and responding to your message by emailing the most influential person. Search employees in company staff listings, and if you can’t locate their exact email, see if you can figure out the system of address configuration, which may be “firstname.lastname@companyaddress.”
2. 2. Limit the details. Your recipient doesn’t need to know every detail of your proposed idea or service; a pitch is to whet their appetite and measure their curiosity. Recipients may delete longer emails, so keep your content clear and to the point.
3. 3. Focus on the prospect. For your pitch to succeed, the proposition has to be worthwhile to the recipient. Make sure you research this contact and their company’s needs so you can tailor your pitch to their best interests, showing why your offering would be advantageous to the specific company at hand.
4. 4. Be personable. People know when they are being courted, and it can sometimes be off-putting. Personalized emails work best and display a greater bond. Your subject line can include the recipient’s name, or perhaps in the body of the email, you start with something the company has accomplished that has impressed you, leading you to email them now.
5. 5. Follow up after a week. Just as in email marketing, frequent nudges can be irritating, so be sure to wait one week before sending your follow-up if you don’t get a reply. In that follow-up email, you can gently restate the most important parts of your initial pitch.

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