What is cold email?

• A reason for writing to this person. A trigger, a shared context or a specific problem their role usually has.
• Brevity. A few short sentences that read well on a phone.
• One clear ask. A question or a low-commitment next step, not a 30-minute demo request in the first line.
• A real sender. A named person with a real reply-to address.
• An easy way out. A simple way to say no or opt out.

Say you sell inventory software to independent bike shops. An illustrative cold email:

Subject: spring stock at Ridgeline Cycles
Hi Maya, saw you're hiring a second mechanic ahead of spring. Shops your size often tell us parts tracking breaks first when the workshop gets busy. Would a two-minute video on how other shops handle it be useful? If not, no worries.

It names a real trigger, offers something small and makes declining easy.

The difference is relevance and volume. Cold email goes to a chosen person for a reason tied to their work. Spam goes to anyone, says the same thing to everyone and ignores opt-outs. Mailbox providers judge this through complaint rates and engagement, so untargeted sending also damages deliverability for every email you send afterward.

In many places, yes, with conditions, and the rules depend on where the recipient is. In the US, the FTC's guidance on the CAN-SPAM Act says the law makes no exception for business-to-business email and requires things like accurate headers, honest subject lines, a physical postal address and a working opt-out. Other countries, including in the EU and UK, have their own, often stricter, rules. This is general information, not legal advice; read our guide to cold email legality and check with a lawyer for your situation.