How should the tone differ from marketing emails?

Cold email and marketing email serve different purposes and require different approaches.

Marketing email tone:

Brand voice consistency

Promotional and persuasive

Often includes designed visuals

Speaks to segments, not individuals

Calls to action are transactional (buy, download, register)

Cold email tone:

Personal and conversational

One-to-one communication feel

Plain text or minimal formatting

Speaks to individual circumstances

Calls to action are relational (chat, connect, discuss)

Practical differences:

No heavy HTML or graphics

No obvious marketing templates

Casual but professional language

Questions rather than declarations

Acknowledgment of interruption

Why tone matters:

Recipients instantly recognize marketing broadcasts

Personal tone earns attention that promotional tone doesn't

Human-sounding messages generate human responses

The goal is starting a conversation, not making a sale in one email. Speak to someone, not at them.