How can I personalize cold emails without spending hours?

Efficient personalization balances impact with time investment.

Segmentation first:

Group prospects by role, industry, company size, or challenge

Create tailored messaging for each segment

Personalization becomes per-segment rather than per-person

High-impact research shortcuts:

Recent company news (funding, acquisitions, product launches)

LinkedIn headline and summary (role context)

Technology stack (if relevant to your offering)

Mutual connections or shared experiences

Smart templating:

Templates with dynamic sections, not just merge fields

First sentence personalized, rest standardized

Different value propositions per segment

Prioritize by value:

High-value prospects: Deep research, fully personalized

Mid-tier: Segment-level personalization plus one personal element

Broad outreach: Strong segmentation, minimal individual customization

Tools that help:

Enrichment data (company info, technographics)

News alerts for target accounts

CRM notes from any previous interaction

Personalization should be genuine but doesn't require perfection. A cargo manifest that describes the goods beats one that simply says delivery.