What are the key elements of a good cold email strategy?

A sustainable cold email approach requires multiple components working together:

Targeting precision: Define your ideal recipient clearly. Generic lists produce poor results and high complaint rates. The more specific your targeting, the more relevant your outreach.

Technical foundation: Proper SPF, DKIM, and DMARC authentication. Warmed domains and IPs. Monitoring tools to catch deliverability problems early.

Compelling messaging: Brief, personalized, value-focused. Why should this specific recipient care about your specific offering? Generic templates perform poorly.

Compliance: Understand and follow applicable laws. Include physical address. Provide working unsubscribe mechanisms. Honor opt-outs immediately.

Volume discipline: Sustainable sending rates that don't burn through domains. Quality over quantity. Patience during warmup phases.

Measurement: Track deliverability indicators, not just response rates. Watch for reputation decline before it becomes critical.

Shortcuts in any of these areas eventually catch up with senders.