// Glossary
Cold Email
An unsolicited but compliant email sent to a prospect you have no prior relationship with to start a conversation.
Definition
Cold email is outreach sent to a recipient who hasn't previously engaged with you, usually a B2B prospect, with the goal of starting a conversation. To work and stay legal, it needs a verified address, honest headers, a clear opt-out, and relevance, and it must follow laws like CAN-SPAM and, for EU recipients, GDPR. Deliverability hinges on a warmed domain, clean list, and low bounce and complaint rates.
What makes cold email work
Cold email is outreach to a recipient you have no prior relationship with, typically for sales or partnerships. It lives or dies on two things: list quality and compliance. A verified, well-targeted list keeps bounces low and replies high; an unverified bought list burns your domain. On compliance, CAN-SPAM (US) requires accurate headers, a physical address, and a working opt-out, while GDPR/CCPA add consent and deletion obligations where recipients are covered.
Common questions
Is cold email legal?+
Cold email is legal in the US under CAN-SPAM if you identify yourself, include a physical address, and honor opt-outs. GDPR (EU) and CCPA/CPRA (California) add further obligations for covered recipients.
What's a good cold email reply rate?+
Reply rates vary widely by list quality and offer; published benchmarks commonly cite low-single-digit percentages, which is why list size and verification matter so much.
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