Cold email

TL;DR

Cold email is the cheapest, most controllable way to put your exact ICP on your site and into a microsite flow. Clean your list, personalize with Clay, send safely via Smartlead/Instantly (~15 emails per inbox/day, ≤5 inboxes per domain, use separate campaign domains), and judge success by website visits + microsite engagement, not just replies. With a relevant offer, ~10% of sends typically turn into site visits at a tiny fraction of paid media. Use your identity pixel to see who came, then trigger a 1:1 microsite + fast follow-up.

Why use cold email (for microsites)

Precision: You can reach the exact companies/roles you care about instead of buying broad clicks.

Narrative control: Email → your page → your microsite. No ad network noise.

Unit economics: Thousands of targeted touches for the price of a single broad paid test.

Measurable intent: Reverse-IP/identity pixels confirm which accounts visited, even when they don't reply.

The safe sending foundation

Domains: Do not send from your primary domain. Buy separate campaign domains like try{brand}.com, get{brand}.com, meet{brand}.com.

Inboxes per domain: Max 5.

Daily volume: Cap at ~15 emails per inbox/day (45–75/day per domain).

Ramp: 5/day → 10/day → 15/day across 7–10 days.

Warmup & auth: Ensure SPF/DKIM/DMARC pass; use tool warmup features.

Forwarding: Forward all campaign inboxes to a shared folder for fast triage.

Tools that make this easy: Smartlead or Instantly (buy domains/inboxes in-app, rotation, warmup, auto-pauses, deliverability checks).

Data: get, clean, prep

Source: Apollo, ZoomInfo, Sales Navigator (see earlier "Data Sources").

Verify: Run through Leadmagic or NeverBounce; keep bounces <3%.

Dedup & segment: Group by industry, trigger, persona, or hypothesis so messages stay relevant.

Personalize inputs: Push to Clay for enrichment (site tech, recent news, pages, job posts) and for generating true first-line personalization.

Writing emails that land and get read

Plain text, short (75–125 words). One idea. One link. No attachments.

Subject: Specific > clever ("{{competitor}}'s lead times vs yours").

Open: One sentence that proves relevance (from Clay enrichment).

Value: One sentence tying their situation to your outcome ("Teams like {{peer}} use us to… <result>").

Offer: Light CTA, ideally your microsite hook ("Want a one-pager built just for {{company}}?").

Voice: Helpful, direct, low-friction.

Compliance: Include physical address + easy opt-out (and follow local laws).

Ship with a simple stack

Clay → enrichment + 1:1 openers

Smartlead/Instantly → sending, rotation, warmup, tracking, auto-stops

Leadmagic/NeverBounce → verification

Vector / RB2B / Leadfeeder / HubSpot → identity/visit tracking

Microsite generator (Cirql) → instant 1:1 asset when intent appears

Measure what matters

Track account-level intent and conversion, not just reply rate:

Visit rate: % of sends that become website visits (target ~10% with good fit/offer).

Time on page / scroll / CTA on your site and microsites.

Meetings by account (attribution to campaign/sequence).

Bounce & complaint rates (stay <3% bounces, negligible complaints).

Mailbox health (smart pauses if metrics spike).

Follow-up playbooks (turn visits into meetings)

When your pixel sees a visit from a target account:

Auto-generate a microsite (pre-filled with their company context).

Immediate follow-up:

-Email: "Made this quick page for {{company}}—mind if I walk you through it?" -LinkedIn DM: friendly nudge + microsite. -Call: "I can walk you through the one-pager we built for you."

Retarget: If no visit, finish the sequence; then try a second angle or channel.

Guardrails & common pitfalls

Too much volume → deliverability tanks. Keep to the limits above.

Generic personalization → spam folder. Use Clay to ground it in facts.

Unverified lists → bounces. Always validate.

Reply-only mindset → you'll miss the real signal. Most people click first, reply later.

Single channel → add LinkedIn/calls to lift meetings from high-fit visitors.

Quick checklist

-Campaign domains bought; SPF/DKIM/DMARC set; warmup on. -≤5 inboxes/domain; cap 15 sends/inbox/day; ramped. -List sourced, verified (<3% bounces), segmented. -Clay personalization plugged in; plain-text templates ready. -Smartlead/Instantly sequences live; pauses configured. -Identity pixel installed; alerts on target visits. -Microsite generator ready; follow-up call/DM scripts prepped.

Cold email's job isn't to win the deal in the inbox—it's to earn a visit you can recognize, convert with a microsite, and finish with a conversation.