Email Outreach: Examples, Setup and Sending

What is email outreach, and what has to be in place before the first send?

Email outreach means sending one-to-one messages with a concrete ask to people who don't know you yet, or who haven't answered. Before the first message goes out, you need three things: a sending domain that authenticates, a list you can justify contacting, and copy that reads like it was written for one person. The authentication part has published rules. Since February 2024, Google has applied its bulk sender requirements to anyone sending more than 5,000 messages a day to personal Gmail addresses. Those senders need SPF and DKIM, a DMARC record of at least p=none, one-click unsubscribe under RFC 8058 for marketing mail, and a spam rate below 0.3% as reported in Postmaster Tools. Most cold senders stay well under 5,000 a day, but the same checks show up in spam filtering at every volume. Here's what doesn't work: a domain registered last week sending hundreds of messages on day one, or a template sent word for word to a whole list. Our page on video email for B2B outreach explains how EmailFlow OS fits video into this kind of setup.

What does a good email outreach example look like?

Here are four complete first-touch emails. Replace the bracketed parts with your own facts. Leaving a placeholder in is one of the most common mistakes in live outreach.

• Trigger event — Subject: Your new [city] office. Body: Hi [first name], I saw [company] is opening in [city]. When teams add a second site, outbound often gets rebuilt from scratch. I recorded a short video on how we'd handle that for you. Worth 15 minutes next week? [Your name]
• Right-person check — Subject: Who owns outbound at [company]? Body: Hi [first name], I'm not sure you're the right contact. Who decides how [company] runs cold email? One name is plenty and I'll take it from there. Thanks, [your name]
• Problem-led — Subject: DMARC on [company]'s outreach domain. Body: Hi [first name], I looked up [domain] and couldn't find a DMARC record, so receivers have no policy to check your outreach mail against. If that's on your list, I can show you in ten minutes what we'd check first. Interested? [Your name]
• Video-led — Subject: A video for [first name]. Body: Hi [first name], rather than another long email, I recorded a short video about [company]'s [specific situation]. If it's off the mark, just tell me and I won't follow up. [Your name]

Use the trigger-event email when there's a public, dated reason to write. The right-person check is for when you can't tell who owns the problem. Pick the problem-led version when you can name a specific failure, and the video-led one when the recording shows something text can't. For more openers, see our 12 sample cold emails for first touch and trigger events.

What's a sales follow up email sample I can copy?

Send a follow-up as a reply in the same thread. That keeps the In-Reply-To and References headers defined in RFC 5322, so the recipient sees the full conversation. Here are four samples:

• No reply, day 3 — Hi [first name], following up on the note below. Is [problem] something you're working on this quarter, or should I check back later? [Your name]
• New information — Hi [first name], one more detail I left out: [specific fact about their setup]. If that changes things, I'm happy to walk you through it. [Your name]
• After a call — Hi [first name], thanks for the time today. As agreed: [next step], [owner], by [date]. I'll send [item] before then. [Your name]
• Breakup — Hi [first name], I haven't heard back, so I'll assume the timing is wrong and stop writing. If that changes, just reply to this thread. [Your name]

Use the no-reply nudge once. Send the new-information version only if you really have something new. The post-call recap goes out the same day, and the breakup email ends the sequence. Our sales follow-up email templates cover more cases, including post-call and no-reply variants.

How do I run email outreach with a personalised video?

In EmailFlow OS, the whole workflow is four steps, and your domain and list stay in your hands:

1. 1 Record one video and upload it to EmailFlow OS.
2. 2 Connect your own Brevo account and your own sending domain.
3. 3 Import your prospect list into EmailFlow OS.
4. 4 EmailFlow OS creates a personalised version of the recording for each recipient (not each company) and sends every version from your own inbox, through your Brevo account and domain.

Because sending goes through your Brevo account, the mail is authenticated against your domain's SPF, DKIM and DMARC records, and any reputation it earns belongs to your domain, not a shared platform address. That cuts both ways. A domain with broken DNS or a poorly built list will have the same problems with video as without it. EmailFlow OS doesn't decide inbox placement; the receiving server does. Our guide to cold outreach with one personalised video walks through the same workflow from the prospecting side.

Which DNS records does email outreach need on your own domain?

Record	Where it lives	What it does	Common mistake
SPF	TXT record on the sending domain	Lists the servers allowed to send for the domain	Publishing two SPF records, or going over the 10 DNS lookup limit in RFC 7208
DKIM	TXT record at the selector Brevo shows for your domain	Signs each message with your domain's key	Signing with the provider's domain, so the signature doesn't align with your From address
DMARC	TXT record at _dmarc.yourdomain	Requires SPF or DKIM to align with the From domain and sets the policy	Going to p=reject before reports show every legitimate source passing

Start DMARC at p=none with a rua reporting address, read the aggregate reports, then tighten the policy. If you also send from Google Workspace on the same domain, both Google and Brevo need to fit into a single SPF record. The full setup order is in our guide to DKIM, DMARC and SPF for cold email senders.

Why does email outreach land in spam or get no replies?

Most failures trace back to a cause you can find and fix:

• Missing or misaligned DKIM: the message is signed, but not with the domain in the From header, so DMARC fails.
• SPF permerror: the record needs more than 10 DNS lookups, and receivers treat it as broken.
• No ramp-up: a new domain sends full volume right away, before any reputation exists.
• High bounce rate: an old or guessed list hits non-existent mailboxes, which tells receivers the list wasn't verified.
• Identical copy at volume: the same body sent hundreds of times looks like bulk mail to content filters.
• Spam complaints above 0.3%: Gmail's published threshold for bulk senders, measured in Postmaster Tools.

The first two are DNS fixes you can make in an afternoon. The rest come down to how you operate. A per-recipient video doesn't make up for a bad list or a cold domain. Our article on email warm-up daily volumes and DNS setup covers the ramp.

Is B2B email outreach allowed in Germany and the EU?

In Germany, § 7(2) No. 2 UWG treats advertising by email without the recipient's prior express consent as an unreasonable nuisance. Courts apply this to business recipients as well. There is no general B2B exemption like the one some other countries have. Across the EU, GDPR Article 14 applies when you collected someone's data from a source other than them: if you use it to contact them, you must give them the Article 14 information no later than that first message. Article 21(3) says that once someone objects to direct marketing, you must stop processing their data for that purpose. In the US, CAN-SPAM requires opt-outs to be honoured within 10 business days. EmailFlow OS keeps your prospect list in one place and sends through your own domain, but whether a given send is lawful depends on your legal basis, your notices and how you handle objections. Those are your decisions. Check them with counsel for your market.

Questions people ask

? What is email outreach?

Email outreach is sending individual messages to people you haven't been in contact with, or who haven't replied, with one specific ask. It's different from newsletters, which go to opted-in subscribers. In Germany, § 7 UWG generally requires prior consent for advertising emails, including to business recipients.

? How many outreach emails can I send per day?

No single limit applies to everyone. Google's bulk sender rules start at 5,000 messages a day to personal Gmail accounts. Above that, SPF, DKIM, DMARC, RFC 8058 one-click unsubscribe and a spam rate below 0.3% are required. A new domain should start far lower and build up volume gradually.

? Should I send outreach from my main domain or a separate one?

A separate sending domain keeps outreach reputation apart from your company's day-to-day mail. It needs its own SPF, DKIM and DMARC records and its own warm-up. With EmailFlow OS, whichever domain you connect through your Brevo account is the one that sends and builds reputation.

? How many follow-ups should an outreach sequence have?

A common structure is one opener, one or two follow-ups in the same thread, and a breakup email, so three to four messages in total. Each follow-up should add something new. Sending the same text again just raises the chance of a spam complaint.