Export Guide · 04
Whether it lands in the inbox has little to do with how nicely it is written — it depends on technical setup and sending behaviour. Check these three layers in order; don’t get it backwards.
Many factories’ problem isn’t “we don’t send cold emails” — it’s that we send them and the other side never sees them. Mail providers judge an unfamiliar message mainly on three things: whether the sending domain is trustworthy, whether the sending behaviour looks like bulk mail, and whether the body trips sensitive rules. Copy quality comes last.
Before sending from a business domain email, three DNS records must be in place:
SPF — declares which servers may send on behalf of the domain.
DKIM — adds a digital signature to the message, proving the content wasn’t altered.
DMARC — tells the recipient what to do with mail that fails the first two checks.
Without all three, mail from your business address is widely treated as suspicious. This is a domain-level setting: do it once and it holds — a one-off job that is worth the hours.
Don’t bulk-send. Sending the same message to hundreds of unknown addresses in one go is one of the clearest spam signals there is.
Small batches, addressed one by one, are safer: a few dozen at a time, lightly tailored to each company, spaced out over time.
Warm up a new domain. A freshly registered domain that suddenly sends at volume is easily downranked; start small and let the provider build trust gradually.
Keep links and attachments out of the body — they’re a hallmark of spam, especially in the first email. Same for multiple images and oversized attachments.
Avoid obvious salesy phrasing and all-caps English in the subject and body. The goal of the first email isn’t a deal — it’s getting one sentence back.
On content, three things are enough: who you are, what you make, and why you’re contacting them. Don’t turn it into a company profile.
(1) Is SPF / DKIM / DMARC configured for the domain?
(2) Are you sending in small batches, one by one, rather than all at once?
(3) Has the new domain been warmed up?
(4) Is the first email kept to few links and no large attachments?
(5) Do you keep a sending record, so you can see which batches got replies?
Q: Can I send cold emails from a free mailbox such as Gmail or Hotmail?
A: Not as your main channel. A free mailbox can’t carry SPF / DKIM / DMARC for a company domain, so deliverability is out of your control — and recipients trust a non-company address noticeably less. Free mail is fine for personal correspondence, not as the primary channel for outreach.
Q: How many is safe to send?
A: There’s no universal number — it depends on the domain’s history, sending frequency and the recipient’s policies. The steady approach is to start with a few dozen a day, watch bounce rates and the spam folder, then increase gradually rather than going for volume from the start.
Q: I sent them and got no replies — is my copy just bad?
A: Rule out the technical cause first — send a test to a different mailbox of your own and see where it lands. If it’s in the spam folder, better copy won’t help. Once delivery is confirmed, then work on the subject line and opening.
Further reading: Six channels for finding overseas buyers · The first step for a domestic factory · Business email and deliverability setup