Cold Email Outreach
Cold email for B2B: what the law allows, how many emails per mailbox per day, and which metrics are normal. + Infrastructure math for 1,000 emails a day.
Cold email is personal outreach to potential customers who have never interacted with your company or subscribed to your list. In B2B it is used to win new clients: each email is addressed to a specific decision-maker and speaks to their problem. It works under three conditions: separate warmed-up mailboxes, an accurate list and a sequence of 4–7 touches.
At the end of this article you'll find the infrastructure math for 1,000 emails a day: how many mailboxes and domains you need and what it costs per month. Plug in your own volume.
At a glance: cold email in numbers
| Metric | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Average cold email reply rate | 3.43% | Instantly, 2026 |
| Reply rate of top campaigns | 10.7% and above | Instantly, 2026 |
| Replies to the first email / to follow-ups | 58% / 42% | Instantly, 2026 |
| Optimal sequence length | 4–7 touches | Instantly, 2026 |
| Benchmarks for cold campaigns on warmed-up mailboxes | 45–75% opens, 5–15% replies, complaints below 0.1% | Holymailer |
| Fine for a company in Russia for advertising over telecom networks without consent | RUB 300,000 – 1,000,000 | Russian Administrative Code, art. 14.3 part 4.1 |
How is cold email different from spam
A cold email is addressed to a specific person and written about their problem. Spam is the same ad sent to everyone.
| Cold outreach | Bulk email to subscribers | Spam | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Recipient | Specific decision-makers at target companies | Subscribers who gave consent | Anyone on a bought list |
| Content | A personal offer tailored to the company's problem | News, promotions, content | The same ad for everyone |
| Volume | Dozens of emails a day per mailbox | Thousands of emails at once | As many as possible |
| Infrastructure | Separate domains and warmed-up mailboxes | An ESP with shared or dedicated IPs | Throwaway addresses |
| Goal | A reply and a meeting | Clicks and purchases | Clicks at any cost |
Is cold email legal in Russia
Russia's Advertising Law (Federal Law 38-FZ, art. 18) prohibits distributing advertising over telecom networks, including email, without the recipient's prior consent. The key question is whether your email counts as advertising.
Under art. 3 of the same law, advertising is information addressed to an indefinite group of people. A personal business proposal to a specific employee of a specific company, based on that company's situation, is often not considered advertising. The same email sent to a thousand random addresses risks being classified as advertising.
Mistakes are expensive. A general violation of the Advertising Law can cost a company RUB 100,000–500,000, and advertising over telecom networks without consent RUB 300,000–1,000,000 (Russian Administrative Code, art. 14.3, parts 1 and 4.1).
To reduce the risk:
- Write to employees' work addresses at companies, not to private individuals' personal mailboxes.
- Make each email personal: name, company, and the reason you're writing to this person specifically.
- Stop immediately if someone asks you not to write again, and keep a suppression list.
- Don't buy lists containing personal data: that also falls under the Personal Data Law (152-FZ).
This is not legal advice. Show your templates to a lawyer before launching a large campaign. If you email recipients in the US or EU, CAN-SPAM and GDPR apply as well.
What infrastructure you need for cold email
Never send cold emails from your company's main domain. If it ends up in spam, your invoices, contracts and client correspondence will go to spam too.
A working setup looks like this:
- Separate domains that resemble your main one: company-team.com, getcompany.io.
- No more than 4 mailboxes per domain, so that one problem domain doesn't stop the whole campaign.
- SPF, DKIM, DMARC and MX on every domain — see SPF and DKIM.
- A redirect from the sending domain to your main website, so recipients can check who you are.
- Warm-up for every mailbox — at least 7 days, ideally 3–4 weeks.
- Mailbox rotation: total volume is spread across mailboxes instead of going out from one address.
In Holymailer, domains and mailboxes are created with SPF, DKIM, DMARC, MX and the redirect already configured, and are ready to export in 10 minutes.
How many cold emails to send per mailbox per day
The benchmark is 30–50 cold emails a day from a warmed-up mailbox. Technically Google Workspace allows up to 2,000 emails a day, but that limit is for normal correspondence, not for emails to strangers.
Need more volume? Add mailboxes and domains. Ten mailboxes at 40 emails a day are safer than two mailboxes at 200.
How to write a cold email that gets replies
Top campaigns keep emails under 80 words with a single call to action, according to Instantly's 2025 data. A structure that works in B2B:
- Trigger. Why you're writing now: a job opening, a launch, growth, company news.
- Problem. One problem the recipient is likely dealing with.
- Result. A specific number or example, not a list of services.
- One question. A simple next step: “Is this relevant?” or “A 15-minute call?”
No attachments, images or link shorteners in the first email. More in the cold email copywriting guide (in Russian).
How many emails should a sequence have
4–7 touches is optimal. According to Instantly, the first email brings 58% of all replies, and the other 42% come from follow-ups. Without a sequence, you lose almost half of your replies.
| Touch | Day | Purpose |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | Trigger, problem, question |
| 2 | 3 | Short reminder in the same thread |
| 3 | 7 | New argument: a case study or a number |
| 4 | 12 | Different angle: another pain point or another person at the company |
| 5 | 18 | Break-up email: “if this isn't relevant, I won't write again” |
What cold email metrics are normal
The main metric is the reply rate, not opens. Open rates are distorted by pixel blocking and automatic email preloading.
| Metric | Poor | Normal | Good |
|---|---|---|---|
| Reply rate | below 2% | 3–5% | above 10% |
| Open rate | below 30% | 45–75% | above 75% |
| Hard bounces | above 3% | 1–2% | below 1% |
| Spam complaints | above 0.3% | below 0.1% | close to 0 |
Benchmarks are based on data from Instantly, Google and Holymailer guidelines. Low opens — check your deliverability. High opens but no replies — change the offer and the segment.
Calculation: infrastructure for 1,000 cold emails a day
For 1,000 emails a day you need about 28 mailboxes on 7 domains. In Holymailer that's about RUB 4,600 a month, excluding one-time domain registration.
| Step | Formula | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mailboxes | 1,000 emails ÷ 40 emails per mailbox | 25 mailboxes |
| 2. Buffer | +10–15% for replacements and pauses | 28 mailboxes |
| 3. Domains | 28 mailboxes ÷ 4 mailboxes per domain | 7 domains |
| 4. Mailboxes per month | 28 × RUB 99 | RUB 2,772 |
| 5. Domains per month | 7 × RUB 199 | RUB 1,393 |
| 6. Platform access | flat fee | RUB 399 |
| Total per month | RUB 4,564 + domain registration |
Prices are from Holymailer's pricing page as of 2026-09-30. You only pay for active mailboxes and connected domains.
Formula for your own volume:
- Mailboxes = emails per day ÷ 40 × 1.1, rounded up to a multiple of 4.
- Domains = mailboxes ÷ 4.
- Monthly budget = mailboxes × RUB 99 + domains × RUB 199 + RUB 399.
Keep in mind: 1,000 emails a day includes follow-ups. With a 4-email sequence that's about 250 new contacts a day. Mailboxes must finish warm-up before you run at full volume.
Frequently asked questions
What is cold email in simple terms?
It's emails to people who don't know you yet, proposing to talk about working together. Unlike spam, each email is addressed to a specific person and tied to their problem.
Is cold email legal in Russia?
Advertising by email without consent is prohibited by art. 18 of Federal Law 38-FZ. A personal business proposal to a specific company employee is often not considered advertising because it isn't addressed to an indefinite group of people. The assessment depends on the content, so show your templates to a lawyer.
How many cold emails can I send per day?
30–50 emails a day per warmed-up mailbox. Total volume is limited only by the number of mailboxes and domains: 1,000 emails a day takes about 28 mailboxes on 7 domains.
What is a good cold email reply rate?
The average is 3.43%, and top campaigns get 10.7% or more, according to Instantly's 2025 data. Below 2% is a signal to revisit the list, the offer or deliverability.
Can I send cold emails from my main domain?
Better not. Complaints and bounces will hit the domain's reputation, and invoices and regular correspondence will start landing in spam. Use separate domains that redirect to your main website.
How many follow-ups should I send?
4–7 touches in total, i.e. 3–6 follow-ups after the first email. They bring 42% of all replies; after 7 touches returns diminish.
Sources
- Instantly: Cold Email Benchmark Report 2026 — data for January–December 2025.
- Russian Administrative Code, art. 14.3 (ConsultantPlus) (in Russian) — fines for violating the Advertising Law.
- Google: Email sender guidelines.
- Google Workspace: sending limits.
- Holymailer: pricing, capabilities, deliverability (in Russian).
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