The Cold Email Campaign Playbook

The operational side — folder structure, daily metrics, A/B/C subjects, leak diagnosis.

COLD-EMAIL-CAMPAIGN-PLAYBOOK.md · 31 sections · 2,440 words · 16 KB · markdown

Not the sending infrastructure — the campaign operation. How to structure the working folder, version daily metrics so you can actually see a trend, run A/B/C subject tests that resolve, and diagnose the gap between a good open rate and a dead landing page.

What's inside

//A campaign folder structure that survives multiple waves
//Daily metrics versioning so trends are visible, not reconstructed
//A/B/C subject-line test design with a resolution rule
//Landing-mismatch diagnosis when opens are fine and conversions aren't
//List temperature segmentation (cold / warm / hot) and how each is treated
//The rule against promising anything not live in billing today

When to use it

Launch week.

Build these first

Email Infrastructure

Straight from the file

This is NOT a coded subsystem — it's a discipline + folder convention + decision-log pattern. The reference implementation lives at reference app (Kompozy → BILT-warm RE list, ~100k addresses).

Table of contents

0. Use this spec
1. Folder structure
2. README.md template
Campaign goal
Files
Status
Next decisions
3. email-v1.md template
Subject
Preheader
Body
Sender
4. subject-line-test.md template
Test slice
Variants
Decision criteria (in priority order)
Result (filled in after test)
5. metrics-YYYY-MM-DD.md template (append-only)
Send window
Numbers (from <Instantly/Smartlead> dashboard)
Reply breakdown (qualitative — leading indicator)
Screenshot
Notes
6. DECISIONS.md template (rolling log)
7. List segmentation
8. Ramp schedule
9. Landing-page-mismatch diagnosis
10. Pricing-promise hygiene
11. Reply handling
12. Common pitfalls
13. Kickoff prompt

How to run it

Drop COLD-EMAIL-CAMPAIGN-PLAYBOOK.md into your repo, then tell Claude Code: “Read COLD-EMAIL-CAMPAIGN-PLAYBOOK.md and implement it in this codebase.” It's written for an agent to execute end to end. Search the file for angle-bracket placeholders and swap in your own project names, domains, and keys before the first run.

↓ Download the playbook

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The Cold Email Campaign Playbook

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