Are Your Cold Emails Not Working? Maybe You Should Look Into the Rule of 7

We’ve all seen the hot takes: “Cold emailing is dead,” “Does cold emailing actually work?” “Why cold emails won’t work at scale.” While there’s usually a kernel of truth in these claims, they often overlook a fundamental factor—familiarity. Or, as most marketers call it, “brand recognition.”

But cold emailing can still work, provided you’ve established that all-important familiarity beforehand. In other words, yes, you need a certain set of skills to craft compelling emails. But more importantly, your recipients need to have seen or heard about your brand enough times to trust it. That’s where the Rule of 7 comes in. And if you’re sending out cold emails without warming up those leads first, it’s like stepping onto the pitch expecting to score a goal without doing any warm-up drills—your chances of success are slim to none.

The Psychology Behind Familiarity

From a cognitive psychology standpoint, people are wired to respond more positively to things they recognize. We’re all subject to the “familiarity heuristic,” meaning we tend to trust what we’ve seen before. In B2B, stakes are often high, so decision-makers need to be sure they’re dealing with a credible partner. Repetition can signal credibility and reliability—two ingredients necessary to build trust and convince stakeholders that your solution is worth their time.

Enter the Rule of 7

Back in the 1930s, movie studios discovered that moviegoers needed to be exposed to a marketing message at least seven times before they’d buy a ticket. This concept, the Rule of 7, holds firm in modern marketing. Yet plenty of startup founders still throw Hail Mary cold emails, asking their sales teams to send them out en masse, hoping for a quick win. Predictably, many of these emails flop. Why? Because the recipients have zero trust in a brand they’ve never heard of.

The key insight is that your audience should have at least seven encounters with your brand—across various channels—before that sales email hits their inbox. Yes, even if you’re “just a startup,” there are plenty of ways to familiarize leads with your brand without spending a fortune.

Examples of the Rule of 7 in Action

1. Content Marketing

• Situation: A SaaS company promoting a new product feature.

• Common Mistake: Relying on only one or two marketing activities and not coordinating them well.

• How to Do It: Highlight the feature in a blog post, demo video, email campaign, webinar, LinkedIn ad, customer case study/testimonial, and retargeting campaign.

• Why It Works: Repeated exposure across multiple channels increases conversion rates. By coordinating these activities in an orderly manner, you reduce the risk of confusion and amplify brand awareness.

2. Account-Based Marketing (ABM)

• Situation: You want to close a high-value deal by targeting a specific segment.

• Common Mistake: Targeting too many accounts with scattershot messaging, resulting in diluted impact.

• How to Do It: Use a combination of personalized LinkedIn messages, direct mail, targeted ads, email marketing, custom landing pages, and a tailored webinar series.

• Why It Works: Your prospects start recognizing your brand in multiple places (without feeling stalked). Once they’ve seen your brand enough times, they feel more at ease responding if there’s an actual need.

3. Event Marketing

• Situation: Sponsoring an industry event.

• Common Mistake: Believing your event presence alone is the golden ticket. Equally important are pre-event warmups and post-event follow-ups.

• How to Do It: Send email invites, share social media posts with countdown timers, and distribute case studies or testimonials in the lead-up. At the event, showcase a concise, compelling demo. Afterward, follow up with relevant email campaigns or social touches.

• Why It Works: Event attendees have limited attention spans. By creating multiple touchpoints before, during, and after the event, you’re far more likely to make a lasting impression—especially if attendees have never heard of you before.

Leverage Technology in Your Favor

Having a robust CRM system (e.g., HubSpot) helps you track how your prospects interact with your brand. After running systematic marketing efforts for a while, you’ll likely notice that successful conversions involve multiple brand touchpoints. The magic number might not always be exactly seven, but it certainly won’t be just one or two. And remember, offline or untracked online interactions likely add even more touchpoints that your CRM can’t see.

Dive into your CRM data. Look for patterns: which initiatives are consistently moving leads down the funnel, and which ones are flops? Double down on what works, and keep testing new tactics to see if they become part of your “lucky seven.”

Closing Thoughts

Whether you’re sending cold emails, exhibiting at events, or launching new features, establishing familiarity is crucial. Building trust takes time. But the difference between a single cold outreach and a carefully orchestrated “warm-up” campaign is the difference between radio silence and meaningful engagement.

If you’re feeling overwhelmed trying to juggle these multiple touchpoints, we’re here to help, get in touch! Because while you can, in theory, score a goal with your first touch, it’s usually best to warm up, build your play, and have a skilled coach guiding your strategy.

Hack of the Week: Store, Structure, and Expand Your Ideas with ChatGPT

This week’s productivity hack is all about using ChatGPT as your personal idea organizer. Rather than letting half-formed thoughts slip away, you can create a “Brainstorming” project (or folder) dedicated to capturing and refining your ideas. Here’s the simple process:

1. Record Your Thoughts
   Open a new ChatGPT session—voice or text (I prefer voice) —and describe your idea in your own words. Don’t worry about structure yet; just capture your raw thought process.
   

2. Invite Critical Questions
   Ask ChatGPT to identify gaps or pose clarifying questions. These prompts help reveal blind spots and spark fresh thinking you might otherwise miss.
   

3. Organize and Outline
   Once you’ve explored new angles, request ChatGPT to structure the idea into four categories:
   • Base Case – The core concept or scenario.
   • Potential Gaps – Risks, weaknesses, or missing pieces.
   • Open Questions – Unresolved points or areas needing more research.
   • Next Steps – Action items for moving the idea forward.
   

By leveraging ChatGPT’s understanding of the world, you gain both clarity and fresh perspectives. This structured approach ensures no idea goes to waste and makes it easier to refine, present, and implement your next big brainstorm.