Cold emails remain one of the most challenging channels in B2B marketing. While open rates average 20-25%, click-through rates and actual responses often fall into the single digits. The reason is simple: most outreach campaigns are built around the product, not the customer. Messages begin with a description of features or a list of benefits that have little connection to the recipient's real problems.
ICP Pain Points radically changes this scenario. This section captures specific pain points for the segment: what prevents the customer from achieving goals, what processes are hindering growth, and what mistakes are costly. Using this data, you stop guessing what to write in a cold email and start crafting your message around what truly matters to the recipient.
According to HubSpot, emails that directly address customer pain points have a 47% higher response rate than emails built on product promises. This is because cold contacts don't trust your brand and don't have the time to understand your features. But if the letter immediately describes his pain, it looks less like a sale and more like the beginning of a conversation.
Pain Points as the Foundation for Cold Outreach
Successful cold outreach doesn't start with the product or even the unique selling proposition. Its foundation is understanding the customer's pain points. This is why the Pain Points block in the ICP is a key tool for preparing cold outreach campaigns. It reveals which challenges remain unresolved, where the company is wasting time or money, and which processes are causing the most stress for the target audience.
When an email begins with a pain point, it immediately grabs attention. People open the message and see not "We offer an innovative solution," but wording that reflects their own experience. For example: "Many marketing directors say the cost of customer acquisition has increased by 35% over the past year, and the team is spending too much time optimizing campaigns." This approach works because the recipient sees themselves reflected in the text. This creates empathy and lowers the barrier to further reading.
In its Sales Outreach Benchmarks 2024 study, HubSpot found that emails that begin with pain points receive 31% more responses than those that begin with product-focused phrases. The reason is obvious: the recipient isn't necessarily interested in your product, but they are certainly interested in their own problems.
An example of using ICP Pain Points in a real-world cold email: if the ICP profile for the CFO segment notes that the key pain point is the rising cost of capital, the email might begin with, "I've noticed that many CFOs are currently facing rising borrowing costs and are looking for ways to preserve margins." This phrase demonstrates that you understand the real context and speak the customer's language.
Another example is the HR director segment. The ICP identifies a pain point: "Long onboarding of new employees reduces productivity." The email might begin with, "Rapid onboarding of employees has become a challenge for many HR directors: on average, the process takes more than 60 days and significantly slows down team growth." This wording doesn't sell the product, but rather confirms that you understand the situation.
It's also important that pain points allow you to segment your emails. Instead of one generic cold email, you can create different versions for different pain points. One group of emails could focus on rising costs, another on lost time, and a third on the complexity of integrations. This approach reduces the likelihood of the email ending up in the trash and increases the chance of a response.
As a result, ICP Pain Points become the foundation that allows you to build cold emails around the customer, not the product. This makes outreach more human, relevant, and effective.
How to Transform ICP Pain Points into Email Subject Lines and Opening Lines
The email subject line and opening line account for 80% of cold outreach success. If they don't grab the attention of the prospect, the email won't be opened. If they do open it, but the opening lines sound like a typical pitch, they'll close it within seconds. Using ICP Pain Points allows you to transform the subject line and opening line into a powerful hook that immediately demonstrates the relevance of the message.
The main mistake of cold outreach is writing subject lines around the product: "New tool for process optimization" or "Innovative marketing solution." Such wording doesn't reflect the client's real needs and looks like a mass mailing. Subject lines built on ICP pain points work quite differently. For example, if the pain point is increasing CAC, the email subject line might be "Is CAC growing faster than revenue?" or "How to reduce customer acquisition costs by 30%." Here, you use language that resonates with the prospect and directly addresses their problem.
In its Cold Email Trends 2024 report, HubSpot notes that subject lines containing pain point language increase open rates by 29%. This is because such emails appear to reflect current reality rather than a marketing promise.
The first lines of the email should continue this logic. If the subject line mentions a problem, the opening should reinforce it and add social proof or fact. For example:
- Subject line: "Is it difficult to retain new employees?"
- First line: "We see that for many HR directors, onboarding takes more than 60 days and is reducing team productivity."
Or for the CFO segment:
- Subject line: "Is the rising cost of capital putting pressure on margins?"
- First line: "Last quarter, most CFOs reported higher rates and are looking for new ways to optimize expenses."
Here, you can see that the email isn't about the product, but rather about a context already familiar to the recipient. This lowers the barrier and increases the likelihood that they will read the email to the end.
It's also important to consider the emotional tone. The subject line should be short and to the point, avoiding clichés like "Unique Offering." The opening lines are best framed in factual language or quotes from the ICP: "Our interviews showed that marketers spend up to 40% of their time on manual tasks." This presentation creates a sense of expertise and builds trust.
The best campaigns use multiple variations of subject lines and opening lines to address the same pain point. For example, if the problem is a long sales cycle, one version of the subject line might be a question ("Is the sales cycle taking too long?") and another a statement ("Sales cycles have become 25% longer this year"). Both versions address the same pain point but test different audience response styles.
Thus, pain points transform the subject line and opening line into an engagement tool. You stop guessing what might work and use data about what truly matters to the customer. This makes cold outreach more precise and significantly increases the chances that the email will not only be opened but also read.
Arguments and evidence that resonate with pain points
Even if the subject line and opening lines grab attention, without strong argumentation, a cold email quickly loses its impact. The recipient may recognize their problem, but if you don't demonstrate that you understand its depth and can offer proven solutions, the email will end at the reading stage, before they click or respond. This is where ICP Pain Points data helps transform arguments from generalities into compelling and personalized ones.
Most unsuccessful emails are built on the claim "our product solves your problems," but without specifics, this sounds like empty marketing. Instead, use facts and examples directly related to pain points. For example, if ICP identifies a CFO pain point—an increase in the cost of capital—the argument should sound like: "Companies that implemented our solution reduced financing costs by 18% in the first year." This immediately introduces a number that speaks to the CFO and allays their skepticism.
In its State of Sales Emails 2024 report, HubSpot notes that emails containing specific figures or social proof increase reply rates by 34%. This is because figures transform pain points into measurable objectives, rather than abstract promises.
Another example is the HR director segment. The ICP identifies a pain point: "Long employee onboarding reduces productivity." Instead of a general argument like "our tool speeds up onboarding," the email might include a fact: "Using our template, companies reduce onboarding from 60 to 20 days." This argument doesn't simply promise improvements; it demonstrates verifiable results.
Evidence can take various forms: customer case studies, statistics, research links, expert quotes. The key is that it should be specifically related to the pain points identified in the ICP. If a client is unsure about implementation time, show an example of rapid integration. If the pain point is related to increased costs, cite savings figures.
How you structure your arguments is also important. In a cold email, you don't have much space, so it's best to use the "pain-fact-result" principle. First, you identify the problem ("many companies lose up to 30% of their budget on manual processes"), then you present the argument ("our client reduced this loss by a third thanks to automation"), and end with a hint at the solution ("would you like to see a short case study?"). This structure is logical, simple, and leads the reader to action.
Therefore, argumentation and evidence in cold emails only work when they resonate with real pain points. ICP Pain Points transforms the email into a personalized insight: you demonstrate your understanding of the problem and immediately back it up with figures and stories. This builds trust and increases the likelihood of a response.
CTAs that promise a solution to a pain point, not a product
In cold emails, it's the final step—the call-to-action—that most often fails. Even if the client read the text and recognizes their pain point, a standard CTA like "Schedule a call" or "Learn more about our product" comes across as too aggressive. It doesn't continue the conversation, but rather cuts it off. To increase click-through rates and get responses, a CTA should promise a solution to the pain point, not sell a product.
ICP Pain Points helps formulate such calls. If a CFO profile identifies the pain point as "increasing cost of capital," a logical CTA would be: "Want to see how companies reduce financing costs by 20%?" This question promises insight relevant to the pain point and encourages clicks. If an ICP for HR directors identifies the pain point as "long employee onboarding," the CTA might be: "See how to reduce onboarding from 60 to 20 days." Here, the focus is on the solution, not the product feature.
HubSpot's Sales Outreach Metrics 2024 study found that pain-point-based CTAs yield 27% more positive responses compared to product-focused CTAs. This is because the customer doesn't feel pressured, but sees a logical continuation of the conversation about their problem.
A good practice is to use soft CTAs. Instead of "Let's call tomorrow," it's better to offer "Would you like a short, 2-minute case study?" or "Would you like to check out the cost-savings calculator for your team?" These options are easier to accept because they feel like a small step that reduces risk for the customer.
Example of a chain:
- ICP pain point: high advertising costs.
- Letter: "Many marketing directors complain that CAC has increased by 35%."
- Argument: "Our client reduced costs by 27% in a quarter."
- CTA: "Would you like to see their optimization strategy in a case study?"
Here, the CTA promises useful content related to the pain point and naturally encourages clicking.
Another example is the IT director segment. The barrier in ICP is "fear of complex integrations." Instead of a CTA like "Try the product," you could use "Watch the video tutorial on implementation in 7 minutes." This alleviates anxiety and makes the next step safe.
Therefore, a strong CTA in cold emails is built around ICP Pain Points. It promises not a product, but a solution to a problem the customer is experiencing right now. This changes the dynamic: the email ceases to be a sale and becomes one of assistance. And this is what motivates the customer to click or respond.
Multi-Step Sequences: Addressing Pain Points Sequentially
A cold email rarely yields results from the first email. Even if the message perfectly addresses a pain point, the client may not be ready to respond immediately. That's why the best outreach campaigns are built as a sequence of emails, each addressing a specific pain point from the ICP. This approach transforms the series of messages into a logical dialogue rather than a repetitive attempt to reach a customer.
Barriers and Pain Points from the ICP help determine the order of these steps. For example, if the CFO's key pain point is rising costs, the first email should address this. The second email could move on to a different pain point, such as difficulty with forecasting accuracy. The third could address the fear of margin loss due to data errors. Thus, each email answers a new question and removes another obstacle.
In their Sales Nurturing 2024 study, HubSpot notes that sequences of 3-5 emails, each focusing on a separate pain point, increase reply rates by 42% compared to campaigns where the same message is repeated over and over. This is because the customer sees a developing dialogue rather than obsessive repetition.
Example:
- Email 1: "Did your CAC increase by 30%?" focuses on the immediate pain point related to costs.
- Email 2: "Are your revenue forecasts inconsistent?" transitions to the pain point of data inaccuracy.
- Email 3: "Are your margins declining due to accounting errors?" strengthens the argument from a new angle.
- Email 4: "Would you like to see a case study of a company that solved these three problems simultaneously?" concludes with a CTA.
This scenario demonstrates that you understand the full range of the customer's problems, rather than focusing on just one.
Another example is the ICP for HR directors. Pain points include long employee onboarding, high turnover, and training difficulties. The chain might look like this:
- "Is onboarding taking more than 60 days?"
- "Is the turnover of new hires above 20%?"
- "Is the team spending too much time on training?"
- "Would you like to receive a template that addresses these three issues?"
In this logic, each email acts as a building block, building trust and a willingness to engage.
It's important that such chains be designed with the client's cadence in mind. If the ICP identifies urgent pain points (for example, new regulations), emails can be sent at intervals of 2-3 days. If the pain points are strategic, a weekly interval would be more appropriate.
Thus, multi-step chains based on ICP Pain Points transform cold outreach from a random attempt to "catch attention" into systematic communication. You guide the client through their own pain points step by step, and each email makes the click or response more and more natural.
Conclusion
Cold emails too often fail because they focus on the product, not the customer. Using ICP Pain Points changes this dynamic. When each message is built around the segment's real pain points, it stops being pushy and becomes the start of a dialogue.
You use pain points to create subject lines and opening lines that grab attention. You build your arguments on facts and case studies that support the feasibility of the solution. You formulate CTAs that promise pain relief rather than selling the product directly. And you build sequences that remove doubts step by step, leading the customer from silence to a response.
According to HubSpot, companies that use pain points in cold outreach campaigns receive almost 1.5 times more responses. But more importantly, such emails are perceived as a manifestation of empathy and expertise, not just another mass mailing. This builds trust, without which a cold contact will never become a warm lead.
As a result, ICP Pain Points become more than just a copywriting tool, but a strategic resource that allows you to build communications around what's truly important to the client. And this is the key to turning cold emails from "cold" to effective.
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