How Strataigize signed seven figures in client contracts through cold email

We helped Ian McGavin's agency, Strataigize Marketing, sign seven figures in client contract value through cold email.

Ian wanted to reach bigger accounts. Strataigize had client results it could point to, but referrals and his own outreach weren't consistently bringing in the type of business he wanted.

For the mobile app campaign, we put the pitch into a short email: help the founder get more users, show a relevant result, explain the offer, and ask whether they wanted to talk.

Here's the email and the thinking behind it.

Ian wanted a way to reach bigger accounts

Strataigize already knew how to market mobile apps. The agency could show a prospect what it had done for another app and explain how it would approach user acquisition.

Getting in front of the right founders was the problem.

Referrals had helped build the business. Ian had also tried running cold email himself, but he wanted more control over the companies he was reaching.

That gave us a clear job: find suitable prospects and give them a reason to consider Strataigize.

The message needed to make sense to someone responsible for growing an app. More users matter. So does what it costs to acquire them. Those were the concerns we built the pitch around.

The cold email template

The original campaign template contains several wording options. Below is one readable version, using the first complete option in each part of the message. We've kept the offer and numbers from the template and corrected "his cost per install" to "their cost per install."

Subject: where does {{companyName}} rank in the app store?

Hey {{firstName}},

I came across {{companyName}} and really like what you've built so far.

I'm reaching out because we help mobile app founders scale their user base without burning through budget.

We recently helped a family trip planning app go from 1,181 installs to over 11,500 in 10 months, while actually dropping their cost per install by 64%.

Our offer is simple:

We will get you at least 10,000 new downloads in the next 60 days, or we'll refund our entire fee.

Are you open to a quick call to see if we can do the same for you?

You can read it quickly and understand what the agency is offering. That's what I want from a first email.

Start with something the app founder cares about

The subject line names the company and asks about its position in the app store.

That connects the email to the prospect's business before they open it. Other subject options in the template asked about the company's growth.

The opening line is simple:

I came across {{companyName}} and really like what you've built so far.

It's a light introduction. It also isn't particularly specific. You could send that sentence to a lot of companies, so I wouldn't credit the compliment with carrying the campaign.

The next sentence does more work. It names the buyer, the outcome, and the budget concern:

we help mobile app founders scale their user base without burning through budget.

An app founder can tell whether that problem is relevant. They don't have to work through a list of everything the agency sells.

If I were adapting this for a new campaign, I'd look for a real detail about the app to use in the opening. Keep it short and check that it's true. A made-up observation gives the reader a reason to distrust the rest of the email.

Use proof from a business like theirs

The proof in this email was another app's growth:

from 1,181 installs to over 11,500 in 10 months

The same sentence says cost per install fell by 64%.

An app founder wants to know what that growth cost. Showing more installs alongside a lower cost per install gives them a better reason to look at the case.

The period matters too. Ten months gives the result context. Without it, the reader has no idea whether you're describing a launch week or years of work.

Those figures were Strataigize's client proof used in the pitch. IronPeak's result in this case is the signed client contracts generated through the outreach.

Use the best relevant proof you have. An app founder is more likely to find another app's acquisition results useful than a long list of unrelated client logos.

Make the offer clear enough to evaluate

The template offered at least 10,000 new downloads within 60 days, with a refund of the agency fee if that result wasn't reached.

The founder could understand what was being proposed and what the agency was putting behind it.

That doesn't mean every agency should copy the same promise. You need to know what you can deliver, what the client has to provide, and what the terms cover.

For example, a refund of the agency fee doesn't automatically mean a refund of the client's advertising spend. The agreement needs to make that clear.

The number in the offer also needs to fit the business. A young app with a small budget and an established app with a large acquisition budget may need very different campaigns.

Write the promise around what you can deliver, then spell out the terms.

Ask for a reply they can give you now

The email ends with:

Are you open to a quick call to see if we can do the same for you?

That is still a request for a call. It just asks whether they're interested before sending them into a scheduling process.

There isn't a calendar link in the template. The prospect can reply, ask a question, or say they're open to talking.

Once someone responds, the next message needs to move the conversation forward. If they want the case study, send it. If they want to understand the offer, explain it. If they're ready to talk, get the call arranged.

Ian's team then has to understand the prospect's business and turn the conversation into an agreement.

The prospect response showed we were reaching the right accounts

One of the conversations captured in the case study included this reaction:

Oh fuck ya what a prospect that one is!!

The next message explained why:

He is going to be spending millions in ads over the next couple of months

That was the kind of account Ian wanted to reach: a business with substantial plans for growth and a reason to consider an agency.

The message describes a prospect's expected advertising budget. The signed-contract result is a separate measure. Ad budget belongs to the client; agency contract value is what the agency signs.

Another screenshot in the breakdown shows the reply:

Let's find a time to meet

That's the next step the email was asking for. It gave the team a conversation to take forward.

What to borrow for your own agency

Start with one type of buyer and a problem you can solve for them.

For this email, that meant mobile app founders who wanted more users without wasting their acquisition budget. The proof, offer, and call to action all followed from that choice.

You don't need to squeeze your entire sales presentation into the first message. Give the reader enough information to decide whether a conversation is worth having.

If you don't have a result as large as the one in this email, use a smaller result you can prove. You can also offer a specific review of their app or acquisition setup. Make clear what they'll receive and have the work ready when they ask for it.

Copy the structure, then fill it with your own facts. Borrowing someone else's numbers doesn't make them your proof.

Questions about cold email for marketing agencies

What does the seven-figure result mean?

It means signed client contract value for Strataigize. Cash collected and recurring monthly revenue are separate measurements and aren't being reported here.

Is this the exact email every prospect received?

The screenshot shows a campaign template with alternate subject lines and wording. The version above makes those options readable and includes one grammar correction. Individual emails could differ as the options and company details changed.

Do cold emails need to be exactly 98 words?

No. The useful part of this example is how quickly it explains the buyer's problem, relevant proof, the offer, and the next step. Keep what the prospect needs and cut the rest.