{"id":20407,"date":"2022-04-27T00:02:18","date_gmt":"2022-04-27T00:02:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/?p=20407"},"modified":"2023-12-20T00:47:58","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T00:47:58","slug":"elon-musk-twitter-cold-email","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.gmass.co\/blog\/elon-musk-twitter-cold-email\/","title":{"rendered":"The Cold Email Sequence Elon Musk Sent Twitter’s Board"},"content":{"rendered":"

In early April, when <\/span>Elon Musk declared he was going to buy Twitter<\/b>, it seemed like another outrageous statement in his long line of high-profile, odd, boredom-driven outrageous statements.<\/span><\/p>\n

But this wasn\u2019t just Elon Musk making empty promises, like when he said he\u2019d spend money to cure <\/span>world hunger<\/span><\/a>. No, this time he decided to do something more meaningful with his wealth and actually purchase Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

Twitter\u2019s board of directors, however, would require some serious convincing.<\/span><\/p>\n

And it turns out <\/span>Elon Musk sent each member of Twitter\u2019s board a series of <\/b>cold emails<\/b><\/a> encouraging them to accept his offer and sell him the company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

How do we know? Because like most pros sending cold emails these days, <\/span>he used GMass<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Now that the Twitter board has agreed to sell to Elon, he was <\/span>so grateful to GMass<\/b> he shared his entire cold email series with us, and told us we could share it as well.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here, exclusively, is <\/span>the cold email series Elon Musk sent to Twitter\u2019s board of directors<\/b> to convince them to sell the company to him.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email #1 – Sent 4\/11\/22, after turning down a Twitter board seat due to his larger plans<\/h2>\n

The first email: The proposal<\/h3>\n

\"Elon<\/a><\/p>\n

Subject line:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

So I\u2019ve got a proposal for you\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

Message:<\/b><\/p>\n

Dear {TwitterBoardMemberFirstName},<\/span><\/p>\n

Elon here. Wanted to reach out to you with a little offer\u2026<\/span><\/p>\n

As you know by now, I turned down the opportunity to join you on the board. It was a difficult decision, because I admire what you\u2019ve done in your career:<\/span><\/p>\n

{WhateverInsignificantThingsThisPersonHasDoneWithTheirMediocreLife}<\/span><\/p>\n

But joining the board meant I\u2019d be capped at owning 14.9% of Twitter. <\/span>I\u2019m aiming for 100%<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

So I wanted you to be the first to know I\u2019m planning to make an offer to buy the entire company. And I hope you\u2019ll be on board. (Get it? Board? Because you\u2019re on the board? I\u2019m quite good at making normal human jokes.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Please reply to let me know if I can count on your support,<\/span><\/p>\n

– Elon\u00a0<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What we like about this cold email<\/h3>\n

Elon uses some <\/span>excellent cold email strategy<\/b> here.<\/span><\/p>\n

We like his <\/span>cold email subject line<\/span><\/a> a lot: It <\/span>piques curiosity<\/b> and most likely drove a strong open rate.<\/span><\/p>\n

His use of <\/span>personalization<\/span><\/a> is also good. He clearly <\/span>researched each person on his list<\/b>; then he used GMass\u2019s feature to <\/span>personalize entire paragraphs<\/span><\/a> sharing what he learned about their accomplishments. (Although it\u2019s a good thing his recipients won\u2019t see the name of the <\/span>Gmail mail merge field name<\/span><\/a> he used.)<\/span><\/p>\n

Elon makes use of humor here, or at least his definition of humor. <\/span>Humor can be quite powerful in a cold email<\/b>, as it creates a feeling of familiarity, warms up a recipient, and can motivate them to respond when they otherwise might not.<\/span><\/p>\n

Finally, Elon uses a <\/span>single call-to-action here<\/b>, asking for a reply \u2014 it\u2019s clear what his desired outcome is from this email. If he gets a reply, the <\/span>auto follow-up sequence<\/span><\/a> will stop going to this board member; if he doesn\u2019t get the reply, they\u2019ll get the next message in the series.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email #2 – Sent 4\/13\/22, right before he went public with his offer<\/h2>\n

The second email: A follow-up with a greater sense of urgency<\/h3>\n

\"Elon<\/a><\/p>\n

Subject line:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

(none, sent as a reply to the previous message)<\/span><\/p>\n

Message:<\/b><\/p>\n

Hey {TwitterBoardMemberFirstName},<\/span><\/p>\n

Elon again. Wanted to let you know I\u2019m going public at 4:20 A.M. with my offer to buy Twitter.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was hoping to have your full support before I do. If you reply TODAY to let me know you support me, I\u2019ll tweet you a shoutout. I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll get quote tweets from Joe Rogan, Tucker Carlson, and maybe even Kid Rock, which is huge.<\/span><\/p>\n

Anyway, let me know. It\u2019s only logical for me to take Twitter private to help it finally reach its true potential. Because we can\u2019t have corporations thinking they know what\u2019s best for people. Only billionaires know what\u2019s best for people.<\/span><\/p>\n

– Elon<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What we like about this cold email<\/h3>\n

We like that Elon <\/span>sent this as a reply to the previous email<\/b>, rather than starting a new thread with a new subject line. Sending follow-ups as replies \u2014 super simple to do with GMass \u2014 <\/span>makes cold emails look more like personal one-on-one emails<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Elon also creates a <\/span>greater sense of urgency<\/b> with this email, sweetening his request with an exciting offer \u2014 that comes with a ticking clock. (A Kid Rock retweet!?!? That opportunity would make anyone say bawitdaba da bang da bang something something diggy something something and up down the boogie.)<\/span><\/p>\n

All in all, this is another convincing cold email and a <\/span>strong automated follow-up<\/b>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email #3 – Sent 4\/15\/22, after the Twitter board announced its poison pill strategy to thwart Elon\u2019s purchase<\/h2>\n

The third email: Quelling a major concern<\/h3>\n

\"Elon<\/a><\/p>\n

Subject line:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

Poison ☠️? Here\u2019s the antidote<\/span><\/p>\n

Message:<\/b><\/p>\n

{TwitterBoardMemberFirstName}… so you decided to go the poison pill route.<\/span><\/p>\n

I get it. I don\u2019t like it, but I get it. Everyone\u2019s calling this a hostile takeover. Which is crazy.<\/span><\/p>\n

There\u2019s nothing hostile about me! (Ignore the flamethrowers I sold, k thx.)<\/span><\/p>\n

I\u2019m not hostile! I offered to buy Twitter at $54.20 a share. See? I put \u201c420\u201d in there. I\u2019m a child. Everyone else outgrows 420 jokes by the time they\u2019re 19. Not me. I\u2019m a 50-year-old literal child. Totally harmless.<\/span><\/p>\n

If only the company had become a little more profitable in the 10 years you\u2019ve had to grow it, I could\u2019ve made an offer for $69.69. See! 69! I\u2019m a harmless man baby.<\/span><\/p>\n

Please let me know if you\u2019ve changed your mind and you\u2019ll accept my offer.<\/span><\/p>\n

– Elon<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

What we like about this cold email<\/h3>\n

Here in his third email, Elon tried to put the board members\u2019 minds at ease over their concerns.<\/span><\/p>\n

The third email in a cold email series can be a good time for that: <\/span>Anticipating a prospect\u2019s key concerns and proactively explaining why their hesitation is unfounded.<\/b><\/p>\n

This email uses a new subject line, meaning Elon didn\u2019t send it as a reply to the prior emails. However, he did use GMass\u2019s \u201c<\/span>force prior message<\/span><\/a>\u201d feature, which still put his previous messaging history into the email as if it were a reply. That, again, <\/span>closely simulates a one-on-one email<\/b> and is an effective cold email technique.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email #4 – Sent 4\/16\/22, after it became clear no one was coming to save Twitter<\/h2>\n

The fourth email: Pushing hard for the close<\/h3>\n

\"Elon<\/a><\/p>\n

Subject line:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

(none, sent as a reply to the previous message)<\/span><\/p>\n

Message:<\/b><\/p>\n

Hey {TwitterBoardMemberFirstName}, Elon here again.<\/span><\/p>\n

So it appears no white knight is coming to acquire Twitter and save you from me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I still don\u2019t know why you need saving!<\/span><\/p>\n

I know you only own {MeagerHoldingStakeofBoardMember} shares, but you won\u2019t get a more lucrative deal than mine to cash \u2018em out.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Plus you can always get on another social media board. I hear Truth Social is really taking off.<\/span><\/p>\n

Hahahaha. See? I make jokes in every situation.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Let me know if you\u2019re finally ready to sell.<\/span><\/p>\n

– Elon<\/span><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Elon is pushing even harder for a reply in this email. His cold email sequence is wrapping up soon, and he\u2019s ready to close the deal.<\/span><\/p>\n

So here, he demonstrates <\/span>two crucial elements of any successful cold email<\/b>. One, he lays out how <\/span>he\u2019s providing a unique service<\/b> they can\u2019t get anywhere else. And two, he spells out how it will <\/span>personally benefit the recipient <\/b>financially.<\/span><\/p>\n

If you can use a cold email to show you\u2019re the only one who can provide a service with clear, tangible, enticing benefits, you should see a good amount of traction.<\/span><\/p>\n

Email #5 – Sent 4\/22\/22, two days before meeting with the board<\/h2>\n

The fifth email: The last shot<\/h3>\n

\"Elon<\/a><\/p>\n

Subject line:<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

{TwitterBoardMemberFirstName}, don\u2019t be the only holdout<\/span><\/p>\n

Message:<\/b><\/p>\n

Hey {TwitterBoardMemberFirstName},<\/span><\/p>\n

The board is meeting in a couple of days to discuss my offer and pretty much everyone else is in. The rest of the board wants it. The shareholders want it. The users want it. You don\u2019t want to be the only one who\u2019s out, right?<\/span><\/p>\n

I wanted to take one more shot to clear up any last concerns to get you on the team before Sunday.<\/span><\/p>\n