Gmail Cold Outreach Campaign

# Gmail Cold Outreach Campaign

Research prospects, compose hyper-personalized cold emails, and stage them as Gmail drafts. Uses Brave Search for prospect research and Gmail API for draft creation.

## When to Use

- "Write a cold email to the CTO of [company]"
- "Create outreach emails for [list of prospects]"
- "Draft a partnership pitch to [person]"

## Requirements

- **Google Cloud CLI** (`gcloud`) authenticated with Gmail API
- **Brave Search MCP** for prospect/company research
- OAuth2 scopes: `gmail.compose`, `gmail.readonly`
- `jq` for JSON parsing

## Workflow

### Step 1 — Gather Target Info

Collect from user:
1. **Prospect name / email / company** (minimum: company name)
2. **Your value proposition** — what you're offering
3. **Goal** — meeting, demo, partnership, referral
4. **Your relevant credentials** — specific results or shared connections

### Step 2 — Research the Prospect

Use Brave Search MCP to find:
```
brave_web_search: "{PERSON_NAME} {COMPANY} recent news blog post interview"
brave_web_search: "{COMPANY} challenges hiring product launch 2025 2026"
```

Extract:
- **Recent company news** — funding, product launches, hiring
- **Person's public content** — blog posts, talks, social media
- **Shared connections** — mutual companies, events, interests
- **Company pain points** — problems your offering solves

### Step 3 — Draft the Email

Apply the AIDA framework (Attention, Interest, Desire, Action):

1. **Opening line** — Reference something specific (their blog post, company news) — NOT "I hope this email finds you well"
2. **Bridge** — Connect their situation to your expertise (1-2 sentences)
3. **Value** — One specific result you've achieved for a similar company
4. **Ask** — One clear, low-friction CTA ("15-minute call" not "let me know if interested")

Rules:
- Under 100 words total
- No attachments in cold email
- No more than 1 link
- 3 subject line variants for A/B testing

### Step 4 — Create A/B Subject Line Variants

Generate 3 subject lines:
- **Curiosity**: Question or unexpected angle
- **Value**: Direct benefit statement
- **Social proof**: Name-drop or specific result

Example:
```
A: "Quick question about {COMPANY}'s {INITIATIVE}"
B: "How we helped {SIMILAR_COMPANY} cut {METRIC} by 40%"
C: "{MUTUAL_CONNECTION} suggested I reach out"
```

### Step 5 — Create Gmail Draft

```bash
ACCESS_TOKEN=$(gcloud auth print-access-token)

# Create draft with subject variant A
ENCODED=$(echo -n "From: me\nTo: {RECIPIENT}\nSubject: {SUBJECT_A}\nContent-Type: text/plain; charset=utf-8\n\n{BODY}" | base64 -w 0 | tr '+/' '-_' | tr -d '=')

curl -s -X POST -H "Authorization: Bearer $ACCESS_TOKEN" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d "{\"message\": {\"raw\": \"$ENCODED\"}}" \
  "https://gmail.googleapis.com/gmail/v1/users/me/drafts"
```

### Step 6 — Save Outreach Log

Save the outreach details to `outputs/outreach/YYYY-MM-DD-{company}.md`:
```markdown
# Outreach: {COMPANY}
- Prospect: {NAME} ({EMAIL})
- Sent: {DATE}
- Subject: {SUBJECT_USED}
- Research notes: ...
- Follow-up date: {DATE + 5 days}
```

## Important Rules

- Never send — only create drafts
- Never use deceptive subject lines
- Always disclose who you are in the email
- Respect CAN-SPAM: include way to opt out

## Example Prompts

- "Write a cold email to the VP Engineering at Stripe about our testing tool"
- "Create outreach for 3 SaaS CTOs about our consulting services"
- "Draft a partnership email to the founder of [startup]"