Think you can write the perfect cold email? Prove it!
Compete in Hunter's Messaging Madness this March.

Are you tired of opening lines that say, "I hope this finds you well," are poorly written, take forever to read, and never get to the point?

Messaging Madness is your chance to re-write what's in your inbox and win $1,000.

March is the month of college sports competition, and you can get in on the action with our ultimate cold email tournament. Open to all, we’ll pit 64 emails against one another over three weeks, and the public decides who advances.

Do you have what it takes to be the last one standing? With sign-ups closing on 13 March, here’s how you can enter before the buzzer rings!

What is Messaging Madness?

Messaging Madness is a cold email competition where effective messaging wins.

Why? Because it's time for outreach to focus on the quality of the message.

Relevant messaging may not be the only element for sending successful outreach, but it's definitely the most important element.

Messaging Madness is six rounds to determine the best cold email of 2025, with the last four winning a year’s Starter plan subscription with Hunter. But, the real bragging rights go to the champion, who pockets a cool $1,000 too. 

Getting into the final 64

Choose from one of four scenarios, write an email, and submit it. Your entry will be judged by an internal Hunter panel based on criteria rating effectiveness.

If you make it into the final 64, you’ll compete in public polls against 16 other emails from your scenario grouping until the Follow-Up 4.

Will you campaign your network to gain votes or ask friends, family, and colleagues to get involved? It’s all fair game and ready for you to promote on LinkedIn with #MessagingMadness25. Show off your copy and build your cheer squad.

The Follow-Up 4

If you come out of your scenario group with the best email, you’ll be one of four to win 12 months of Hunter's Starter plan.

But that doesn't mean your challenge is over. To take the championship, you’ll need to write two more emails based on your original entry:

1. A follow-up to your first message
2. A final message to drive action

Once you have submitted your two final emails, the first email will be used in the Follow-Up Four. If you advance to the championship game, you’ll both be judged on the final message's ability to drive action.

The last email standing is the Messaging Madness Champion 2025.

Why are we doing this?

Email is half art, half science. Some land—but most are effectively spam, and I know you have plenty in your inbox.

Messaging Madness is about you showing how a cold email should read, helping you to:

• Sharpen (and focus) your writing
• Learn what works in cold outreach by getting the public to vote on your words
• Celebrate great messaging and highlight what makes an email stand out

And, of course, it’s about showing you’re the best email copywriter of 2025!

The scenarios

Entrants will choose one of these scenarios to write an intro outreach email.

Scenario 1: Growth Manager

• You are: A Growth Manager in an HR software start-up 
• Target companies: Construction businesses of 11-50 heads, Benelux, using BambooHR, Employment Hero, or Lattice
• Target recipient: Director of Finance
• Your offer: A 15-minute conversation to show the persona how they can cut costs and find a better system for construction companies than BambooHR, Employment Hero, or Lattice.

Scenario 2: Pre-Revenue Founder

• You are: A Pre-Revenue Founder of a law firm CRM 
• Target companies: UK law firms with 11-100 lawyers using Salesforce Legal
• Target recipient: Managing Partner
• Your offer: To meet up with the Managing Partner at the annual UK law firm event LawCon to buy them coffee and discuss how your time at Salesforce inspired a better way to build and use a legal CRM.

Scenario 3: Business Strategy Consultant

• You are: A Business Strategy Consultant.
• Target companies: B2B business of 201-500 heads, SaaS vendors, Mid-West, USA
• Target recipient: Chief Operating Officer
• Your offer: A free OKRs certification course / OKRs health check for every Continuous Improvement Lead within the organization.

Scenario 4: SEO Manager

• You are: An SEO manager for a B2B eCommerce site.
• Target companies: Start-up news sites in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland
• Target recipient: Marketing Director
• Your offer: Exchange of links to drive traffic to a new landing page comparing Shopify and your business, which focuses on Shopify’s promises to B2B eCommerce companies, your research across competitors on abandon cart monetization, and how you’re (i.e., removing costs of using Shopify Plus and 3rd party integrations.)

The rules

You have complete creative control—everything is up to you:

• Subject lines
• Email length
• Links & attachments
• Emojis & images
• Signatures and unsubscription copy/links

What happens after you enter?

Once entries close on March 13, the bracket will be announced on March 18 at 8 AM EST. The first round kicks off the same day at 1 PM EST. 

Public polls will decide each round. You're absolutely encouraged to promote yourself to secure votes using #MessagingMadness25 on LinkedIn!

Circle these dates on your calendar:

📅 Entry Deadline: March 13

1️⃣ First Round: March 18-21

2️⃣ Second Round: March 22-24

🏀 Super 16: March 25-28

📖 Open-Rate 8: March 29-April 1

🔥 Follow-Up 4: April 2-6

🏆 Championship: April 7-8

Ready to enter?

Can your email go the distance? 

Make a copy of this document, choose your scenario, write your copy, and submit your entry via this form:

Hurry! You only have until March 13 to take your shot and re-write what a cold email should be.