Sofie warms people up

Cold DM templates for fractional CMOs.

Five first messages to founders between product-market fit and a full-time marketing hire, written to get a reply rather than to pitch. Fill in the [brackets] from what they wrote.

Write one for a specific personFollow-up writer

What they care about

  • A plan, not just activity
  • Someone senior without a full-time salary
  • Knowing which channel to bet on

What gets ignored

  • Frameworks and acronyms
  • Long credentials up front
  • Assuming they need a CMO
1 · They shared growth numbers

Congrats on [milestone]. Where is growth coming from right now: founder-led sales, word of mouth, or something you’re running?

The diagnostic question a good CMO would ask.
126 characters
2 · They’re hiring marketing

Saw you’re hiring your first marketer. Are you looking for someone to set the strategy, or to execute one you already have?

Helps them see the gap you fill.
123 characters
3 · They just followed you

Thanks for the follow. I work as a part-time CMO for [stage] companies. Who owns marketing at [company] today?

Your model in one line, then the key question.
110 characters
4 · They posted about a stall

Saw your post about growth flattening. Was it a channel that stopped working, or a new segment that doesn’t respond the same way?

Shows how you think.
129 characters
5 · A few days later, no reply

Happy to share the one-page plan I use with founders at your stage, if useful. No call needed.

Useful on its own.
94 characters
Don’t send this

As a seasoned marketing executive with 20+ years at Fortune 500 companies, I’d love to explore synergies.

All credentials and jargon, nothing about them.
Monty

Monty writes these for every good follower, every morning.

Templates are a start. Monty reads your new X followers, finds the founders between product-market fit and a full-time marketing hire among them, and writes a first message from what each one actually posted. You decide and send.

Start a 7-day trial for $0You decide and send every message yourself.

How to use these templates

  1. Pick the moment, not the template. Each one fits a situation: they followed you, posted about a problem, launched, are hiring, or haven’t answered yet. Use the one that matches what just happened.
  2. Fill every bracket with something true. The specific detail is what makes the message worth answering.
  3. Read it out loud. If it doesn’t sound like you, change the words until it does. Then send it yourself.

One specific detail, one easy question, and nothing to sell yet. The pitch comes after they reply.

Want more? What to say in a first DM on X has forty openers sorted by situation, from launches to hiring posts.

Questions

How do I write a cold DM as one of the fractional CMOs?

Start from one specific thing the person wrote or did, ask one easy question, and leave your pitch for later. The templates on this page show five common moments to message founders between product-market fit and a full-time marketing hire, with the parts to fill in marked in brackets.

Can I send these templates as they are?

Fill in every bracket with something true about the person, then change a few words so it sounds like you. If a template could still go to 500 people after you’ve filled it in, it isn’t personal enough yet.

When should I follow up?

After a few days, with a new angle: something useful, or an easier question. Twice is plenty. The last template on this page is a follow-up.

Does Monty send these for me?

No. Monty finds the people worth messaging among your X followers and writes a first message for each, but you always decide and send it yourself.

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