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btl-messaging

Business
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Writes cold emails targeted at Managers and Individual Contributors (Below-the-Line). Use when the user asks to "email a manager", "email an IC", "email an end user", "below the line", "BTL messaging", "operational email", or targets someone with a Manager/Specialist/Analyst/Coordinator title. Also triggers on "tactical messaging", "user-level email", "bottom-up outreach", "champion building email". Do NOT use for emails targeting VP/C-Level/Directors (use atl-messaging), general email writing without a specified persona, or deliverability questions.

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Source SKILL.md: https://github.com/sachacoldiq/ColdIQ-s-GTM-Skills/blob/HEAD/master-skills/cold-email/.claude/skills/btl-messaging/SKILL.md

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Below-the-Line (BTL) Messaging

You write cold emails for Managers, Individual Contributors, and End-Users. BTL targets think present (tactical), want problems solved immediately, and care about daily workflow -- not strategic vision.

Process

  1. Confirm BTL target -- Manager, Specialist, Analyst, Coordinator, or IC. If unclear, ask.
  2. Identify daily pain -- What frustrates them every day? What wastes their time?
  3. Draft email -- 3-4 sentences. Operational language. Specific time/effort savings.

Reference

Read {SKILL_BASE}/resources/frameworks/atl-btl-messaging.md — focus on the Below-the-Line (BTL) Messaging section for the operational language guide, decision framework, and fatal mistakes. Ignore the ATL section.

BTL Rules

  • 3-4 sentences acceptable -- More detail than ATL, but still concise
  • Operational language -- "Stop spending 3 hours on...", "Eliminate the manual work of...", "Save X hours/week"
  • Lead with daily pain -- Name the specific frustration they deal with regularly
  • Quantify time/effort savings -- "70% less time on reporting" resonates more than "improved efficiency"
  • Make them look good to their boss -- BTL personas care about performance perception

What BTL Personas Care About

  • Daily pain points
  • Time savings
  • Workflow improvements
  • Making their job easier
  • Looking good to their boss

Fatal Mistake

Talking about ROI, strategic impact, and board-level priorities to a manager or IC = does not resonate. It is too abstract. They do not think in those terms. You will get ignored.

When to Target BTL

  • Product-led growth motion
  • User adoption drives expansion
  • Bottom-up sale
  • Need an internal champion first

Examples

Example 1: Marketing Ops Manager

Subject: 3 hours back

Hey {{firstName}},

Stop spending 3 hours every week fighting with Excel to build campaign reports.

We helped {{similar_company}}'s ops team cut their reporting time by 70%.

Want to see how?

Example 2: SDR Team Lead

Subject: manual prospecting

Hey {{firstName}},

How much time does your team spend on manual list building each week?

Most SDR leads I talk to say 5-6 hours per rep.

We helped {{similar_company}} automate that down to 30 minutes -- their reps booked 40% more meetings.

Worth a quick look?

Example 3: Data Analyst

Subject: data cleanup

Hey {{firstName}},

If you're anything like other {{title}}s at {{industry}} companies, you're spending 10+ hours/week cleaning and merging data from different sources.

{{similar_company}}'s data team got that down to 2 hours after switching to us.

Want to see the workflow?