n8n Cold Email Automation Guide

Send automated cold emails using n8n in under 2 minutes. No coding knowledge required.

🔑 Core Concept

Every automation = Trigger + Action

  • Trigger: New email added to Google Sheet
  • Action: AI writes a personalized email → Gmail sends it

🧰 What You Need

  • n8n account (Free 14-day trial)
  • Google Sheet with Name and Email ID columns
  • Gmail account (to send emails)
  • OpenAI credits (free credits work fine)

📄 Step 0: Prepare Your Google Sheet

Create a Google Sheet like this:

NameEmail
Rahulrahul@email.com
Ananyaananya@email.com

Every time you add a new row, the automation will trigger.

🧠 Step 1: Create a New Workflow

  1. Log in to n8n
  2. Click Create Workflow
  3. You'll see an empty canvas (this is where nodes connect)

⚡ Step 2: Create the Trigger

What this does: Tells n8n to start the workflow whenever something changes in your Google Sheet.

  1. Click Add Node → Select Google Sheets
  2. Connect your Google account (credentials)
  3. Choose your spreadsheet and the correct sheet/tab
  4. Click Fetch Event to test

Result: On the left panel, you'll see live data from the sheet confirming the trigger works.

🤖 Step 3: Call an AI Agent

What this does: AI will write and personalize the email using the name from Google Sheets.

1. System Prompt

You are a helpful email assistant.
Write a professional cold email.
Do not include a subject line.

2. User Message

Write an email starting with "Dear {{Name}}"

👉 Drag the Name variable from the left panel into the message

  1. Add a new node → AI Agent
  2. Connect Google Sheets → AI Agent
  3. Paste the System Prompt and User Message
  4. Click Execute Node

🧠 Step 4: Choose AI Model

  1. Inside the AI Agent node, click Model
  2. Select OpenAI
  3. Use free credits (works perfectly for this use case)
  4. Click Execute Node

Result: You'll see a fully written email generated by AI.

✉️ Step 5: Send Email via Gmail

What this does: Sends the AI-generated email automatically.

  1. Add a new node → Gmail
  2. Connect AI Agent → Gmail
  3. Select Send Message
  4. Choose your Gmail credentials

Gmail Field Setup:

  • To: Drag Email variable from Google Sheets
  • Subject: Inviting {{Name}} (drag Name variable)
  • Message Body: Drag the AI Agent output

▶️ Step 6: Execute the Workflow

  1. Click Execute Workflow
  2. Watch each node: Yellow → Processing, Green → Success

✅ Final Result: Email is sent, message is personalized, automation works end-to-end! 🎉

🔁 What Happens Automatically?

Every time you add a new email to the Google Sheet:

  1. n8n detects the new row
  2. AI writes a personalized email
  3. Gmail sends the email

No manual work needed.

🧩 Why This Is Powerful

  • No coding required
  • AI-generated personalized emails
  • Fully automated outreach
  • Scales instantly
  • Works for sales, founders, creators, recruiters

🚀 Next Steps (Optional Upgrades)

  • Add follow-up emails
  • Track opens & replies
  • Connect CRM
  • Add delay logic
  • Use different AI prompts