Why most cold emails get under 1% replies (and what actually moves the needle)

Been deep in cold email data lately: sending, analyzing replies, iterating and a few things stood out that don't get talked about enough:

1% reply rate gets treated like "the norm." It's not, it's the average of mostly generic blasts dragging the number down. Emails with even basic personalization (referencing something specific about the company, not just Alex consistently do 3-5x better.

Subject lines that ask a question outperform subject lines that state a fact. Curiosity gap > information.

Follow-ups matter more than the first email. Most replies come on email 2 or 3, not email 1 but most people give up after one send.

Timing matters less than people think. Tested sending at "optimal" hours vs random hours& negligible difference compared to personalization quality.

Curious what others here have found, anyone tracking this systematically? What's actually been moving your reply rates lately?