Did you know that businesses that use a multichannel outreach strategy witness an increase in customer engagement by 287%?

Most of us live, work, and shop in the online world, so nowadays, outreach is no exception. Whether in sales or marketing, you target people out of the blue and try to catch their attention, book more meetings, and ultimately close more deals via email and other communication channels.

Implementing a strong outreach strategy can help with lead generation, turning those leads into satisfied customers, and nurturing relationships with them later on.

But how to turn those cold targets into warm leads and convert them into clients? It’s time to learn about the best outreach sequences. Our marketing team has done the research, so you don’t have to, and we’ll go over:

We’ve got a lot to cover, so grab your reading glasses, and let’s begin. 👓

Image of CTA banner 1 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


What are outreach sequences and how do they work?

An outreach sequence is a planned series of actions and follow-ups carried through one or multiple communication channels that aims to connect with potential leads, customers, or clients. The goal is to build relationships with leads, generate interest, or drive a specific action.

For example, if you’re outreaching via email, the first email would be introductory. If there’s no response, you keep sending follow-ups that contain more information and value with each message.

Depending on the target audience, their interests and preferences, and the overall strategy, you can create outreach sequences using:

The best outreach sequences aim to add multiple touchpoints with prospects and combine different channels. This means that each message in a sequence is personalized and tailored to address the prospect's previous action in a sequence.


How to create the best outreach sequences?

The main characteristics of the best outreach sequence are their structure and the strategy behind the intended communication. The goal is to gradually build your outreach sequence and drive engagement with your target audience. 

Here are key steps of this process:

  1. Identifying goals - Pinpoint your outreach objectives, find your target audience, and understand their wants, needs, and challenges before crafting a tailored outreach sequence.
  2. Sequence building and design - Create a series of messages and follow-ups using one or more channels that seamlessly guide them toward taking action.
  3. Make sure to personalize messages according to previous research and actions.
  4. Timing and frequency - Your main goal should not be too pushy or intrusive, so make sure to space out messages correctly and adjust the frequency accordingly. 
  5. Execution - Reach out to your leads manually. However, our advice is to automate outreach sequences for the best results and efficiency. Personalize and schedule, and then let the tool do the work for you, saving you hours of manual work.
  6. Analyzing and optimizing - After the sequence begins running, your job is to track engagement and look at metrics closely (open rates, click-through rates, response rates, and conversion rates) to determine whether your sequence is working or not. Make sure to keep optimizing for better outreach results.

Now that we know the basics of the outreach process, let’s look at our tool Skylead, so you can see firsthand how to create and automate the best outreach sequences. 👇


Automate your outreach sequences

How to automate your outreach sequences? Glad you asked. Introducing Skylead’s first-to-market smart sequences. As a LinkedIn automation and email outreach software, we strongly believe in the multichannel approach. That's why you can combine both of these channels in our sequence builder. Our smart sequences help:

What makes Skylead’s Smart sequences special is that you can combine LinkedIn and email action with if/else conditions.  This will help you get to your prospects one way or the other while maximizing touchpoints with leads. You can use all Skylead prime features inside these sequences to help with a more streamlined outreach. This includes:

Now, let’s create a campaign together to see how it works. It's as easy as 1, 2, 3…


Skylead Smart sequences

1. First, click the “Create new campaign” button.

Create new sequence button screenshot

2. Second, choose a lead source. This is where Skylead pulls all your gathered leads from.

Lead source and campaign name step screenshot

3. Third, adjust your campaign settings and hit the “Create sequence” button.

Create sequence step screenshot

To create a smart outreach sequence, drag and drop the desired actions and conditions and create a coherent outreach flow. Here’s what a simple smart sequence looks like 👇

Smart sequence with actions and conditions screenshot

Now that you have a tool that does all this, plus a little bit more, you’re one step closer to building one of the best outreach sequences out there. But before you start creating your outreach flow, let’s look at sequence message types and review tested and proven sequence examples. 

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


5 Types of sequence messages with examples


1. Educating Messages

When talking to prospects who are still not ready to buy, register, or become clients, you can create and send educating messages. These messages aim to help prospects learn about your product/service and show them how your product can fix their pain points and challenges. The goal is to establish trust and encourage leads to take the desired action.

Here’s an example of a LinkedIn and email educating message:


LinkedIn connection request

Hi {{firstName}},

Ever felt like you needed magic to solve {{painPoint}} at {{Company}}?

{{product/service}} makes these challenges disappear. 

You can:

1. Increase {{metric}} by {{number}}%

2. {{benefit}}

We’re here if and when you’re ready to experience the magic.

Until then, best spells!

LinkedIn connection request, educating message, example 1

Email message

Subject: Would you like magic to solve your {{painPoint}}?

Hi {{firstName}},

Ever wished for a magic wand for {{painPoint}} at {{companyName}}? 

Meet {{solutionName}}—not magic, but close.

Here's what makes {{product/Service}} magical:

1. Eliminates {{painPoint}} and gets your team back on track to success

2. Increases {{metric}} by {{number}}%

Curious? Let’s talk so you can:

What’s your choice?

Cheers!

Email message, educating message type example

2. Messages that build interest

Engagement messages are the most common in cold outreach. Sequences built with engagement messages aim to invoke a reaction from your prospect. Your goal with these messages should be to keep them engaged and get them to build interest in your product/service gradually.

Here’s an example of a LinkedIn and email messages that build interest:


LinkedIn connection request

Hi {{firstName}},

Ever imagine transforming {{challenge}} into an art form? 

Here at {{product/Service}}, we are blending technology and creativity to craft masterpieces.

Curious to paint a brighter future together? Let’s connect!

LinkedIn connection request, example 2

Email message

Subject: Art Meets {{challenge}} 🎨

Hi {{firstName}},

Imagine turning {{challenge}} into art. That's what we do with {{product/Service}}. I’m {{yourName}}, and I’m mixing tech and creativity to craft solutions that aren't just effective—they're inspirational.

We offer {{solution1}} and {{solution2}} to {{benefit}}. 

How about a quick chat to sketch out possibilities?

Email message, messages that build interest example

3. Competitor analysis messages

If you plan to talk about the competition, the trick is to give them a simple competitor analysis and show them how they’re getting these results. Then, emphasize how your product/service can help achieve said benefits. Then finish off with a simple and clear CTA that leads the prospect to a particular action, like scheduling a meeting, booking a call, sending a demo link, etc.

Here’s an example of a LinkedIn and email competitor analysis message:


LinkedIn InMail message

Subject: Ready to Outshine {{competitorTool}}? 🚀

Hi {{firstName}},

Ever wondered why {{competitorName}} leads in {{industry}}? Our audit reveals their key strategies:

{{Describe their approach to key strategy 1}}.

{{Describe their excellence in key strategy 2}}.

Here’s what you can do to get a quick win over them:

{{Your Offer - Task 1}} to elevate your {{result}}.

{{Your Offer - Task 2}} to boost {{specific outcome}}.

Interested in outpacing {{competitorName}}? 

Let's discuss actionable insights in a brief call.

Competitor analysis InMail message example

Email message

Subject: We cracked {{competitorName}} {{industry}} strategy 🚀

If you consider {{competitorName}} a competitor, then you'll definitely want to check out this short audit.

{{Analyze competitor's publicly available workflows or strategies and emphasize what they are doing right.}}

Proposition:

If you wish to surpass competitor name and get a bigger market share, you'll need to: 

{{fWhat you offer - task 1}}

{{fWhat you offer - task 2}}

And this is precisely what we can help you with!

If you want to rise above your competition, let's schedule a quick call and see how we can get you there.

Competitor analysis email message example

4. Follow-up messages

If your prospect didn’t respond to your first message, all you need is a follow-up after no response. A follow-up is a crucial part of an outreach sequence, and it’s necessary in order to give your prospect a gentle reminder of your existence and to lead them further down the buyer’s journey.

The goal is to keep in touch with your prospects and give them the right kind of motivation to respond to you.

Here’s an example of a LinkedIn and email follow-up message:


LinkedIn message

Hi {{firstName}},

Just following up on my previous message about how tackling {{challenge}} can feel like a steep climb. Imagine {{product/service}} as your personal helicopter, offering a swift lift to the top, bypassing those obstacles effortlessly.

Still curious to fly above the challenges? Let’s schedule that demo and start soaring together.

Looking forward to your response.

Follow-up LinkedIn message example

Email message

Subject: Ready to Soar Above {{challenge}}? 🚁

Hi {{firstName}},

Just touching base following my previous message about transforming your approach to {{challenge}}. Think of {{product/service}} as your on-demand helicopter, ready to take you to the top without the climb.

Are you ready to explore how we can elevate your journey with a brief demo?

Eager to see your ascent!

Follow-up email message example

5. Re-engagement messages

Sometimes, prospects lose interest, change their email addresses or they would like to revisit your conversation in a few months. In these cases, you can do two things: in the first, send a re-engagement message to restart the conversation. In the second case, use Skylead’s Find & verify business email feature to get to your prospect's new email address and then send the re-engagement message. Convenient, right?

Here’s an example of a LinkedIn and email re-engagement messages:


LinkedIn message

Hi {{firstName}},

Long time no chat! 🕰️ {{product/Service}} has evolved since we last spoke, unlocking new ways to tackle {{challenge}}.

Curious about the updates? Let's dive back in with a quick demo or chat.

Looking forward to reconnecting!

Re-engagement LinkedIn message example

Email message

Subject: A lot has changed at {{product/Service}}! Let’s catch up

Hi {{firstName}},

It's been a while! Since our last conversation, {{product/Service}} has grown, offering new {{benefit}} for {{challenge}}.

Up for a brief update? A quick chat or demo could spark new ideas.

Re-engagement email message example

Best outreach sequence examples

Enough theory. Let’s get to the actual social proof – a section where we show you our best outreach sequences that have been tested and optimized to perfection to produce great outreach results. 

Given that we believe that multichannel outreach is the way to go, we’ll show you 4 of our sequence templates, which are sure to bring results. All you need to know about them is that our Head of sales, Andrea, closed 50+ meetings while using them! ✨


1. Reach out to leads who reacted to a LinkedIn post of an industry expert

LinkedIn post sequence template

In this outreach sequence, we’ve used a combination of educational and conversion messages. Let’s look at the stats:

The sequence works because we used both LinkedIn and email and exhausted all communication channels to get to our prospects in any case. If you’re trying to reach people who reacted to someone’s LinkedIn post, the presumption is that you’re probably not connected to them. 

We’re using InMails because, from our experience, people generally respond better to them. If you can send them for free, without spending your InMail credit, even better. The Find & verify email feature is here to reach prospects by email if they’re not as responsive on LinkedIn. Email is important in outreach. In fact, 77% of B2B buyers prefer to be contacted by email. 

To see template messages, click here.


2. Target specific group members

Target group members sequence template

This particular sequence landed many new users, and our sales team got to book more meetings than usual. We’ve used follow-up, engagement, and conversion messages and utilized both communication channels. Here are the results:

Targeting specific group members means that we are looking for decision-makers and we want to reach them faster. You can do this by using Sales Navigator search results with the Group members filter. In the sequence we’re using the If connected condition for LinkedIn to cover all leads from our lead source. Then, if they’re not responsive on LinkedIn, we find their double-verified email address and try reaching them there.

To see template messages, click here.


3. Approach people who checked out your website

Website visitors sequence template

Marketers, behold! A sequence that will target people who stumbled upon your website and need a little nudge to take action. If you're using a 3rd party tool on your website that can tell you what company visited your website, you can easily find those people on LinkedIn and reach out. Let’s get right into the stats:

In this sequence, our sales team used educational and engagement messages to spark additional interest and give social proof and more information to prospects already interested in your product/service. We also opted for a multichannel approach that works every time!

To see template messages, click here.


4. Educational sequence with a focus on email

Educational sequence with focus on email template

This sequence is part of our free trial period and is also available to all Skylead users. Our sales team made this template to show you how to engage with your target audience and get them hooked to your product/service with carefully crafted messaging and tone. 

We’ve used educational and engagement message types, focusing on email, but also using LinkedIn as the other communication channel. Here are the stats:

To see template messages, you need to register for a 7-day free trial with Skylead.

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead support team and text "We suport you from day 1"


Outreach sequences: Best practices

After testing and experimenting with different approaches, we’ve formed a list of best practices we always keep in mind when creating outreach sequences. Let our experience serve as a guide for you to create the best outreach sequences. 👇


Use a multichannel approach

What if we told you that 58% of people check their emails first thing, and 14% check social media? This statistic just proves that using two or more communication channels is a must in outreach. We’ve said it once and will say it again: the multichannel approach is the best way to go for higher response rates and faster overall results.


Automate outreach

Businesses that automate outreach campaigns can improve their response rate by a whopping 250%. If your goals are reaching a larger audience or you just want to save time on manual outreach and focus on building and nurturing relationships with prospects, outreach automation is the best solution for you. Plus, a great perk is faster and better results, too. 😉


Add a catchy subject line

Did you know that creating a catchy subject line is directly linked to a higher open rate? A good subject line combined with pre-header text is what helps prospects decide whether they will open and read your email.

Our best advice would be to keep it short, simple, and around 55-60 characters (under 30 characters if you want to stand out in mobile inboxes). Regarding emojis, our research suggests that you should use 1 emoji per subject line. Also, do not put emojis instead of words to avoid confusion. 


Personalization

In this day and age, if you want to stand out online, you need to personalize your approach. If you create tailored messages, emails, and follow-ups and then add visual elements to the mix (Skylead’s Image & GIF personalization), you’ll surely get a higher response rate. In fact, up to 63%, to be exact.


Keep it short

No prospect wants to read a huge message with a standardized template approach. If you plan on creating an effective outreach sequence, you need to be concise and to the point. Otherwise, your message will get lost in your prospects’ inboxes with no trace.

However, if you don’t get a yes the first time around, creating a strong follow-up message after no response can up your chances of success. In this case, the same rules apply - keep your messages short, but with each one, add more value and personalized elements.


Relevant value proposition

Each message you craft and send in an outreach sequence should bring value to your prospect. Once you gather information about your target audience, make sure to find relevant touchpoints and spread them evenly across your sequence. With each message, there needs to be more value. You need to tell your prospects that your offer is precisely what they need.

Pro tip: Andrea, our Head of sales, says that in sales emails, it’s never about you. It’s about the prospect and their problems that can be solved only with your solution and your solution.


Include social proof

In outreach, it’s all a numbers game. This means that adding certain bits of proven information, results, or statistics will spark more interest with prospects. Link a case study, or add 1 or 2 sentences to your outreach message to add social proof to your outreach.

Social proof, Skylead

Call-to-action (CTA)

Our sales team told us to tell you that when creating calls to action, you need to think about creating the perfect environment for your prospect to take the desired action. Naturally, your entire message should build up to this closing moment, the so-called CTA. To avoid confusion, use just one prompt instead of a couple. Keep their focus through the message body and then add the CTA.

From our experience, a good CTA should be:


Determine the timeframe of the sequence

In outreach, as in life, timing is everything. Determining the duration and the spacing between messages is equally important as the messages. If you send messages too often, they’ll be considered spam, but the sequence won't be successful if you don’t contact them often enough. It’s all about balance, so make sure to space out your outreach messages anywhere from the standard 2 to 5 business days.


A/B testing for optimization

Not sure if your content is good enough? No worries. A/B testing, also known as split testing, is here to help with constant campaign improvement. We advise you to incorporate frequent A/B tests into your outreach sequence strategy to get better results faster. Make it a habit to always look into better ways of reaching out to prospects.


Frequently asked questions


How does one tailor outreach sequences for different industries, such as tech versus healthcare, to ensure relevance and higher engagement rates?

Tailoring outreach sequences for different industries involves researching industry-specific pain points, language, and trends. For tech, emphasize innovation and efficiency; for healthcare, focus on compliance, patient care, and privacy. Customization increases relevance and engagement by addressing specific needs and interests of the target audience.


Can the effectiveness of an outreach sequence vary by geographical region, and if so, what adjustments should be made to cater to different cultural preferences?

The effectiveness of outreach sequences can indeed vary by geographical region due to cultural and time differences. To adjust, incorporate local time, business etiquette, language nuances, and cultural norms. Understanding regional communication preferences and holidays can also enhance the personalization and effectiveness of the outreach.


What are the long-term impacts of using these outreach sequences on brand reputation and customer relationships, especially in cases where recipients might perceive the outreach as spammy?

Long-term impacts of using outreach sequences on brand reputation and customer relationships depend on execution. If perceived as spammy, it can harm reputation and deter potential customers. Conversely, personalized, value-driven outreach can enhance brand perception, foster trust, and build lasting relationships, highlighting the importance of customization and relevance.


Ready to put these best outreach sequences to use?

Of course you are! Now that we covered everything you need to know about creating the best outreach sequences, it’s safe to say that if you follow these instructions, you are well on your way to success with your outreach efforts. So, let’s review what we’ve learned so far:

So, what’s the next step? Well, all you need now is the right automation tool to assist you in creating the best outreach sequences and building successful campaigns that bring jaw-dropping results. This is where Skylead comes to the rescue. You can register for free, start your 7-day free trial, and begin creating the best outreach sequences out there! Let the outreach begin! 💥

Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

If you've ever wondered if there is a way to speed up lead-generation activities, we have a proposition - try automated lead generation.

Yes, that's right. Automation has been around for a while, especially for lead generation and management. And no wonder it's so effective since this way, you can find the most qualified leads and scale up your business. But, more importantly, you can generate your leads daily. 

That said if you wish to use lead generation automation properly but need to figure out how - fear not. We will guide you on how to automate every sales and marketing lead generation task.  


I'm in GIF

What is automated lead generation?

Automated lead generation is a process of using technology to perform time-consuming sales and marketing lead generation tasks on your behalf. To do this, you have different kinds of automation tools at your disposal. For example, you can use software to automate sending emails or LinkedIn connection requests.

Automated lead generation offers benefits such as:

That said, there are plenty of automation tools on the market to choose from. However, let’s first distinguish the types of sales and marketing lead generation activities to discover what tool you should use accordingly. 


Types of automatic lead generation

There are 2 types of automatic lead generation, but they best work when used in synergy. 


Inbound lead generation automation

Inbound lead generation is a marketing strategy for attracting leads to your company. For example, a marketing team can create content valuable to the best leads for your business. The purpose of the content is to compel a lead to first take specific actions that will eventually lead to sales.

In addition, since leads nowadays focus on researching independently, inbound lead gen focuses on helping rather than selling. In other words, it shows the way toward your brand content pieces such as blogs, ebooks, and guides.

That said, inbound lead gen automation means streamlining the said tasks using automation tools. For example, you can use the following types of tools to automate your inbound tasks: 

Pop-ups & forms - to offer personalized content, lead magnet or surveys on the website.


Outbound lead generation automation

Outbound lead generation is about finding and reaching out to your ideal leads directly without waiting for them to reach out to you. To clarify, rather than waiting for leads to find your website and reach out like inbound lead gen, you are the one who makes the first move. 

That said, to automate your outbound lead generation tasks, you can use the following types of tools:


B2B lead generation automation VS B2C lead generation automation

Business-to-Business (B2B) lead generation automation is a process of using software to generate potential leads who work in a company to offer them your services.

On the other hand, Business-to-Consumer (B2C) lead generation automation uses software to streamline and generate leads who are individual customers

Even though they have different potential customers, both B2B and B2C companies use the same lead generation automation for a similar purpose. Here is how different companies use types of automation tools for their purpose.


Image that shows difference between automated B2B and B2C lead generation

How to automate lead generation [Step-by-step guides]


Automated outbound lead generation guide


1. Define your ICP and buyer persona

Your outbound lead generation needs a good basis to get quality leads that convert. That’s why sales teams start off their lead generation process by creating Ideal Customer Profile and Buyer Persona. This way, you can generate the best leads and guide them through the sales funnel. Not to mention, these documents will help you with the lead scoring. 

The best practice for the creation of both of these documents is to analyze your current customer data and gather users who:


2. Find contact data

Once you establish your ICP and Buyer Persona, it’s time for prospecting.  

Almost all sales teams use LinkedIn prospecting to find the best leads for their sales funnel. Moreover, there are a lot of proven LinkedIn lead generation strategies out there to find quality leads. However, when it comes to gathering the leads’ contact information, it’s best to automate the process and find tools that will help you do just that. 


3. Craft a compelling message

Whether you wish to use LinkedIn outreach or any other medium, consider your messaging carefully. Cold outreach is hard when you know nothing about the person. That said, it’s important to include research into the lead generation process and figure out what your leads are all about.

In other words, comb through their LinkedIn profile, and find the About section, posts they published, or what they shared. This way, you can personalize your communication and be more genuine in showing an interest in solving their problems.

Another tip for successful messaging is to mention your unique selling point tailored to their exact pain point.  

That said, if you need help crafting such a message, you can always use Chat GPT for sales messages. 


4. Send cold emails

It’s easy to let the cold email mistakes slither into your outreach. However, you reduce the chances of some of these mistakes by using automated lead generation tools to send cold emails. 

Only keep in mind that 70% of salespeople stop at one cold email. However, incorporating follow-up messages into your sequence increases your chances of hearing back by 25%. So be sure to send follow up emails as well. 


5. Automated LinkedIn lead generation

LinkedIn and email outreach have been part of the sales funnels for years. And with hundreds of leads we reach every week via LinkedIn, it’s time-consuming and nearly impossible to get desired results - unless you use different automated lead generation tools.

That’s why various LinkedIn automation tools are there to help you streamline different outreach actions on LinkedIn. For example, our very own Skylead can automate sending connection requests, messages, and free & paid InMails. In addition, you can combine these actions and create scenarios based on your leads’ behavior; but we’ll talk more about that later on.


Image of CTA banner 2 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo



6. Lead automation: Nurture the leads

Once you start conversing with your leads, you need to keep track of them. This is where CRM, like Hubspot or Pipedrive, comes into play. To clarify, Customer Relationship Management is a software that helps you automate gathering all the information about your sales leads in one place, such as:

This way, you can check where your leads are in the funnel and what level of nurturing they need.


Automated inbound lead generation guide


1. Set up your lead generation website

The first step towards automated lead generation is creating a website to connect all your automated lead generation tools. We can write an entire blog on creating a website, but we’ll mention 3 most important things.

Firstly, good practice here is to create a website that will provide the best user experience with UX/UI design that converts

Secondly, your content marketing team must prepare visuals and texts for the website. The text needs to provide information about your product or service but in a way that describes how it solves the problem and removes pain points your high-quality leads have. 

Lastly, it would be best to create an SEO plan to rank your website better. 


2. Create a lead magnet

The second step is for your content marketing team to create a lead magnet. 

A lead magnet is a guide, eBook, or mini-course you publish on your website for leads to download. In exchange, you ask your leads to leave their information, such as name, surname, and email address.

This is one of the lead generation strategies, so you can gather the emails and send your leads newsletters. Or you can let your sales team reach them out.

However, keep in mind that you cannot ask for leads' emails just for anything. The lead magnet you create needs to offer valuable information and practical knowledge tailored to your leads' needs.

Once you create a lead magnet, you can automate the process by connecting your forms to Hubspot or Monday CRM. This way, you can automatically create a deal. Moreover, if your CRM and outreach tool are connected, you can push the leads to your campaign. 


3. Set up your landing page

To generate high-quality leads organically or via ads, you need a landing page that provides the best user experience. In other words, it needs to contain concise information tailored to your high-quality leads. So the best practice here is to have dedicated feature pages and what problems they solve

The information you provide needs to have a converting design and info so your visitors wish to take action. In addition, your landing pages need to be as SEO prepared as possible.

Lastly, speaking of action, your landing page should contain a contact form or any lead magnet you wish to promote to gather quality leads.


4. Capture leads with a chatbot

Another way to generate leads via your website is to use a chatbot. It allows you to turn your website visitors into leads and qualify them for future sales or marketing activities. 

For example, you can set your chatbot to pose a list of questions before leads can contact the support team. This is a perfect automation system for lead scoring and qualifying

For example, with some chatbots, you can set up to automatically gather information, such as email addresses, company sizes, or other information relevant to collecting qualified leads. Once it does, like with lead magnets, you can automate creating a deal in your CRM and pushing the leads to your outreach campaign. 


5. Get traffic to your page

Once you’ve done everything we’ve mentioned above, you need to get leads to your website to generate them. There are two ways you can get traffic:


6. Lead management automation: Nurture the leads

When you start getting leads to your website, you need to nurture them to some sort of conversion. Therefore, look no further than using pop-up forms or chatbot conversations personalized to their web behavior.  

You can personalize your automated messages and offer relevant content by, for example:


7. Use marketing automation for lead generation

Once you gather your leads’ emails, it’s time to use marketing automation and outreach them. You can create email campaigns to offer personalized content on a mass scale based on your leads’ behavior

For example, you can send certain messages depending on whether they opened an email. In other words, you can create an entire sequence with different scenarios to offer tailored content that will lead to conversion. 


Automated lead generation for marketing sequence example

The good practice here is to start with valuable educational content, then offer a solution to the particular problem, and then present your product or service. In other words, never start the first message with your pitch. 


Best lead generation automation tools

We will name a few best lead generation automation software and their Capterra scores. However, feel free to research other tools and check review websites should you feel the need to do so. 


1. Skylead


Skylead dashboard, tool to automate lead generation

Yup. As we previously mentioned, that's us. 🙂 

Skylead is a LinkedIn automation and cold email software that streamlines the most time-consuming marketing, recruiting and sales outreach tasks. In other words, these tasks include sending:

to all your leads you imported into Skylead via LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, your CRM (using API) or CSV file.

Moreover, this software as a service allows you to also:

What makes Skylead special are Smart Sequences and their if/else conditions. To clarify, Smart Sequences are action paths you create using the activities mentioned above and combining them with if/else conditions. This way, you can create countless scenarios that Skylead uses to outreach your leads according to their situational behavior. 

That said, here is an example of one Smart Sequence.


Automated lead generation tool, outreach campaign sequence example

Moreover, you can connect Skylead with any tool, such as CRM using webhooks or API and push or send data. 

Use cases

You can use Skylead for various reasons. However, we will mention a few depending on the team you might belong to.


Image of how different teams use automated lead generation with examples

Pricing

Skylead has an all-in-one pricing plan of $100 per user/month.

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,8 / 5 


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions



2. OptinMonster


Automated lead generation tool example, OptinMonster

br]

This is another lead generation tool considered one of the best marketing strategies you can use on your website. Marketing teams use it for ecommerce lead capture. However, B2B marketers frequently use it for their lead generation efforts as well. 

OptinMonster is a software that offers automated lead generation forms presented as pop-ups, slide-in windows, and gamified spin-to-win wheels. Moreover, you can place these pop-ups or forms on any landing page. 

That said, these automated forms help you gather contact information to build an email list for your email campaigns, display personalized content, and nurture your visitors through their customer journey.


Features

OptinMonster’s main advantage is that it turns your website visitors into paying customers, webinar attendees, or newsletter subscribers. That said, many B2B marketing teams use these forms to increase any conversion rate, thanks to:


Page-level targeting 

You can display pop-ups, forms, and notifications based on the user’s interaction with different landing pages.


Exit-intent technology 

OptinMonster monitors visitors’ movements and detects when they plan to exit from the page without leaving their contact information or purchase. This way, you can increase conversion rates. Or, as a part of your content marketing strategy, gain additional newsletter subscribers, webinar attendees for future email campaigns.


Lightbox pop-up

This pop-up or notification appears thanks to triggers, and once it does, your visitors need to make a decision. What’s best is that there are no distractions, as your other website content can be faded in the background. 


Onsite retargeting 

You can show returning visitors something new every time they return to your website. Simply create pop-ups to show new promotions or offers based on their previous interactions on your website. 


List segmentation 

You can reduce website abandonment and churn by providing personalized content for your leads from the email list and website. What’s more, you can integrate OptinMonster with any CRM app, such as Hubspot or email automation software, to further adjust your messaging. 

Pro tip: Create a synergy between your marketing and sales teams. Once you generate leads through OptinMonster, you can push them automatically to your Skylead sales or marketing campaign through API. 

Pricing

OptinMonster has 4 pricing plans:

In addition, they offer around 40% off per month if you opt-in for an annual subscription.

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,3 / 5 


3. Moosend.com


Example of automated lead generation tool, Moosend

In general, Moosend is an email automation tool that helps you create and send personalized newsletters to your leads. It’s most suitable for small businesses specializing in e-commerce. However, this automation tool can be used for B2B email campaigns as well. 


Features

One of the best things about Moosend is that you can create newsletters or pop-up banners with a simple drag-and-drop

In addition, they leverage AI to analyze the data from your website, such as your subscriber behavior. This way, you can send more personalized messages or email notifications and maximize customer experience and retention.

That said, similar to Skylead, you can use this marketing automation tool to create a sequence with if/else conditions such as “if the purchase was made” and so on. This way, you can check for your subscriber’s actions and send suitable follow-up messages.  

Moosend offers a vast library of templates to create newsletters or landing pages for email marketing campaigns. Whichever you choose, you’d be glad to hear that every template comes with device optimization functionalities. 

Next, you can group leads from your email list and send separate messages. You can divide the leads based on keywords, if they clicked on the link in the previous email, etc. 

Like OptinMonster, Moosend can help you gather new leads and increase your lead generation efforts. In other words, it offers customizable forms like pop-ups to promote your lead magnets, like webinars, and create email lists. 

Lastly, you can integrate Moosend with your CRM, such as Hubspot, or other apps to streamline your related tasks.  


Pricing

Moosend has 2 pricing systems:

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,6 / 5 


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead support team and text "We suport you from day 1"


4. Mailchimp


Automated lead generation tool example, Mailchimp

Another email automation software on our list is Mailchimp. This marketing automation tool started off as software for marketers to help them create newsletters in the e-commerce environment. However, it developed to be much more - a well-rounded automated lead generation tool. 


Features


Email marketing

Firstly, Mailchimp offers an email automation tool for sending newsletters or other messaging material to your subscribers. You can create your own message design or use the template

Regarding targeting, you can segment your leads based on their behavior, such as: 


Lead gen

Mailchimp offers a couple of features that are perfect for B2B lead generation. 

Firstly, they have their own website builder to create beautifully-designed landing pages for your new leads. In addition, you can make it from scratch or from the numerous templates they offer.

Secondly, they offer sign-up and pop-up forms for your website to generate potential customers. Moreover, you can also integrate their free appointment scheduling tool so potential leads can book calls with your sales team. 

Lastly, Mailchimp offers a campaign manager that combines social media platforms, Facebook, Instagram, and Google Ads, into one dashboard. This way, you can target potential leads with similar interests as your current contacts. Or you can retarget visitors while they are browsing through the web or their social media. 


Automated customer journeys

Last but not least, Mailchimp has a function to enhance user experience with Customer Journey Builder. In other words, you can automate activities, such as emails and follow-ups, according to your leads’ behavior and nurture them to conversion. 

Moreover, you can integrate Mailchimp with any app, including your CRM of choice or LinkedIn outreach solution for omnichannel presence.


Pricing

Mailchimp offers 4 plans with the following highlighted features:

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,5 / 5 


5. Tidio


Automated lead generation tool example, Tidio

As mentioned before, one of the best lead capturing ways is using a live chat or chatbot. And Tidio is one of many on the market. 

In other words, it can automatically collect and qualify leads based on their website behavior. For example, they can visit a pricing page, and if you offer a custom quote, a chatbot can ask if a person is interested in it, and they can leave the information.  

Moreover, you can set Tidio to answer FaQs, offer news, or upsell your users. This way, you’re leaving time for your support team to focus on burning problems while improving your customer experience. 


Pricing

Tidio offers a couple of pricing plans, respectively:

Capterra score: ⭐ 4,8 / 5


Automated lead generation examples

Here are examples of lead generation automation you can apply in your business right away. 


1. Lead capture framework


a. Create a lead magnet

Craft valuable content like ebooks, masterclasses, templates, and webinars. In addition, remember that the content you create needs to resonate with your leads so they are willing to leave you their contact information. For example, you can offer a sales book with templates and cold outreach strategies. 

Once you create your work, you can gather the info with automated lead generation forms. Moreover, you can link the forms to CRM for the sales to take over, or an email outreach tool so your leads can go straight to your email outreach list.

Lastly, to promote your lead magnet, you can publish ads to generate a large pool of leads. Or use pop-ups to promote the content throughout the website depending on users’ behavior.


b. Set up chatbots

Use chatbots to automate qualifying leads and gather their contact information. 

You can set chatbot scenarios to offer the lead magnets or some free service depending on users’ website behavior. Or, if a person wants to contact your customer support, develop a list of qualifying questions. This way, the chatbot can send them to a database such as your email list or CRM. Moreover, your support team will get context about the leads. 



2. Framework for finding leads

You can automate finding outbound leads by using prospecting tools such as: 

This way, you can build your lead list, send them to your CRM and prepare for email or LinkedIn outreach. 


Sales Navigator masterclass banner with targeting options and Boolean search query


3. Outreach framework


a. Inbound outreach

Once you’ve got your inbound leads’ info, reach out. You can prepare a special cold outreach campaign using Skylead. In other words, create your sequence and craft your messages so they slowly turn the leads into paying customers.

For example, you can use Skylead to reach out to your leads via email. In other words, import your leads via CSV file or using LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter. Moreover, once you start your campaign, you can push leads from your email list or CRM using API.


How to automate lead generation step 1

If you found your leads using LinkedIn but wish to send them emails, you can use Email Discovery & Verification feature as a step. This way, Skylead finds and verifies leads’ email addresses. So, you don’t have to use a separate tool to scrape email addresses. Instead, you have it all here in Skylead.

Then, create your Smart Sequence depending on their behavior (e.g., whether they opened an email or clicked the link). For example, your Smart Sequence can look something like this:


How to automate lead generation, outreach step 2

Lastly, write your sequence messages, and personalize them. Moreover, you can write up to 5 subject lines and the body variants to test and see what messaging drives the most results. 


How to automate lead generation, outreach step 3

b. Outbound outreach

You can use Skylead to reach your outbound leads as well. To do this, repeat the steps above:

However, remember that you will get the best results if you opt-in for multichannel outreach. That said, feel free to use LinkedIn steps such as Invite to connect, Follow, View, Message and InMail.


4. Customer and lead nurturing framework

You can automate lead nurturing by integrating your CRM with the outreach tool and exchanging the data between the two. This way, you can label leads, or send them to outreach campaigns

In addition, you can use Skylead for your customer-nurturing program. That said, you can send automated outreach campaigns for: 


Frequently asked questions


What are the ethical considerations when automating lead generation on LinkedIn?

When automating lead generation on LinkedIn, it's vital to maintain transparency and respect user privacy. Avoid spamming and ensure all automated interactions provide value to potential leads. Ethical automation respects LinkedIn's terms of service, focusing on building genuine connections rather than exploiting the platform.


How can businesses ensure the quality of leads when using automation tools?

To ensure the quality of leads when using automation tools, you should define clear target parameters and continuously refine your ideal customer profile. Utilizing advanced filtering options and personalized outreach messages can significantly increase the relevance and quality of automated lead generation efforts.


Can automation tools integrate with other CRM platforms, and how does this affect lead management?

Many automation tools like Skylead are designed to integrate seamlessly with CRM platforms, enhancing lead management processes. This integration allows for the automatic update of lead information and activities, providing a unified view of the sales funnel and enabling more efficient tracking, nurturing, and conversion of leads.


Skyrocket your leads and conversions with automation

80% of marketing automation users experience an increase in the number of leads, and even 77% an increase in conversion. That is no small number to ignore. 

That said, we hope this article helped you understand how you can automate your lead generation activities.

However, before you do, create a good-quality basis for the automation, such as your website, content strategy, and LinkedIn profile. Only then will you be able to pave your way for successful lead generation automation. 

After all, once you go automation, you will start looking at your other tasks and ask yourself:


Automated lead generation meme

Automate your outreach! Sign up for Skylead’s 7-day free trial.


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

Want to know what people think of your sales efforts? Why not put it to the test? Or better yet, split test!

We all know that in sales, results are everything. When creating email copy, call-to-action prompts, or sales email subject lines, hitting just the right combination of words is what will ultimately determine your end results. But how can you know what your audience finds more appealing? Split testing, a.k.a. A/B testing, is the answer!

We’ve been in sales for more than 5 years, and we’ve done A/B tests more than we can count or remember. From this experience, knowledge was born, and thus, we present a split testing guide that will help you get the desired results and make informed decisions about your next sales move. If not done right, split testing can give misleading results. So, if you feel stuck on the A/B testing puzzle and you work in sales, in this article, you will find:

Grab your pens, and let’s get to work! 🖊️


Legally blonde, taking notes, movie screen grab

What is split testing in sales?

By definition, split testing, commonly referred to as A/B testing, is a method where different versions of content are simultaneously sent to a split audience with the goal of identifying the most effective one that prompts desired actions.

This approach is crucial for tasks such as writing sales copy, sending invites to connect on Linkedin, testing follow-up strategies, and more, as it helps with data-driven decisions, all while saving money, time, and potential leads.

Split testing in sales compares two versions of a sales asset to determine which one brings more results, boosting conversions and sales results. In outreach, you can A/B test your approach on all communication channels. Apart from that, you can even test different elements to determine what approach works best for lead generation and prospecting.


Why should you Split test?

  1. Split testing is a simple analysis.

One of the best things about split testing is its simplicity. It is easy and straightforward, and if done correctly, an A/B test can significantly improve your sales efforts. Also, using the right tool can help save more time by partially automating the process to get even better results, but more on that later in this blog. 

  1. A/B testing is multifunctional.

Almost anything can be A/B tested. For example, in Skylead, our LinkedIn automation tool and cold email software, you can test up to five variations of:

What's more, you can test smaller factors within these messages, such as message copy, subject lines, body, signature, links, or call-to-actions. 

Note: From our experience, we can advise you not to test everything at once. Why? Because you won’t be able to determine what influenced the results. It’s better to test one element at a time. Plus, be sure to continuously refine and retest the successful options.

  1. You can increase conversion rates.

By A/B testing different elements of a certain campaign or website, sales reps can see what works best when the goal is converting leads into customers. Testing multiple approaches and choosing the most effective one can lead to higher conversion rates and a better lead generation strategy.

  1. You can make data-driven decision-making.

Why wonder and guess when you can know for sure? Split testing provides the kind of data-driven certainty that helps with making informed decisions because numbers don’t lie.

  1. Your leads will have a better user experience.

If we use the split testing data to better understand our target audience, you can easily give your leads what they want, strengthening relationships and making their experiences more user-friendly and enjoyable. A/B testing ultimately leads to customer loyalty, further boosting your brand’s reputation, thus bringing more customers your way.

  1. It is cost-effective.

In sales, optimization is everything, and split testing is a pretty cost-effective way to gather more useful data about your sales or marketing approach. The math is simple: you get to use A/B testing to figure out if the changes work for you or not before making any larger investments. In the long run, split testing saves a lot of time and funds.


Image of CTA banner 2 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


Now that you know why you should split test, here’s a list of some things you can test out. 👇


What can you A/B test?

In sales, there’s a variety of elements to optimize performance and increase conversions. Here’s a complete list:

  1. Email outreach (subject line, body, CTA)
  2. LinkedIn outreach (connection request, LinkedIn message, InMail - subject line, message, personalization)
  3. Pricing strategies (different pricing models or discount offers)
  4. Product presentations and demos (presentation style, product demonstration tactics)
  5. Value propositions (different phrasings, product presentation, service's value propositions)
  6. Offer bundling (product or service bundle combinations)
  7. Social proof and testimonials
  8. Upselling and cross-selling techniques.

Image of CTA banner 1 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


How to do split testing

Split testing sounds pretty good right now, doesn’t it? Want to use it right away? Here’s how to do it, step-by-step 👇


Split testing - 6 general steps

  1. Identify goals

Conversion goals are the most important metric to look at when planning to split test. It should be enough to help you determine if the variation (or option B) is better than the original. These goals can be link clicks, call bookings, or product purchases.

  1. Collect data

Some outreach tools often give insight into what areas you can and should optimize. This allows you to gather data faster and figure out where you can improve.

  1. Determine what part of outreach you wish to A/B test

By looking at metrics, you can easily find parts of your sales process that should be A/B tested. For example, a bad open rate often implies a poorly written subject line. To get started, choose a metric, find an element that causes it, and test it. 

  1. Create test variations

When split testing, you can use specialized software to make the desired changes to any element you wish to test out. This might be creating a different version of your LinkedIn invite to connect message copy, a different email subject line, or something entirely different. 

  1. Split your sample audience

Once you’ve created one or multiple variations of the test, you should split the audience sample in half (or more, if there are more variants) and decide which will see variant A and which will see variant B (or more) of your split testing experiment. Some tools, such as Skylead, usually do it for you randomly and equally to ensure a fair comparison result.

  1. Run, analyze, and optimize

Once the split test is running, your only assignment is to track and measure the results of each version you’ve created. You can, of course, use tools to track conversion rates and overall engagement metrics, so you can study them later on and optimize away.

The final step of split testing is analyzing the results of your experiment. Now it’s up to you to make a decision about which version to adopt. Easy as 1, 2, 3. 💥


How to split test different parts of the sales process

Sales reps who are involved in outreach use A/B testing to find out whether their outreach efforts are being recognized by prospects or not. You can use these tests for multiple parts of your sales process. This could include anything from testing sales emails and subject lines, product presentations, and demos to follow-up strategies and customer segmentation. Let’s review some of them in detail. 👇


Split testing outreach 

Email outreach 

Nowadays, outreach has mostly shifted to the digital world, which means email outreach is the star of almost every sales show or at least a significant part of it. ⭐


If we use email as our starting point for split testing, we could test multiple elements of our cold email. For example, if outreach isn’t giving enough results, like open rates, we should use split testing to try out different variants of our subject line. If there are not enough link clicks, we should think about testing the CTA that leads to that link or the email body, etc.

So, to recap, in email outreach, we can test 👇

  1. Subject lines - Creating a catchy subject line is what makes or breaks your open rates. A/B testing is the perfect way to determine what works for your sample audience or not. When testing subject lines, make sure that you’re testing just that and not any other element. Skylead lets you test up to 5 different variants at once.
  1. Email body - If your subject line is attention-grabbing, but people aren’t really responding to your email as you want them to, the thing you should split-test is the email body. Use the same subject line and the same CTA, but switch things up with the content and figure out what tone works best for your target group. You can experiment with different lengths, the use of emojis, writing styles, etc.
  1. CTAs - Your audience responds to clear instructions, so the call to action should be, as Andrea, our Head of Sales, would say, the last thing they read and the first thing they do. If you believe that the CTA is the problem with your sales emails, you should write a couple of variants and test only the CTA element to know what works best for your niche audience.
  1. Personalization (Image & GIF) - Nowadays, people won’t focus solely on text. But if you add visual elements, that’s a different story. In fact, we’ve tested it out thoroughly and learned that adding personalized images, GIFs, and even videos to your email outreach can boost the response rates significantly - up to 63%! If you know this element works well in cold outreach, you should A/B test what works best for which audience segment. 

Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


LinkedIn outreach 

Over the past few years in sales, prospecting has shifted to the digital world, and what better place to find potential prospects than LinkedIn - a professional social media platform with over 1 billion users and 63 million decision-makers? If you narrow down your audience to a smaller sample, you can use split testing to determine what social selling techniques work best for your LinkedIn outreach efforts.

With the help of LinkedIn automation tools, you can make the A/B testing process much easier. Plus, if the tool has great metrics tracking, your analysis, and the ultimate decision will be clear. And now, here are all the elements you can split test when it comes to LinkedIn. 👇

  1. Connection requests - This is your opener on LinkedIn, and it should be short enough to keep their attention but also significant enough to inspire an immediate reply. Hitting just the right note could be challenging, especially with cold outreach. This is where split testing comes in handy, as it can easily determine what your opening approach should be. You can experiment with sending blank invites to connect, personalized or generic. You can even try outreach templates if you’re new to the A/B testing game and use them as a starting point. 
  1. LinkedIn messages - Once you’ve established a connection with your prospect, your follow-up message game on LinkedIn should keep their attention throughout the conversation and inspire them to take action. It could be anything from booking a meeting, a demo, a call, or clicking on a link. Experiment with the tone, length, and emojis; again, make sure not to change everything at once.
  1. InMails - When it comes to the people that are seemingly out of your reach on LinkedIn (meaning they’re not a 2nd or 3rd connection) InMail messages are there to help establish that connection. Out of network doesn’t mean out of reach. But sure enough, if a complete stranger approaches you or, in this case, sends an InMail message out of the blue, you’re bound to wonder why this person is contacting me. Sure enough, split testing is here to help you determine what subject line or message works best for these types of connection attempts.
  1. Personalization - As for email outreach, using personalization on LinkedIn, where everyone is busy and their inboxes are flooded with all kinds of demands (especially in the case of decision-makers), can be what sets you apart from your competitors. Using images, GIFs, and videos can warm up prospects and turn them into customers in no time! We know, we’ve done the tests ourselves! Again, you can use Skylead to test which visual elements make your target audience more responsive to your sales pitch.

Now that you know what and where to split test, the question is what tool you should use. We’ve been dropping hints all along, but yes, you can use Skylead, a LinkedIn automation and cold email outreach software that offers an A/B testing feature. You can use it to test different elements of your email and LinkedIn outreach. 

  1. To get started, create your outreach campaign. 👇

Create new campaign button in Skylead, arrow, screenshot

2. Name your campaign.


Name your campaign, Skylead campaign creation steps

3. Then select your lead source or where Skylead will pull the leads from.


Lead source in Skylead campaign creation

4. Adjust your campaign settings and hit the “Create Sequence” button. ⚙️


Create sequence in Skylead, button

This is how you create your Smart Sequence - an algorithm that allows you to combine if/else conditions with different actions. This way, Skylead will follow the outreach flow you create and find the fastest route to your prospect.

Here’s an example of a multichannel Smart sequence in Skylead 👇


Smart sequence from Skylead, example

Then, let’s say you want to A/B test your email subject lines. Click the email message step and add two subject line variations with the same email message by clicking the Test B button. Remember, you can add up to 5 variants of the subject line in Skylead.


AB testing in Skylead, example image

Lastly, once your campaign is done, go to the reports page, scroll down to your sequence steps, and check the results. Et voilà! Here is your winning subject line. 


Email open rate, AB testing results

Here’s an overview of all the things you can split-test with Skylead. ⬇️

A/B test in SkyleadResults
Subject line (Emails and InMails)Play with the subject line copy, length, emoji, caps lock, etc. Test which subject line affects the desirable open rate. 
Images & GIFs (Emails, InMails, LinkedIn)Change images and GIFs, play with personalization, add or change only one of the custom elements, etc.  Check which Images & GIFs influence response/conversion rates. 
Writing style (across all formats)Test different writing styles and tones of voice depending on your target audience to increase the response rate.
Formatting (across all formats)Check if breaking the message body into smaller pieces with or without headlines draws the desired results. 
Call-to-action - CTA (across all formats)Check which call-to-action draws the highest number of conversions. 
Content depth (across all formats)Check if your audience prefers long-form content pieces that extensively cover even the minutest of details or something shorter. 
Invites to ConnectSend blank Invites to Connect, generic or personalized messages to see what people respond to most.   
Paragraph (across all formats)Change the key paragraph in your message body to check your leads’ behavior and see if it draws the desired results. 
Message body (Invite to Connect, LinkedIn message, InMail, Email)Send a completely different message body to see which one affects response/conversion rates. 
Time delayCheck if the time in between the messages affects the response/conversion rates. 
LinksInsert different links and see if your leads show interest in them.
Signature Insert links or other copy to your signature that might increase demands for calls and demos. 

Note: With Skylead, you can combine LinkedIn and email outreach for multichannel messaging and personalization


Image of CTA banner 1 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


Other outreach elements you can split test

  1. Pricing strategies 

You can use A/B testing to find out which pricing model works best for your target audience. You can even go one step further and experiment with discount offers and find out what leads to more sales and higher revenue.

  1. Product presentations and demos

As a salesperson, you should always switch up the style or content of your product demonstration. You can use split testing to find the most compelling way to showcase your product’s value to prospects, which will ultimately lead to more conversions and better overall results. 

  1. Value propositions

You can easily see how your target audience reacts to different phrasing and product presentations or service value prepositions. Just split them into two groups and let the A/B testing begin!

  1. Offer bundling

Sometimes, offering just the right combination of products or services can lead to a potential prospect turning into a satisfied customer. The right bundle can significantly affect and increase sales.

  1. Social proof and testimonials 

You can use A/B testing and its magic to see how changing the way customer testimonials are presented influences the trust and buying decisions of your prospects. 

  1. Upselling and cross-selling techniques

You can use split testing to experiment with different upselling methods or cross-selling techniques. Maybe there’s a better offer you can make for your prospects that will make them more responsive to your sales pitch.


6 Split testing best practices

Before we let you go to split test your sales efforts, we need to point out some best practices we’ve tried ourselves thoroughly while A/B testing and from our own sales actions. ⏬

1. Test one element at a time

We’ve said it before, and we will say it again. Testing too many elements at a time will give misleading results. If you, for example, change the CTA and the email body at once, you won’t get clear results on which change your audience reacted to. We know there’s a lot to test, but your priority should be determining what might be the weakest part of your approach and starting there.

Testing one element at a time ensures reliable results. Plus, there’s really no rush. Once you start optimizing, you’ll make significant changes one A/B test at a time, and the results will be inevitable.

Note: From our A/B testing experience, we advise you to test both (or more) variants simultaneously.

2. Determine the test time frame

Many salespeople make the mistake of not giving the split test enough time to produce valid results. If you give up too early, again, the results you get will be inconsistent and might be misleading.

So, remember, give the A/B test enough time to produce useful data and give valid results. After that, you can make data-driven decisions and be certain that the changes you’ve made are valid. Give your A/B test 2-6 weeks to give results, depending on the sales cycle and industry. 

3. Test time delays

Not testing different times in between messages can also have an impact on the data. Make sure to create different scenarios and time frames because they can affect the response/conversion rates significantly.

4. Ask for feedback from real users

Split testing will produce a lot of useful data because numbers don’t lie. But these numbers won’t help you understand why certain actions were taken. This is why you should communicate with your users and get real feedback from them using a survey or a poll. Surely enough, this information can help with future optimization and understanding your audience better.

5. Use tools to test and analyze your data

A/B testing can and should be done with the help of automation tools. Why do anything manually in this day and age if you don’t have to? Tools like Skylead can help with A/B testing and give you accurate analytics that you can interpret easily and make your decisions based on real-time data. 

6. Test and optimize frequently

You should look at split testing as an ongoing process. It should be done often and well. When in sales, it’s important to constantly improve. For constant better results, frequent optimization is key.


6 Split Testing Mistakes

Not focusing on the right area

You can run tests on almost all elements of your sales approach, but if your focus is in the wrong place, you’re just wasting time and resources for nothing. You need to look at things from your prospect’s perspective and determine what could be the issue. Some metrics can help you understand where the issue may be (open rates, response rates, bounce rates, etc.)

Testing without a hypothesis

Testing random elements will only waste your time. Make sure to test with a clear intent and purpose. A well-defined hypothesis means a structured split test and gives you the ability to better understand the outcome, making reading results significantly easier. Here’s how to establish a good A/B testing hypothesis:

  1. Spot the problem - Make sure to look at your problem areas. Ask yourself, “Why aren’t people reacting the way I want them to?.” Pick one element at a time, like the subject line or the CTA. Once you’ve spotted the problematic element, you can move on to the solution. 
  2. Propose a solution - Now think about “How can I fix the problem?” It could be a different subject line or CTA. Maybe a new demo video for your sales pitch? Whatever it may be, you can test multiple options thanks to split testing. This way, you’ll know what drives desired actions, and you can learn for your future approach. 
  3. Create the hypothesis - Once you’ve established what needs to be changed and how you have your hypothesis. A clear hypothesis will help you split test with more success.

Stopping the split test too early

If you get impatient and stop the split testing too early, you might get distorted results based on temporary fluctuations. You can spot solid patterns based on true user behavior only after a certain period of time. 

However, running tests for too long can also alter A/B testing results. If external factors change, such as seasons or market trends and conditions, these results can be useless. Make sure to split test for the appropriate amount of time, not too short and not too long. Give your test group enough time to form patterns, and then move along from there with changes that fit your results.

Running complex tests

When we say complex, we mean testing with no clear intent and all over the place. If you find that your email isn’t getting enough responses but has a high open rate, for example, we can determine that the subject line is leading prospects to open your email, but if they’re not responding, it could be either the CTA or the email body.

Therefore, you don’t switch up the body and the CTA at the same time - you choose one of the two elements and test different variants for a sufficient amount of time. When the results come in, and you figure out that it wasn’t the email body, for example, only then do you split test the call to action. Complexity in A/B testing won’t bring clear results, so make sure to keep it simple.

Not considering external factors

It could be a huge mistake to ignore external factors when looking at a split test. A lot of things can influence your prospects: holidays, current market conditions, trends, or even changes with competitor tools/products or services. Make sure to include all of these factors before you interpret the results. You don’t want to jump to incorrect conclusions.


Jumping to conclusions meme

Ignoring the results

In some cases, it won’t be easy to believe split testing results. But why? Sometimes, clear A/B testing results don’t align with sales rep expectations. This is where you need to put your ego and beliefs aside and trust the data. If your split test was done right, there’s no need to ignore the results. It will only do you and your business harm. 


Frequently asked questions


How does one calculate the statistical significance of A/B testing results to ensure that the outcomes are reliable and not due to random chance?

To calculate the statistical significance of A/B testing results, one typically uses a statistical test. For example, these tests can be the chi-square test for categorical data. Or, it can be the t-test for numerical data comparing the performance metrics of both variants to see if the difference is greater than what could be expected by chance.


What are the common pitfalls to avoid when interpreting the results of split testing? What about the cases with close outcomes between variants?

Common pitfalls in interpreting split testing results include not running the test long enough to gather sufficient data. Secondly, ignoring external factors that may influence results (like seasonality). Thirdly, making changes based on results that are not statistically significant.


Can split testing be effectively applied to other aspects of sales and digital marketing, such as outreach, social media content and advertising strategies, and if so, how?

Yes, split testing can be effectively applied to other aspects of digital marketing and sales, such as social media content, outreach messages and advertising strategies. By testing different messaging, posting times, and formats, marketers and salespeople optimize their strategies for better engagement, higher conversion rates, and more effective sales tactics.


Ready to put your sales efforts to the test?

We sure are! As we’ve determined, A/B testing is a powerful tool, and if used right, it can significantly improve your sales efforts. You can easily find the weakest link in your outreach through analytics and use split testing to determine what works better. This way, you can continuously optimize your approach to get solid results each time. 🔎

Let’s recap.


Split testing in Skylead benefits image

Automating the process is also a must, in which case you need to use just the right tools. Let Skylead assist you in your outreach optimization. You can register for a free trial and discover all the benefits of LinkedIn and email automation with our A/B testing option, of course. Let the testing begin! 🏃


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

LinkedIn automation tools are the future of sales, and let me tell you why.

LinkedIn is a professional social media platform with over 875 million users. It is used for Business-To-Business lead generation because the conversion rate is 3x better than any other social media platform. Moreover, the audience on LinkedIn has 2x buying power.

So, no wonder many sales teams use LinkedIn prospecting as their basis for targeting. After all, without LinkedIn, many sales executives would have a hard time generating B2B leads. Even marketers around the world use LinkedIn campaigns for B2B lead generation. Not to mention recruiters who started to use LinkedIn to find top talents for their companies.

So, as the usage of LinkedIn lead generation progressed, people started to search for a solution to ease their LinkedIn marketing and sales efforts. In particular, they wanted to find something that would perform their operative tasks, such as the process of LinkedIn outreach. That’s when LinkedIn automation tools were born.

Since then, LinkedIn automation tools are changing the LinkedIn outreach and prospecting game as we know it. Moreover, they started to define the future of sales, marketing, and recruiting with every new feature developed.

So, do you wish to find and use the LinkedIn automation tool for yourself? Yes? Well, let me help you out with that. 

In this article, we cover the most popular and best LinkedIn automation tools, their pros and cons, and their features. Furthermore, we will emphasize the safest LinkedIn automation tool and what to consider when deciding which one to use. 

Grab your popcorn and enjoy.


Eating popcorn GIF

What Is LinkedIn Automation?

LinkedIn Automation is a technology that tools use to perform different LinkedIn activities you would usually do manually. In other words, this technology automates the tasks meaning it performs them on your behalf. These activities include LinkedIn profile views, sending connection requests, follow-up messages, or LinkedIn InMails.

LinkedIn automation serves for LinkedIn lead generation purposes. For example, you can build your LinkedIn network, make new connections, and outreach them on autopilot, or automate sharing gated posts.

In outreach terms, LinkedIn automation essentially recognizes your lead source, for example, a LinkedIn search URL. It analyzes the LinkedIn pages, performs actions according to your settings and interacts with the selected LinkedIn users. Moreover, some LinkedIn automation tools can take your list of LinkedIn accounts and search for publicly available information. 

Best LinkedIn automation tools can even send personalized messages, and images according to individual leads information available on LinkedIn. Also, they even use messaging sequences to send follow up LinkedIn messages if the lead doesn’t respond.

Lastly, some tools can send bulk messages to all leads at once. However, this is something you need to be wary of when it comes to safety. Don’t worry, though. We will talk about how the best LinkedIn automation tools do it below. 


Why Use A LinkedIn Automation Tool?

LinkedIn automation tools streamline the most time-consuming LinkedIn activities, such as sending thousands of connection requests and messages. This way, you can invest time in more important tasks. In addition, these tools test and analyze your performance and show you what you need to improve. 

In other words, LinkedIn automation tools are software that helps you automate your LinkedIn activities. There are many more benefits other than what we mentioned above. So let's go over the  6 most important ones. 


Image of 6 benefits of using LinkedIn automation tools

LinkedIn Automation Tools Save Your Time

By streamlining the most time-consuming LinkedIn activities, these tools really do save your resources. That said, they can save you 5+ hours of work per week, depending on which one you choose.


They Give You A Detailed Reporting

You can perform manual outreach by yourself. However, keep in mind that you would need to dig into reporting yourself, as well. In other words, this can take you hours to gather and analyze the metrics. LinkedIn automation tools will do all this on your behalf.


You Have The Option To A/B Test - Everything

Depending on which LinkedIn automation tool you choose, you will have the option to A/B test your outreach efforts, such as: 

Then, you can see which works best and apply those to future outreach efforts.


These Tools Help You Personalize Your Outreach

LinkedIn automation tools can also help you send personalized messages at scale. In other words, these tools use custom variables so you can get in touch with more leads naturally. 

In addition, by using personalized images and GIFs, you can increase the response rate by 63%.


Run Multiple Campaigns At The Same Time

If you have different ICPs or Buyer Personas, you can run multiple outreach campaigns at the same time. This way, you can be more productive, as you don’t have to wait to finish with one target audience to outreach another.


Focus On Building The Relationship

By streamlining the most operative tasks, your focus can be directed elsewhere. In other words, you now have time to focus on more crucial tasks such as:


Types Of LinkedIn Automation Tools

Every LinkedIn automation software has its functionality base to set different LinkedIn activities on autopilot. In other words, these tools can be:

A cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool means it is managed and processed thanks to a dedicated IP address. This IP address, also known as the proxy hosted on the internet, shields your activity. Moreover, all your data is not stored on local servers or your personal computer but on the internet. 

The software can run even when your PC is off. In addition, you can choose your IP address from your or another country. What’s more, only cloud-based software can have multiple accounts and integrated inboxes

Lastly, cloud-based LinkedIn automation platforms mimic human behavior. In other words, it clicks and views pages on this professional network platform as humans would. Thus, it makes the tool undetectable. So you can outreach new leads and send new connection requests carefree.

Extensions, desktop apps, and web browsers don’t have a dedicated IP address, nor do they have the option to mimic human-like behavior, which causes sending of bulk messages. Moreover, they do not have the possibility of managing multiple accounts. Lastly, you must have your PC turned on to keep your campaigns running. 

Sometimes you cannot find information on how a LinkedIn automation platform functions. In that case, you can ask their customer support team to answer this question.


Should I Use A LinkedIn Automation Chrome Extension? 

No. Even though LinkedIn automation tools based on chrome extensions are cheaper, you shouldn’t jump right into using them. These Chrome extensions are not safe since they inject the code into the LinkedIn platform. This way, LinkedIn can easily detect automation and get your LinkedIn account restricted permanently.

Web browsers and desktop apps are a bit safer than extensions because they don’t inject the code into the LinkedIn platform. However, they do not offer additional features that cloud-based tools do.


Why You Should Use A Cloud Based LinkedIn Automation Tool

If you wish to avoid LinkedIn restrictions and make the best of automation software, choose a cloud-based solution. They don’t inject any code into LinkedIn, like extensions, nor do they require you to keep the PC turned on. They also mimic human behavior, so LinkedIn can't detect them.

Besides functioning like humans and being the safest LinkedIn automation tool, cloud-based solutions offer integrated inboxes and multiple-account management systems.


What To Consider When Choosing A LinkedIn Automation Tools

When choosing among LinkedIn automation tools, you need to be aware of all the best features for your LinkedIn outreach. So here is what you need to consider to choose the best LinkedIn automation tool for yourself.


Cloud-Based Solution

As mentioned, other types of LinkedIn automation tools either inject the code into LinkedIn, or they do not offer other perks, such as an integrated inbox. So: 

You should consider using only a cloud-based solution.


Create Drip Campaigns

Why use LinkedIn automation just for scraping publicly available information when you can do much more with it? That’s right - some LinkedIn automation tools only have the data scraping option and do not have the possibility to set up your outreach campaigns. 

So, when choosing such a tool, first answer the question of what you want to do with it. If you wish to use it more than just as a data scraper, consider the tools that have drip campaigns feature. Or, even better, choose the tools that offer Smart Sequences - an algorithm that follows your leads’ behavior and acts accordingly.


Use Of Hyper-Personalized Messages

If you were thinking that using LinkedIn automation will remove any chance to send personalized messages, think again. Most of the best LinkedIn automation tools are going to great lengths to make this possible for their users - and they did.

For example, if you wish to personalize the text of your follow-up messages or InMails, you can use native variables such as:

Moreover, with some tools you can even create your custom variables.


Image of CTA banner 1 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Automatic Stop When Prospect Replies

You don’t have to be afraid of tools not stopping to send messages once your lead responds. The best LinkedIn automation tools will stop sending follow-up messages or emails as soon as the lead responds. This way, you can take over the conversation or send them back to another campaign. So, keep this in mind when researching the right tool for you.


Image & GIF Personalization

You can hyper-personalize your Images and GIFs with some tools, as well. After all, such personalization is proven to increase the response rate by 63%. So it is indeed worth considering. 

Once we go through our list of the best LinkedIn Automation tools, you will see which ones have native variables and Images & GIF hyper-personalization. So, stay tuned.


Reporting & Insights

LinkedIn automation tools analyze your target audience behavior and provide you with detailed reporting instantly. They can show you the metrics like response rate, the number of profile views, or connection requests accepted. You can even calculate the conversion rate if you label your leads, but we will speak of this later.

The idea is to make data-driven decisions faster and easier with any tool. You just need to choose the one with the best analytics for your needs.


Inbox To Communicate With Prospects

If you’re already using multiple tools, you probably know how difficult it is to navigate between the platforms to communicate with clients. Therefore, one feature you really need to consider is an integrated inbox. 

For example, our tool Skylead has a Smart Inbox feature that gathers all communication platforms, leads and messages in one place. So you don’t need to navigate between different software anymore.


Integration With Other Tools

If the CRM is part of your workflow, then you don’t have to sacrifice CRM integration when choosing the LinkedIn automation tool. Simply find the LinkedIn automation software that offers such a feature.

CRM integration is useful as it allows data transfer between your CRM and LinkedIn automation tool. Thus you don’t have to download CSV files from one software and upload them back to another. 

Some software algorithms offer CRM integration through Zapier webhooks or API. Or both. Whatever option you choose, a Zapier webhook or API, remember that integration is a necessity for productivity, not a luxury. So make sure to consider tools that can provide you with such integration.


Image of CTA banner 1 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


Multichannel Outreach

LinkedIn automation tools are perfect for lead generation. Some would argue that LinkedIn outreach is enough. However, let’s be honest. Sales teams do their best work when they multichannel their outreach. Moreover, LinkedIn’s connection request limitation made multichannel outreach a must on accident, as people needed to find an alternative way to reach more leads per week. 

So, to maximize getting in touch with your leads, search for a tool that is not only LinkedIn automation but Email outreach software too. 


Send Thousands Of Email Per Month

Speaking of multichannel outreach, if you want to reach more leads and bypass the email limit, exploring a tool that offers that capability is essential. For example, Skylead allows you to add unlimited email addresses to one campaign and send thousands of emails monthly without damaging your domain. In other words, it enables you to contact your leads more effectively and achieve your goals.


Best LinkedIn Automation Tools [+Free Options]

Now you know everything you need to choose such a SaaS product for yourself. So let’s jump to the list of the best and most popular LinkedIn automation tools.


Skylead

Yes, that’s us. Hi! 🙂 

Skylead is a LinkedIn automation tool & Cold Email software and the first all-in-one solution on the market. It offers founders, sales teams, recruiters, marketers, and alike to streamline and multichannel their outreach efforts. 

With this tool, you save 11+ hours of work per week. This way, you have a lot of time to focus on building relationships and closing the deals.

Skylead is a cloud-based solution, and you know what that means - you get extra features and don’t have to keep your PC turned on to work. In addition, you can integrate Skylead with your favorite CRM via webhooks using Zapier, or you can transfer the leads between the two via API.

Furthermore, it is completely safe to use since it mimics human-like behavior. In addition, it executes each action a different number of times every day to keep your account safe and healthy.

Lastly, Skylead’s reporting system and A/B testing will help you analyze your campaign metrics. Thus, you can see what works best for your target audience clearly and make data-driven decisions. 

That said, let’s get into the main features.


Smart Sequences 

Skylead is the first-ever tool to start using Smart Sequences - a groundbreaking algorithm that executes steps in the order you set, depending on your leads’ behavior. To clarify, Smart Sequence is a combination of different activities you can perform on LinkedIn or using Email. 

What makes the Smart Sequences Smart is the If/then condition. To explain it, let’s create a smart drip campaign together. Say we want to invite a person to connect. Now, they can behave differently depending on whether they accept the invite or not. That is where the If/then condition comes in handy. 


Image of Smart Sequence feature in LinkedIn automation tool Skylead

If the person accepts the connection request, you can instruct Skylead to send a regular message, per the example above. If they don’t accept, you can send an InMail or even Email to multichannel your outreach.

In regular sequences, if the prospect doesn’t accept your connection request, the rest of the sequence stops. With Smart Sequences, the flow continues thanks to the conditions

Even if Skylead doesn’t manage to reach out directly, you still have View and Follow steps to send them a subtle reminder

Another benefit of Smart Sequences is you don’t spend countless hours reaching out to each lead manually. Skylead does it all for you, making your outreach 5x more effective than any other LinkedIn lead generation tool. 

Lastly, you can have as many touchpoints in the Smart Sequence as you’d like, and Skylead will do it all for you in real time. Or, if you don’t wish to create a Smart Sequence by yourself, you can use some of Skylead’s pre-tested templates.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead support team and text "We suport you from day 1"


Email Outreach

Apart from LinkedIn, this all-in-one tool offers email outreach. Email helps you get to the leads that are not that active on LinkedIn. Moreover, this channel has astonishing ROI, according to studies

Furthermore, having an Email and LinkedIn outreach combo - a multichannel outreach in your sales strategy is a must in 2024. It will give your prospects a well-rounded lead generation experience, but more importantly, it will show them that you care and wish to help them remove any pain points they experience. 

What will surprise you is that Skylead is the only tool from this list that allows you to connect unlimited email accounts. In other words, you can send thousands of emails daily without damaging your domain and at no additional cost.

In addition, whether the leads respond to your outreach from LinkedIn, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Recruiter, or Emails, you won’t have to jump from platform to platform to respond to them since Skylead has an Integrated Smart Inbox

You know where your prospects answered from, and what their status is at any moment thanks to the Smart Inbox well-defined icons, labels, and overall user-friendly interface. 


Email Discovery & Verification

When we said all-in-one solution, we really meant it. In addition to LinkedIn and Email outreach, Skylead also offers Email Discovery & Verification steps, so you can find your leads’ email addresses and reach them out over email.

Skylead is the only LinkedIn automation and Cold Email software with both limitless Email Discovery & Verification features. Other tools can only discover but not verify business emails. Or they can collect publicly available emails, but only if you have that lead in your LinkedIn network.


Image & GIF Hyper-Personalization

Once you finally get through to that lead, you want to make an impact, don’t you? That’s when Skylead’s Image and GIF Hyper-Personalization come into play! You can offer products and services less conventionally, wish your clients happy holidays, or schedule a casual meeting. 

Skylead will personalize for you by pulling the person’s profile picture, company logo, and other information from the profile. So you don’t need to waste time creating countless versions of the same image.

Skylead is the only tool to have native, in-built Image and GIF personalization. In other words, you don’t need to pay extra for it, unlike other tools from the list.


Image of Image & GIF hyper-personalization feature in LinkedIn automation tool Skylead

Pricing

All the previously mentioned features are native, meaning Skylead doesn’t outsource any of them. Plus, they all come with your monthly subscription of only $100 per account with no limitations in number of uses.

Skylead works with LinkedIn Premium, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, or Recruiter accounts. Moreover, it supports CSV-imported campaigns.

Lastly, Skylead offers video and article tutorials, sales hacks, plus live customer support chat, should you need any help. 


Image of Skylead LinkedIn Automation Tool reviews

LinkedIn Sales Navigator


Image of Sales Navigator interface with advanced filters

One tool that is familiar to all sales teams around the world is LinkedIn Sales Navigator. This LinkedIn's subscription plan is widely used for prospecting, sales funnel, or social selling as it has its own inbox.

Even though it is for sales, you can view it as a recruiting or marketing lead generation tool since both teams can use it to generate leads, gather information, and perform outreach. 


Pros

Unlike LinkedIn Premium, LinkedIn Sales Navigator has advanced filters. You can choose among 44 Lead and Account filters, depending on whether you wish to find your ICP or Buyer Persona. 

Moreover, with LinkedIn Sales Navigator you: 


Cons

Even though Sales Navigator is perfect for prospecting, it is not ideal for outreach on autopilot. However, other LinkedIn automation tools, such as Skylead, can integrate with it, thus, you can get the best from both worlds. Simply grab the search URL or your saved lead list URL, and paste it into Skylead. And just like that, you have imported your lead for the outreach.


Pricing Plans For LinkedIn Sales Navigator

LinkedIn Sales Navigator has 3 pricing plans: 

Sales Navigator Core, Advanced and Advanced Plus plans. The price for these plans vary depending on the VAT and the country. However, the prices + VAT are respectively around $93, $167 and $173 per month. Lastly, you can get up to 25% discount for your Sales Navigator account if paid annually. 


Phantombuster


Image of Phantombuster LinkedIn automation tool interface

PhantomBuster is an extension-based solution for data extraction. It acts as a sales and marketing tool that automates the scraping of publicly-available data from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and other platforms. 


Pros 

PhantomBuster is not a LinkedIn automation tool with the full package. However, it does come in handy and saves you a lot of time when you wish to scrape particular leads from LinkedIn or anywhere else.

It is a nice addition to outreach tools, as it saves your automated scraped data in CSV file and JSON formats. Therefore, you can download them and upload them elsewhere to create outreach campaigns. 

Moreover, it offers email enrichment features. In other words, with PhantomBuster, you can find email addresses. However, you cannot verify them and may risk a bounce rate for your outreach and get your domain damaged. 


Cons

Although PhantomBuster offers automation for some LinkedIn actions (sending LinkedIn connection requests or messages), it doesn’t have Smart Sequences. In other words, you cannot create your advanced workflows. Lastly, it doesn’t offer email outreach automation, and it is an extension, so it is not the safest tool to use. 


Pricing Plan 

PhantomBuster offers 3 different pricing options. They depend on the time the software runs during a 1-month period, and the number of automated actions:


Join Sales Tribe community banner with text: Set up your sales game today


TexAu


Image of TexAu, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

TexAu is a data scraping tool with chrome extension and the desktop app. This is a direct alternative to PhantomBuster and can automate activities like sending LinkedIn connection requests messages, and engaging posts on autopilot.


Pros

TexAu can scrape data from almost anywhere, including Facebook and LinkedIn groups, Google and LinkedIn search results, LinkedIn profiles, YouTube, Quora, and Twitter.

Moreover, this software offers email enrichment. In other words, it can analyze LinkedIn accounts and find and verify business emails. 


Cons

People on review websites reported having difficulty setting up proxies. What’s more, there are frequent bugs and a lack of tutorials for beginners. Lastly, TexAu doesn’t have Smart Sequences and the integrated inbox like other tools from the list.


Pricing Plan 

Like PhantomBuster, TexAu gives 3 pricing plans depending on the time software executes the activities, email enrichment during the day, storage, and more. Here are their pricing plans:

If you decide to subscribe annually to this service, you’ll get 2 months free. 


Dux-Soup


Image of Dux-Soup interface, LinkedIn automation tool

Next in line, we have Dux-Soup with basic automation of LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, and CSV-type outreach. Dux Soup is useful for beginners or a one-person team because of its simplicity and free account option. 


Pros

With Dux Soup, you can create Recruiter-based campaigns and reach out to all candidates from LinkedIn that seem a good fit for your business. 


Cons

Dux Soup doesn’t have some other more advanced features such as Image & GIF hyper-personalization, post engagement campaigns (only for posts published by the account’s user), and free InMails. It also lacks Smart Sequences, and Email Automation. Lastly, it is a chrome extension, which means it is not the safest tool to use.


Pricing Plans

Dux Soup has 3 pricing plans available.

Individual pricing plan:

Team pricing plan:

Agency plan:

In addition to a monthly cost, Dux Soup also charges support help with Zapier webhooks and tailored technical process setup.


Linked Helper 2


Image of one of the LinkedIn automation tools, LinkedHelper 2 interface

Unlike Dux Soup, Linked Helper is a LinkedIn automation tool based on a desktop app. Unfortunately, this still means that it has no dedicated IP address and the possibility of running multiple accounts. In addition, your PC needs to be on  to be able to work in the background.


Pros 

As Dux Soup, Linked Helper 2 offers the creation of a LinkedIn Recruiter-based campaign to help all recruiters out there manage potential candidates.

All processed contacts are stored in Linked Helper’s internal CRM. You can view the history of contacts through all your campaigns, search by tags and add notes. Linked Helper’s internal CRM comes in handy even when you wish to interact with contacts manually.


Cons

Linked Helper doesn’t have some other more advanced features that many other LinkedIn automation tools already have. These features include Image and GIF hyper-personalization, post engagement campaigns options, Smart Sequences and A/B testing. Additionally, it does not have Email Automation


Pricing

For as low as $15 per month (or $8.25 a month if you choose an annual subscription), you will get some basic Lead Generation options such as LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, and outreach based on CSV file outreach. However, they limit these pricing plans by messages and connection requests you can send per day. 

Linked Helper also offers a $45 pricing plan with an unlimited number of connection requests.


Zopto


Image of Zopto dashboard, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

This LinkedIn automation software is a cloud-based solution for social selling. Zopto is compatible with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, LinkedIn Premium, and Recruiter accounts. In addition, it also supports Twitter engagement automation.


Pros

Firstly, Zopto offers an email enrichment feature. In other words, it can find business emails, like Skylead, PhantomBuster and TexAu, and verify them. Secondly, it has a posts scheduling feature and can gather data such as the list of LinkedIn group members. Lastly, Zopto offers A/B testing and integrated inbox features.


Cons

The downsides of Zopto are that it doesn’t have Email Automation. In addition, it offers a simple drip campaign. In other words, Zopto doesn’t offer the quality and long-term, automated outreach solutions you get with Smart Sequences like Skylead. It has only a 4-step message workflow without any conditions.


Pricing

Zopto costs $215 per month. This is a higher price in comparison to other solutions in the market, having in mind advanced features VS price ratio.


Image of CTA banner 2 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


MeetAlfred


Image of MeetAlfred dashboard, one of LinkedIn automation tools

MeetAlfred is a cloud-based software with automated social media features. It focuses on social selling via your LinkedIn profile. In addition, it can schedule posts on Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.


Pros

All processed contacts are stored in MeetAlfred’s internal CRM. This means you can easily access and manage all your 1st-degree connections information and filter the contacts by company, industry, type of LinkedIn account, Twitter, and much more. 

MeetAlfred also offers integrated inbox and Email Outreach features. However, it can only send emails to 1-degree connections, unlike Skylead that can find and send emails to anyone.


Cons

MeetAlfred doesn’t have Smart Sequences, email discovery, and verification that are advanced features. Secondly, it doesn't have native GIFs and Image personalization features. There is, however, an integration with Hyperise as Expandi, which will make your monthly subscription fee $108 in total if you choose the middle package.


Pricing

MeetAlfred offers 3 pricing plans: $49 for single users and limited features, $89 for Sales Navigator users, and $699 for large sales teams.


Dripify


List of best LinkedIn automation tools, Dripify sequence builder

This cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool works with Premium, Sales Navigator, Recruiter Lite, and Free LinkedIn accounts. 


Pros

Dripify allows the creation of sales funnels on LinkedIn by automating some actions as a part of their sequence with conditions. These actions include viewing profiles, sending regular messages and connection requests, and skill endorsement. 

In addition, you can integrate other software, such as HubSpot, through Zapier. Lastly, it supports A/B testing and has a Recent activity feature on its reports page.


Cons

Dripify indeed offers Smart sequences. However, be aware that you need to pay more expensive pricing plans to have it. In addition, you don’t have the option to automate the InMail step, and there are only 3 sequence templates available.

Secondly, Dripify has no email automation feature. Thus, you can’t multichannel your outreach and get leads that do not spend that much time on LinkedIn.

Thirdly, you cannot send more than 75 connection requests a day. In addition, there is activity control. However, you need to be an advanced user to get it. 

Dripify also doesn’t offer Image & GIF hyper-personalization, nor can you create custom variables with CSV campaigns.

Lastly, Dripify doesn’t have an email discovery and verification feature. So, if the email is part of your outreach, this tool is not for you.


Pricing

Dripify has 3 different pricing plans:


Expandi


Image of one of LinkedIn automation tools, Expandi smart sequence builder

Expandi is a cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool with both LinkedIn and Email Outreach options. 


Pros

Expandi published its Smart Sequence feature a year after Skylead did, making it the second tool on the market to do so. They offer additional actions such as skill endorsement and following companies

Like Skylead, Zopto, and Linked Helper, Expandi has the option of creating LinkedIn Recruiter-based campaigns. 

Lastly, Expandi can integrate with any other tool via Zapier webhooks. 


Cons

Expandi offers the option of an Image & GIF hyper-personalization feature. However, they outsource this feature to Hyperise. That’s why it adds $69 per month to a regular Expandi subscription of $99 per month. It comes down to a total of $148 per month. Please note that the mentioned Hyperise package is limited to 5 templates and 5000 impressions (counted each time an image is viewed).

Apart from this additional cost, another downside is that Expandi doesn’t have Email Discovery & Verification. These features are essential for a domain safety and verified multi-touch approach. However, Expandi can scrape publicly available email addresses from the leads’ LinkedIn profiles once connected to them. Although, these emails are almost always personal ones.

Lastly, many users on review websites report that this tool has become too buggy to use lately. 


Pricing

Expandi has one pricing plan of $99 per month.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


WeConnect


Image of WeConnect dashboard, LinkedIn automation tool

WeConnect is a cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool like Skylead, Dripify, Zopto, and Expandi. 


Pro

WeConnect has A/B testing, a convenient feature for those who are still researching their perfect outreach strategy or wish to test different outreach messaging. In addition, you can send messages to LinkedIn group members on autopilot. 

Whether your prospects come from LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator, you’ll be able to see them, as WeConnect has an integrated inbox. Moreover, it has auto endorse and post-engagement features, as well as API and Zapier integration. 


Cons

Sadly, WeConnect doesn’t offer advanced features like Post Engagement Campaigns, Image personalization, or Smart Sequences. Also, it doesn’t have Email Automation or Email Discovery and Verification features. However, you can find all these features and more in Skylead.


Pricing 

If you need some basic Campaign Creation options, such as from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, or CSV, without the features and conveniences other tools have, then WeConnect can be the right option for you for $49 per month.


Octopus CRM


Image of Octopus CRM dashboard, one of LinkedIn automation tools

This is another LinkedIn automation tool that is extension-based. As it is designed for LinkedIn automation only, Octopus CRM users can solely perform LinkedIn outreach once they connect their LinkedIn profile.


Pros

One of the main features is that Octopus CRM allows you to send bulk messages to first-degree contacts

In addition, its reporting page has very detailed analytics for the features it offers. The report page includes various activities, such as the number of connection requests sent or the current Social Selling Index. 

Lastly, Octopus CRM supports Zapier and HubSpot integration.


Cons

Firstly, as it is a browser extension, this LinkedIn automation bot is not the safest to use. Secondly, it doesn’t have Smart Sequences, nor does it have an InMail message step.

Lastly, Octopus CRM supports all LinkedIn subscriptions. However, you need to pay the highest subscription plan if you use a Recruiter account. 


Pricing

Depending on the features available, Octopus CRM offers 3 pricing options:


Salesflow


Image of Salesflow, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

SalesFlow is a cloud-based solution with an integrated inbox with its own CRM and Zapier integration. It is adequate for anyone who wants to leave the campaign running to professionals with the modest features available. 


Pros

Unlike Zopto, which offers a 4-step message sequence, in SalesFlow, you can send as many LinkedIn messages and follow-ups as you wish. Moreover, you can either create campaigns from Sales Navigator or LinkedIn search results and send their template messages


Cons

Unfortunately, SalesFlow doesn’t offer email automation, discovery, verification, and Smart Sequences features. Hence, there is no possibility of complete multi-channel outreach. Furthermore, it doesn’t have any Image personalization features, so you cannot go all personalized on your prospects. 

Lastly, it doesn’t support Recruiter campaigns, nor it sends an increased number of connection requests.


Pricing

SalesFlow has 3 plans depending on the features available: 


LinkedFusion


Image of LinkedFusion, LinkedIn automation tool

Another LinkedIn automation tool worth mentioning is LinkedFusion. It is a cloud-based solution with an integrated inbox that perfectly works with any LinkedIn profile. 


Pros

With LinkedInFusion, you can personalize messages with a few variables like name, company, and location. It also supports campaign creation from the CSV file.

You can also connect it with any other app through Zapier. What’s more, it has Google Sheets and Hubspot native integration, plus it offers native integration with most CRM software

Lastly, LinkedFusion offers many LinkedIn tutorials that explain advanced growth hacks. 


Cons

LinkedFusion doesn’t have Smart Sequences, and some users reported the existing sequences are confusing. Furthermore, even though it offers image personalization, it does so through Hyperise, so you need to pay extra per month. 

Lastly, its pricing plan limits how many connection requests you can send per day.  


Pricing

LinkedInFusion has 3 pricing plans in store. They depend on other features and the number of connection requests, and messages you can send per day:


Lead Connect


Image of Lead Connect, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

Lead Connect is an extension-based tool that supports LinkedIn basic or Sales Navigator campaigns. It also allows CSV type of campaign. 


Pros

Lead Connect has a pretty simple drip campaign with only a few steps available. On the other hand, it offers various templates. However, the number of templates depends on the pricing plan. 

Speaking of integration, you can link Lead Connect with HubSpot. In addition, you can even get the email discovery feature thanks to the integration with other tools such as Hunter.io. Although, you need to pay more for it. 


Cons

Lead Connect doesn’t offer Smart Sequence like Skylead or Expandi. In addition, it doesn’t support Recruiter integration and needs Zapier to integrate with other CRM software. Lastly, it doesn’t support image personalization or images of any kind, for that matter. 


Pricing Plans

LeadConnect offers 4 subscription plans based on the number of templates, connection requests, and messages you can send per day:


Waalaxy


Image of Waalaxy dashboard, one of the LinkedIn automation tools

LinkedIn automation tool, Waalaxy, is extension-based software. This means it’s not the safest to use since it injects code into the LinkedIn platform and acts like a bot.  


Pros

Waalaxy supports Recruiter, Sales Navigator, and LinkedIn accounts. It can create a campaign from a LinkedIn group member search or from the Who viewed your LinkedIn profile feature. It also has auto engagement and endorsement features. 

Furthermore, it uses voice cloning technology to personalize your voice message using LinkedIn, Twitter, and Voicemail. 


Cons

As it is extension-based, Waalaxy is not the safest tool to use, and you need to keep your tab open to work. Moreover, many users on review websites have reported having their LinkedIn account banned once they started using this tool.

In addition, it doesn’t have image & GIF personalization, and it only has 3 text variables: company, first and last name. So personalization is at its minimum. 

Waalaxy doesn’t support A/B testing, so you cannot optimize your campaigns like in Skylead. Also, they do not offer Smart Sequences, and you can’t build your campaigns, as you are limited to their templates. Lastly, they restrict the number of connection requests you can use per month. 


Pricing

Waalaxy has 4 different pricing plans depending on basic features availability:


Salesloop


Image of Salesloop drip campaign, LinkedIn automation tools

As a fairly new cloud-based solution on the market, Salesloop works with almost any type of LinkedIn account.  


Pros

Salesloop offers a simple 2-step drip campaign with no conditions. It works both with LinkedIn Premium and Sales Navigator. In addition, you can create a campaign with a CSV file with a few text personalization variables.

If you are not automation savvy, they also offer a done-for-you deal, but you need to pay a steep price for it.


Cons 

Salesloop doesn’t have Smart Sequences. Furthermore, the drip campaign doesn’t support many LinkedIn activities. In other words, it supports invite-to-connect and follow-up message steps only. Lastly, it has no email automation, and doesn’t integrate with any CRM.


Pricing

Salesloop has three pricing plans with monthly subscription:


IFTTT


Image of IFTTT LinkedIn automation tool

This tool is not for lead generation. However, it is extension-based, and you can automate your LinkedIn activities, such as publishing content, sharing a link, or an update. 

It is created mainly for the automatization of activities on countless platforms, including WordPress, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, Evernote, and others.

It doesn’t automate LinkedIn messaging


Pricing

The pricing of IFTTT is fairly simple:


Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Frequently Asked Questions About LinkedIn Automation

We’ve noticed some questions regarding LinkedIn automation tools burning online with no answers. At least not the precise ones. So, let’s change that.


Is LinkedIn A Lead Generation Tool?

LinkedIn is a social media platform used by professionals. Marketers, salespeople, and recruiters also use it to find and generate new leads via LinkedIn campaigns. It is not a lead generation tool per se but rather a place where you can generate leads using different LinkedIn automation and generation tools.


Can You Automate Lead Generation?

Yes. For example, you can find the leads’ data through LinkedIn prospecting. Then, use automation tools to scrape the contacts and create a sequence to reach out to them on autopilot. In other words, with LinkedIn automation tools, you can automate parts of LinkedIn lead generation activities.


How Do You Automate In LinkedIn?

By using LinkedIn automation tools, you can automate LinkedIn lead generation tasks. The activities you can automate range from data scraping to sending connection requests, follow-up messages, InMails, follows, and profile views. Simply log into your LinkedIn automation tool, and set the activities you wish for the algorithm to perform. 


What Is An Automation Tool In LinkedIn?

The automation tool for LinkedIn is software used to perform different activities on LinkedIn that you usually do manually. In other words, these tools automate the list of LinkedIn activities such as profile views, following other LinkedIn users, sending connection requests, regular LinkedIn messages, or InMails.


Is Linkedin Automation Illegal? 

No. LinkedIn automation isn’t illegal. However, since LinkedIn doesn’t like its users to use automation, it carefully analyzes accounts’ activities. If it registers unusual activity, LinkedIn can get your LinkedIn account restricted. So be careful about what LinkedIn automation tool you choose and what is considered a cause for restriction.   


Does LinkedIn Allow Automation Tools?

No. LinkedIn doesn’t like its users to use automation. That is why they imposed limitations, such as the number of connection requests per week. They even analyze users’ behavior and can get your LinkedIn profile restricted. Better choose a tool like Skylead that operates safely.


Is There A LinkedIn Bot?

LinkedIn automation tools (also known as LinkedIn bots) are software that uses bots to automate your activities on LinkedIn. Sales teams and recruiters around the world use LinkedIn automation tools to automate tasks such as sending connection requests, messages, and InMails to get in touch with the leads.


Ready To Automate Your LinkedIn Outreach?

Now that you are familiar with the most popular LinkedIn automation tools, which one would you choose?


Reviewing LinkedIn automation tools meme

…Skylead! 

Jokes aside, our advice is to go with the tool that gives you the most options you need for your business. Trust us, the more you start feeling comfortable with your automation tool of this professional network platform, the more creative you will want to become with lead generation to stand out from your competitors.

If you are unsure what features to make a priority in LinkedIn automation tools, here’s our top 7 list. 


Image of the list of features you need to consider when researching LinkedIn automation tools

Now, go and automate your LinkedIn outreach and reach those ambitious goals!

Let’s chat! Drop by and say hi to our customer support team and let them help you sign up for Skylead’s 7-day free trial. We can’t wait to meet you.


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

At first mention, cold outreach tends to have a bad reputation. 

It's no wonder, as no one likes unsolicited emails, LinkedIn messages, or calls. 

However, real cold outreach is not useless or annoying. On the contrary, it helps your and your clients' businesses grow and builds strong, lucrative, and long-lasting relationships. 

It starts with thoroughly researching the ICP and Buyer Persona, defining a precise outreach strategy, writing sales messages and follow-ups in advance, predicting objections and preparing for objection handling, and much more.  

That's why, in this blog, we will dive into a detailed explanation of:


What is cold outreach? 

Cold Outreach is a form of outbound marketing. It implies contacting prospects with whom you had no prior relationship and introducing them to your product/service. It can be conducted via LinkedIn, email (cold emailing), phone (cold calling), or by combining these channels (multichannel outreach). 

Companies with a business-to-business work model mainly use cold outreach. For optimal results, each cold outreach campaign should be based on a well-thought-out outreach strategy. This strategy should aligns with the company's needs, goals, and possibilities. 


Cold outreach VS warm outreach 

Cold outreach, as mentioned above, implies reaching out to prospects with whom you had no prior relationship and who most likely have little or no awareness of your product/service. 

On the other hand, warm outreach implies contacting prospects who know about your product/service and have expressed interest in it. The communication channels can be the same as cold outreach strategies - via LinkedIn, email, call, or combining several communication channels. However, the approach is, of course, different. 


Cold outreach strategies in marketing, sales, and recruiting 

Cold outreach is a form of outbound marketing and sales. It is a traditional form of marketing in which a company initiates contact with a potential customer. 

Since cold outreach is mainly implemented by companies with a B2B work model, these potential clients are other companies that could benefit from their products/services the most. 

The most common forms of outbound marketing are:

This chapter will discuss the role of cold emailing, cold calling, and cold messaging on LinkedIn as a cold outreach strategy in sales, marketing, and recruiting. 


Cold outreach strategy in marketing 


Network with industry peers 

LinkedIn networking with industry peers positively impacts the exposure of your business. Furthermore, it brings meaningful connections, and provides additional insights into different marketing trends and practices. 

What once was reserved for in-person business events only today is happening on LinkedIn. LinkedIn is a social media platform aimed at building B2B relationships that gathers over 810 million professionals worldwide. In other words, it allows you to find and network with all your industry peers from all over the world in one place. 


Connect with thought leaders and influencers

Word of mouth is the best marketing tool, especially from industry experts. 

LinkedIn is also an excellent place to connect with thought-leaders and influencers. This way you can talk about your product/service reach your target audience through their content or mention. 

Also, you can get in touch with their followers through the Sales Navigator filter Connections Of. Or, use a LinkedIn automation tool, such as Skylead, to scrape LinkedIn members who reacted to specific posts and reach out to them.


Invite top speakers to participate at your event 

Whether a startup or an established business, having high-profile speakers at your event (webinars, in-person conferences, seminars, etc.) puts your company in the spotlight. It is an excellent way to gather people from your industry and potential customers in one place. 

Additionally, top-level speakers usually have a broad audience and many followers on social media. As a result, they could attract professionals from an industry branch you didn't consider initially. This gives you a significant insight into the direction your business can take.


Create cold outreach campaigns to get in touch with platforms or other brands that could go hand-in-hand with yours.(obviously, skip your competitors!). In return, be open to hosting their content or exchanging backlinks. 

Having your content published or backlinked on other places rather than just on your gives your brand significant exposure, whether a startup or an established business. Furthermore, it places you and your team members as field experts. 


Send out press releases 

A new software release, reaching a business milestone, announcing a new product/service, or anything worth mentioning should be publicly announced. Use cold outreach to get in touch with online magazines relevant to your industry and get extra publicity. 


Cold outreach strategy in sales 

Simply put, sales represents the group of activities that lead to exchanging goods or services for money or other assets. 

Not long ago, the entire sales process, from lead generation to the pitch, was reserved for face-to-face contact. Then, unsolicited calls to prospects without prior contact, known as cold calling, became a crucial part of sales teams' cold outreach strategies. This way, teams managed to reach geographically more distant clients. 

Today, with the internet becoming available to almost everyone, sales reps are using more and more social media networks to understand their customers and to reach out to them. However, the social selling process is far more complicated than that.

There are over 63 million decision-makers on LinkedIn. You can now offer your product/service to the entire world, but so can everyone else. That's how social selling was born. It is a sales and marketing strategy that prioritizes relationship building with potential clients and makes the act of selling its consequence rather than a goal. Social selling has many processes, but it usually starts with cold outreach. 


Cold outreach strategy in recruiting 

Due to the global talent shortage, recruiters must develop an employer branding strategy to present their company in the labor market and a cold outreach strategy to approach ideal candidates and attract them to work for their company. 

Furthermore, LinkedIn developed a series of platforms designed to help recruiters find the most qualified candidates for their companies - LinkedIn Recruiter.


What is cold email outreach? 

Cold email outreach is an outbound prospecting technique that uses email to approach prospects to establish professional relationships and sell your product. Therefore, a cold email is any unsolicited email sent to someone who knows nothing or very little about your product with the goal of selling it. 


B2B Cold email response rates 

A generally accepted average cold email open rate is 21.33%, while an average response rate is 1% to 5%

As you may see, the difference between an open rate and a reply rate is significant. The email open rate depends on your email subject line and your reply rate of how good you are at writing sales messages and follow-up emails after no response.

One of the many benefits of using Skylead, a LinkedIn automation tool and cold email software, is the possibility to find and verify your prospects' email addresses. The verification process is critical, as it ensures higher deliverability (chances of your cold email landing directly in your prospect's inbox instead of spam) and safeguards your domain from restrictions. 

Furthermore, every day Skylead team strives to educate our users and beyond on sales and anything sales-related, how to put our tips, tricks, and templates for better open and reply rates, and finally, conversion rates into good use through our tool. You can find sales email templates and LinkedIn templates in our resources or subscribe to our newsletter for the latest industry and software updates and ready-to-use sales templates. 


Image of CTA banner 1 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Cold outreach on LinkedIn 

LinkedIn is a social media platform that, besides connecting professionals from around the world, gives you significant insights into your prospects' needs, desires, and pain points through their LinkedIn profiles. 

Unlike other social media focusing on people's private lives or B2C communication, LinkedIn is majorly oriented towards the B2B business model. 

It offers detailed insights into your ideal customers, such as your prospect's name, company name, contact information (email, website, phone number), professional communities they like, and content with which they engage. 

Despite LinkedIn being majorly mentioned as a platform for salespeople, sales teams, and marketers, it's important to highlight that it's pretty valuable for recruiters and people looking for new job opportunities. 

When fishing for the best talent to join your company, the process is the same as social selling. On the other hand, potential employees rely on LinkedIn before applying to a position that might interest them. They can draw conclusions from the company's employer branding campaigns, growth insights, etc., just like sales reps and marketers do for their potential clients. 


What is multichannel cold outreach?

Multichannel cold outreach implies combining channels of communication, usually LinkedIn outreach, email outreach, and cold calling to get prospects to engage in the process of social selling. It can also be performed through your multichannel contact center.

Multichannel outreach is the most effective approach for starting a conversation with your ideal prospects because you are creating more than one touchpoint with your prospects and, at the same time identifying their preferred channel of communication for further conversations. 


Benefits of cold outreach


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


Cold outreach: Best practices


Understand your prospects' needs 

LinkedIn is a gold mine of qualified prospects and information on those prospects. So, check out:

You can learn all of this by visiting their LinkedIn profile. 


Personalize 

Once you've understood your prospects' affinities, needs, and goals, it's time to put this information into practice. Personalizing your outreach goes far beyond calling your prospects by their names. Some successful sales reps import CSV files (with email lists or LinkedIn URLs) into automation tools. They also personalize entire paragraphs to each prospect for the best results.  

For example, let’s say you have an email list of your ideal prospects. Create a column where you write a personalized intro for each of them where the rest of the sales message copy stays the same for every prospect.


CSV file, example, Skylead CSV-file cold outreach campaign

Once you upload this .csv file to Skylead, the column “intro” will automatically turn into a variable {{intro}}. Use it like this. 


Skylead, example of personalization, cold email outreach, variables

Each prospect will receive a combination of the personalized intro as in the csv file with the rest of the message. 


Address the pain points 

Your best pitch lies in proving that your product/service solves your prospects' pain points most quickly and directly. Make that clear in your sales messages, from the intro to CTA. 


Connect on a human level

However, addressing the pain points doesn't mean selling repeatedly. Keep in mind that your prospects are humans and that you should always try to connect on a human level. Sales reps who genuinely show that they care and want to help their potential customers improve their businesses have higher conversion rates. 


Build relationships before selling 

As part of social selling, cold outreach is all about building relationships with prospects. People are more likely to buy products from people they trust and with whom they feel comfortable opening up. 


Don't quit - follow up 

Don't give up after the first try. Decision-makers to whom you're trying to get are busy. They receive numerous LinkedIn connection requests and cold emails and, believe it or not, often forget to reply. So sending a follow-up email is always a good choice. 


Qualify your prospects  

Qualifying a prospect means determining whether or not someone interested in your product/service is a good fit for it. Therefore, a qualified prospect is a potential client whose pain points your product/service solves in the most direct way. By qualifying your prospects, you will have higher customer lifetime value while lowering churn rates. 


A/B test your cold outreach

One cold outreach template won't fit all prospects. That's why it's smart to A/B test message templates of all kinds. A/B test is a randomized experimentation process where two or more versions are sent to different target users simultaneously to determine which one makes results and influences the desirable business action. It's the only way to know what really works for your target prospects. 

For example, in this case, we tested 3 different copies of Invite to connect on LinkedIn to see which one would have the highest acceptance rate and/or reply rate. 

Here’s how you see the results of A/B testing in Skylead. You also have instant insight into the messages you were testing. 


Skylead, AB testing, example of AB testing results

Automate your cold outreach

It's 2024, and we're far past manual outreach. LinkedIn automation tools progressed and are now an indispensable part of any sales, marketing, and recruiting process. Skylead, for example, optimizes your time by finding the fastest way to your prospects, makes sure your cold emails land directly in your prospect's inbox, which affects your deliverability, gives you real-time reports and campaign status, and supports all sorts of integrations with CRMs (i.e., Hubspot, Salesflare, Zoho) newsletter tools, databases, etc. through Zapier and API. 


What is a good cold email 

A good cold email must show that the sender has thoroughly researched the recipient (prospect) and their company to understand their needs, desires, and pain points. Furthermore, it also includes a concrete and straight-to-the-point explanation of how your product/service can help improve a specific aspect of their business. 

The characteristics of a "good cold email" are the same for recruiters and candidates writing to hiring managers to search for job opportunities. 

For example, if you're a recruiter reaching out to the ideal candidate, you should show that you've researched that person and why you consider them the right fit for the position. The "spray and pray" approach doesn't work, not it makes your company look good. 

The same goes another way around. If you're a candidate searching for an opportunity, make sure you've done thorough research on a specific company's product/service. Even if you're an expert in your field, the hiring manager is less likely to consider you if they notice you don't particularly care about the company itself and that you just go and apply for random jobs. 


Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Cold outreach email template 

Now, let's look at some proven cold email formulas (and cold email templates) that increase your reply rates and generate results. 

The most basic structure of cold emails, whether a first email or a follow-up, consists of an email subject line, email body copy, call-to-action (CTA), and email signature. 

As mentioned above, the email open rate majorly depends on your email subject line. Your response rates depend on how well you researched your recipients, hence, how relevant your offer is to their company. Also, if you included links or hyperlinked words, ensure the anchor words are attractive enough (but not misleading) to improve your click-through rate. 

Here are some cold email formulas/templates.


The BAB (Before - After - Bridge) formula

Before - a paragraph on your prospect's pain point. 

After - what your prospect's business looks like with a solution you're offering. 

Bridge - how your prospect can get there. 


Cold outreach email template with the BAB (Before - After - Bridge) Formula

The PAS (Problem - Agitate - Solve) formula

The PAS formula is also known as "a pessimistic version of BAB". However, it works equally well in different situations. You have to evaluate which principle works better for you and your prospects, or you can always AB test them. 

Problem - open your cold email with the problem your prospect's facing. 

Agitate - emphasize the problem until it "hurts".

Solve - offer a solution to your prospect's problem.


Cold outreach email template with the PAS (Problem - Agitate - Solve) Formula

The SSS (Star - Story - Success) formula 

Star - introduce the main character, that should be either your prospect or someone with whom your prospect can identify.

Story - tell a story about your character in which they face the same problem your prospect does.

Success - share how your character got out of the problem and offer the same solution to your prospect.


Cold outreach email template with the SSS (Star - Story - Success) Formula

The ACCA (Awareness - Comprehension - Conviction - Action) formula 

Awareness - show your prospect that you know what their pain point is.

Comprehension - explain how this pain point affects them, and tell them you have a solution.

Conviction - create a desire for the solution.

Action - call-to-action (CTA).  


Cold outreach email template with the ACCA (Awareness - Comprehension - Conviction - Action) Formula

The AIDA (Attention - Interest - Desire - Action) formula 

Attention — Grab the prospect's attention.

Interest — Make it personal to engage their interest.

Desire — Build desire for what you're offering.

Action — Ask for a response.


Email template with the AIDA (Attention - Interest - Desire - Action) Formula

Also, remember to check out our ready-to-use follow-up email after no response templates, as well as the most common email mistakes and the most effective email calls-to-action (CTAs) for higher response and conversion rates. 


Best cold email outreach subject line 

Whether a first or a follow-up email, your email subject line is crucial for your open rates. 

Subject lines should be compelling but not misleading. If you used tricks to get your email opened, and the subject line doesn't reflect the email body, don't expect your prospect to reply. People generally get angry when misled and are less likely to open your follow-up emails, too.  

Here are email subject line guidelines, best practices, and over 107 subject line examples that you can use immediately or draw inspiration from. 


LinkedIn outreach templates 

In simple words, LinkedIn outreach implies using the platform to connect and nurture professional relationships with the goal of selling your product/service to those members that would benefit from it the most.

For this purpose, LinkedIn offers different types of messaging, such as connection requests for better acceptance rates, regular messages for members of your network, LinkedIn InMails for busy decision-makers, and 3rd-degree connections. 

From this point of view, LinkedIn outreach is different from cold email outreach for classifying members based on your connection level, whereas you can send a cold email to pretty much anyone whose email address you have. However, LinkedIn as a platform offers other benefits, such as networking opportunities, significant insights into your prospect's professional achievements, pain points, and professional aspirations, etc. 

You will find over 30 ready-to-use LinkedIn outreach templates in our resources LinkedIn connection message templates, sales messages for starting sales conversations, and LinkedIn InMails examples


LinkedIn outreach automation 

Skylead is a LinkedIn automation tool and cold email outreach software that, thanks to its smart algorithms that make decisions based on your prospect's behavior, automates time-consuming sales processes and gets to your prospects in the fastest and most direct way possible. 

By automating your LinkedIn outreach, you are optimizing your time and saving resources while still getting the most out of your LinkedIn prospecting process. In addition, it is perfectly safe and supports integrations through API and Zapier with CRMs, newsletter tools, database software, calendar booking tools, etc. 

Skylead allows you to automate only LinkedIn outreach, make only cold email campaigns, or combine everything into multichannel outreach for the best results. It also has its email finder that, at the same time, verifies each prospect's email address to increase deliverability and prevent harming your email domain. 

Skylead’s Smart Sequences work on the “if/else” principle meaning that they act based on your lead’s behavior. The picture below shows what multichannel outreach looks like but you can always opt to make a Smart Sequence that focuses on one channel only (LinkedIn or email). 


Skylead, smart sequence, example of multichannel cold outreach

Also, it has a proven boost mode feature that helps you bypass LinkedIn limits and connect with more prospects in less time. 


Image of CTA banner 1 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


Frequently asked questions 


How does cold outreach automation compare to manual outreach in terms of effectiveness and personalization?

Cold outreach automation can scale efforts and maintain consistency while keeping a deeper level of personalization, potentially increasing effectiveness by making recipients feel uniquely considered. While manual outreach can be personalized as well, automation is a preferred option because it saves so much time. 


What are the ethical considerations or potential drawbacks of using cold outreach strategies, especially regarding unsolicited messages?

Ethical considerations in cold outreach include respecting privacy, avoiding spam, and ensuring messages provide value. Misuse can lead to negative brand perception and legal issues.


Can the effectiveness of cold outreach vary significantly between industries, and if so, how should strategies be adapted for different sectors?

Effectiveness of cold outreach can indeed vary across industries. Sectors with high digital engagement may respond better. Tailoring strategies to industry-specific preferences and pain points is crucial for relevance and effectiveness.


Is cold outreach effective? 

If done right, cold outreach is a powerful prospecting tactic used by many salespeople for its high ROI, the possibility to reach potential clients from all over the world, and the ability to build long-lasting business relationships. 


Why is cold outreach important? 

Cold outreach can help you gain broader brand awareness and reach potential customers from all over the world. Furthermore, it's cost-effective and can be used for sales, marketing, recruiting, and job searches. 


How do you conduct a cold outreach? 


You will not get into trouble if you use your prospects' business email addresses for cold email campaigns. 


Can you cold email B2B? 

Yes, B2B companies' sales teams use cold email outreach and LinkedIn outreach more often to accomplish their sales goals. 


What is cold outreach in marketing? 

Cold outreach in marketing is a form of outbound marketing that implies contacting prospects who could turn into your potential clients but don't know about your brand and have no previous experience with it. It could be done through email marketing, LinkedIn outreach, and cold calling. 


What is cold lead generation? 

Cold leads (referred to as "top of the funnel" leads) are those who are most likely not familiar with your product/service and haven't expressed interest in it. Cold lead generation is the process of gaining cold leads' attention, usually through LinkedIn (LinkedIn lead generation), cold emailing, and cold calling.


What is the difference between cold calling and prospecting? 

Prospecting is the process of identifying and building relationships with potential customers who probably don't know about your product and haven't shown interest in it so far. Cold calling is one of the prospecting techniques which includes reaching out to potential customers via phone. 


Is it better to cold call or email first? 

It majorly depends on your sales outreach strategy. However, some outreach experts find cold emailing less invasive and advise starting by reaching out to your ideal customers in written form (cold emailing and/or LinkedIn outreach). 


How long should a cold outreach email be? 

Generally, shorter cold sales emails of around 50-200 words have higher response rates. However, the most important aspect of cold emails is that they are personalized and highly relevant to the recipients. Also, their subject lines must be catchy while reflecting the emails' topic.


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

For those who have just started researching LinkedIn automation tools, SaaS startup Expandi appeared in the market in 2019. They initially created software that focused solely on LinkedIn automation. 

After years of development, many small business sales teams and recruiters started using it for Email outreach and LinkedIn lead generation

However, as the market has changed and other tools progressed, one question poses itself. Is Expandi the best Email and LinkedIn outreach tool? Or is there a better alternative on the market? 

Let’s check that together. We will go over what Expandi offers, its disadvantages, the comparison with other solutions, and the pricing itself. 


Perfect GIF

Expandi or alternatives?

Expandi is a LinkedIn automation and Email outreach tool. In other words, it performs the outreach activities on both platforms on autopilot, so you don’t have to.  

It is a cloud-based solution with a dedicated IP address that shields your activity. In addition, your data is stored on the internet, not servers, like in some LinkedIn automation tools.

Unlike Chrome extensions (e.g., Dux-Soup), or desktop apps (e.g., LinkedHelper), a cloud-based solution like Expandi doesn’t require you to keep your PC turned on. Moreover, it doesn’t inject code into LinkedIn and mimics human behavior. These two parameters make this software a safer solution than extension-based tools. This way, you can send connection requests and perform LinkedIn outreach carefree.

Many small businesses, and startups teams use Expandi for LinkedIn prospecting and lead generation. These professionals include salespeople, recruiters, and even outbound marketing managers.

You can use Expandi with any LinkedIn account. To clarify, you can create campaigns based on Sales Navigator, Recruiter, or Premium and basic LinkedIn search URL. Moreover, you can create an outreach campaign with a CSV file.

Lastly, Expandi can integrate with any other tool via Zapier webhooks or API. 

Now that we’ve covered the basics let’s get into the specific features.


Expandi features


Smart Sequences

To clarify, Smart Sequence is an algorithm that streamlines LinkedIn activities you create in a workflow. In other words, it performs each action you set for each lead from the target audience source on autopilot. 

Expandi introduced a Smart Sequence feature almost a year after Skylead did (another LinkedIn automation & Cold Email software). 

With Expandi, you can automate various activities: 

Expandi also provides non-essential steps for lead generation, such as LinkedIn Post liking, Skill Endorsement, and Following Company.  


Email outreach

Expandi added Email outreach to their features list so you can use multichannel as part of the Smart Sequence workflow. In other words, this feature allows you to expand your LinkedIn lead generation to another channel. By using email as your secondary channel, you can connect with less active leads on LinkedIn. 

What’s more, Expandi offers attractive metrics analysis and A/B testing, so you can test what messaging works best for you and optimize your campaign. Or you can choose to use one of their message templates. 


Disadvantages

Expandi lacks some outreach features. Firstly, even though it offers Image & GIF hyper-personalization, Expandi outsources this feature to Hyperise. So, what does this mean for you? First, you pay an additional monthly price if you wish to use this feature. In addition, Hyperise itself limits this feature depending on the number of templates and impressions(counted each time someone sees the image). Thus, for example, the lowest Hyperise package of $69 limits the use of 5 templates and 5000 impressions.

Secondly, Expandi doesn’t have Email Discovery & Verification features, meaning it cannot find leads’ business email addresses and verify them. Even though Expandi can scrape publicly-available personal email addresses from LinkedIn profiles, it can do so only after the prospects accept your connection request.

Therefore, if the lead isn’t responsive on LinkedIn or doesn’t accept, you cannot reach them via Email as Expandi cannot find their address. Therefore, you miss the shot to multichannel your outreach and get in touch with that lead. Moreover, you risk a high bounce rate and having your domain damaged. So, if you wish to find business emails, you cannot do it in Expandi. In other words, you would need to find an Email Discovery tool and increase your monthly subscription.  

Lastly, if you use Expandi yourself or read reviews, you will notice that most users reported that this tool had become buggy lately. Too buggy to use. Moreover, their customer support team is not the most responsive, nor are the issues solved promptly.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead support team and text "We suport you from day 1"


Pricing

Expandi offers one pricing plan of $99 for one seat a month and a whitelabel solution. However, if you decide to use Hyperise Image & GIF personalization feature, you end up with a monthly receipt of $168 per 1 seat. And if you wish to include Email Discovery & Verification, count an additional $50+ per month, at least. Therefore the total monthly pricing for 1 Expandi account with all the features is $218 minimum. 

However, some Expandi alternatives possess the same, better, or similar features at different prices. So, let’s check them out.


5 best Explandi alternatives

Whether you’ve found out about Expandi recently or are not satisfied with this tool and looking for a change, here is the list of Expandi alternatives. 


1. Skylead

The first and best Expandi alternative is Skylead. Yes, that is us 🙂 Hello.

Skylead is an All-In-One solution that helps founders, sales teams, recruiters, marketers, and others streamline their outreach efforts.

Skylead is the best LinkedIn automation tool & Cold Email software with all outreach native features. In other words, it is a perfectly-rounded Lead generation tool.  

As opposed to Chrome extensions like Dux-Soup, or desktop apps like LinkedHelper, Skylead is a cloud-based solution. In other words, each user gets a dedicated IP address that shields their activity. In addition, it mimics human behavior and performs a different number of actions in real-time each day. These features make Skylead the safest software out there.

Being a cloud-based software comes with additional perks. For example, Skylead offers an integrated inbox that gathers all messages in one place and an option to operate with multiple accounts.

Like Expandi, you can use it with any LinkedIn account type, including all Sales Navigator and Recruiter subscription plans.

Thanks to these integrations, you can use Skylead to create outreach campaigns and target audiences from 8 different sources:

Moreover, Skylead supports integration with your CRM or any other tool via Zapier webhooks or API.

Lastly, with Skylead, you can scrape publicly available data only, such as email and phone numbers. Or you can choose to create an outreach campaign.

Now that we've covered the basics let's jump to more features Skylead offers.


Skylead features


Smart Sequences

Skylead is the first tool that launched Smart Sequences on the market and thus has changed how the entire market performed its outreach. As previously mentioned, this groundbreaking algorithm executes steps in the order you set, according to your leads’ behavior. 

The If/Else conditions make the Smart Sequences special. In other words, Skylead can recognize what path your leads choose to follow in your workflow and perform future actions in real time.


Image of Skylead's Smart Sequence example, Expandi alternative

You can create a sequence from any outreach action you imagine. These actions include sending free and paid InMails, and connection requests. You can create custom conditions as well. 

Fear not, though. If you do not wish to create the sequence from scratch, you can always use one of Skylead’s pretested sequence templates along with its message templates

With Smart Sequences, you don’t spend countless hours reaching out to every single lead manually. Skylead does it all for you.


Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Email outreach 

Having a multichannel outreach will give your LinkedIn prospects a well-rounded lead-generation experience. But, more importantly, it will show that you wish to help them resolve any problems they might have. 

That is why Skylead has an integrated Email Outreach feature that you can combine with LinkedIn outreach in one sequence. In addition, Skylead’s email outreach offers various personalization variables so you can write your most converting messages and follow-up emails

In addition, as opposed to Expandi or any other tool from this list, Skylead allows you to connect unlimited email accounts. In other words, you can send thousands of emails daily without damaging your domain and at no additional cost.

Lastly, unlike Expandi, with Skylead, you can use Email outreach at its full potential. Here’s how. 


Email discovery & verification

Skylead recognized how mandatory Email Discovery & Verification steps are in multichannel outreach. Thus they created both features for the users. Using these features, you can find business emails, thus lowering the bounce rate, saving your domain authority, and maximizing getting in touch with leads

Moreover, you can find and verify your prospects’ emails without linking your LinkedIn profile with Skylead.

Email Discovery & Verification features are native, meaning you don’t pay an extra monthly price for it. Lastly, Skylead is the only solution on the market that allows users to use both of these features without limitations. In other words, Skylead offers unlimited Email Discovery & Verification credits, meaning it doesn’t charge an additional monthly sum. 


Native image & GIF hyper personalization

To maximize your response rate, Skylead introduced a native Image & GIF Hyper-Personalization feature. This way, you can send LinkedIn InMails, messages, emails, or follow-ups in a more personalized and unique way and catch your prospects’ attention.

Skylead personalizes your chosen images and GIF on autopilot by pulling the person’s profile picture, company logo, and other information from the profile. So you don’t need to personalize countless versions of the same image. Instead, Skylead does it all for you.


Screenshot of Image and GIF hyper-personalization in Skylead, Expandi's alternative

Report and analytics

Skylead offers 3 levels of detailed, real-time insight:

Therefore, you can analyze the metrics of every aspect of your outreach campaigns. Moreover, with Skylead, you can A/B test your messaging, subject, line, or connection requests, see what works best and optimize your efforts. 


Pricing

Skylead is an All-In-One tool you need for your multichannel outreach, and it costs $100 per 1 account/month. Unlike other LinkedIn automation and lead generation tools such as Expandi or Zopto, Skylead doesn’t limit the features by the number of uses. Moreover, Skylead has a very dedicated customer support team that is ready to help you any time. 

Lastly, like Expandi, Skylead provides a Whitelabel solution to its partners.


Expandi vs. Skylead

To simplify the analysis, we’ve created a comparison table between Expandi and Skylead. In addition, we included the most important to less essential features of both software, so you can make your decision easier.


Skylead Vs Expandi feature comparison table

2. Zopto

LinkedIn automation tool, Zopto, is another cloud-based solution and Expandi.io alternative. It is compatible with Sales Navigator, LinkedIn Premium, and Recruiter accounts. 

What distinguishes Zopto and Expandi is that Zopto offers an Email Enrichment feature. In other words, Zopto can find and verify business emails like Skylead. However, the downside is that Zopto limits how many leads you can enrich with the email, depending on the pricing plan. 

As opposed to other mutual features, like A/B testing, Zopto offers a LinkedIn Post scheduling feature. It means you can create and schedule posts on LinkedIn using this software. Moreover, Zopto expanded incomplete automation to another social media channel - Twitter. In other words, it can automate only post likes on Twitter. 

Lastly, being a cloud-based solution, Zopto has combined Inbox, as well as CRM, and Hubspot integration through Zapier webhooks and API.

Another major disadvantage is that Zopto doesn’t have Smart Sequence functionality. Instead, it offers a simple 4-step drip campaign without any conditions


Pricing

Zopto’s pricing includes 3 plans. Each plan comes with an assigned account manager.

This price for all packages is higher considering other tools, features they offer, and the pricing itself.


Expandi vs. Zopto

Having in mind all other features mentioned above, here is a total comparison between Skylead, Expandi and Zopto.


Image of Expandi and Zopto features comparison by features

3. MeetAlfred

This is another SaaS startup that developed an outreach solution for small businesses, salespeople, and agencies. MeetAlfred primarily automates social media activities, including scheduling Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn posts.  

MeetAlfred is a cloud-based solution with an internal CRM. It means that, like Expandi.io and Skylead, you can easily access and manage your leads. In addition, this tool also offers integrated inbox and Email Outreach features. However, you can only send emails to 1-degree LinkedIn connections, like Expandi.io, making it an incomplete multichannel outreach tool.

Lastly, MeetAlfred supports Zapier integration or integration with any other tool via webhooks.

One of the most significant disadvantages is that MeetAlfred doesn’t offer Smart Sequences. Instead, it only provides a simple drip outreach campaign. However, it does offer more steps in a sequence than Zopto.

Secondly, MeetAlfred doesn’t have email discovery and verification features. Moreover, it doesn’t have a native Image & GIF hyper-personalization. But, they have a Hyperise integration as Expand.io that increases your monthly subscription cost.


Pricing

MeetAlfred has 3 pricing plans: 

To this day, MeetAlfer doesn’t offer a Whitelabel solution.


Expandi vs. MeetAlfred 

MeetAlfred tries hard to follow the amount of features Expandi, Skylead and Zopto introduced. However, they balance these lacks in pricing.


Expandi and MeetAlfred features comparison table

4. LinkedFusion

Another great LinkedIn automation tool like Expandi is LinkedFusion. It is a cloud-based solution that offers an integrated inbox. Furthermore, you can outreach your target audience using any LinkedIn account or CSV file. 

You can link LinkedFusion with any other app through Zapier webhooks. Moreover, this tool has Hubspot and Google Sheets native integration, unlike Expandi. 

Moreover, they offer message templates they claim to be tested and conversion-driven.

Should you need any help, LinkedFusion also has a technical customer support team at your disposal 24/7.

The major disadvantage of LinkedFusion is that it doesn’t have Smart Sequences functionality, so you cannot fully control your outreach. 

Lastly, this tool offers image personalization. However, you can do it only through Hyperise integration. 


Pricing

LinkedInFusion has 3 subscription plans. They all depend on the number of connection requests, messages you can send per day, and other features:


Expandi vs. LinkedFusion

One of the best things about Expandi and Skylead is the Smart Sequence function. However, if this is not something you’re interested in, look at other features found in LinkedFusion.


Expandi vs LinkedFusion comparison table

5. LinkedHelper 2

Linked Helper 2 is another LinkedIn automation tool. However, unlike Expandi, it is a desktop app, meaning it doesn't have a dedicated IP address and the functionality to run multiple accounts. Moreover, your PC needs to be kept on for LinkedHelper to run. 

On a brighter note, LinkedHelper offers Recruiter-based campaigns, unlike LinkedFusion and MeetAlfred. Moreover, you have your internal CRM to monitor the contacts' history.

Sadly, LinkedHelper doesn't have Image & GIF personalization in any form, so you cannot hyper-personalize your outreach. Moreover, it doesn't support post-engagement campaign type, Smart Sequences or A/B testing functionality.


Pricing

What lacks in functionality, LinkedHelper V2 makes up for in pricing. However, they limit pricing plans based on the number of messages and connection requests you can send per day:


Expandi vs. LinkedHelper V2

Apart from the difference in basic functionality type (cloud-based and desktop app), here is the list of other differences between Expandi and LinkedHelper. 


Expandi and LinkedHelper feature comparison table

6. Phantombuster

Last but not least, we have Phantombuster - an extension-based tool like Dux-Soup. Although it isn’t an automation tool like Expandi, it contributes to lead generation since its algorithm focuses on data extraction. In other words, Phantombuster automates data scraping from any social media platform, including LinkedIn. 

This tool is an excellent addition to your outreach, saving time scraping the data for your CSV-based campaigns. Moreover, Phantombuster has an email discovery feature but cannot verify them. 

Phantombuster offers some automated actions on LinkedIn. For example, it can only send connection requests and messages on autopilot. However, it doesn’t have Smart Sequence functionality nor is it safe to use as it injects the code in the LinkedIn platform. Therefore, it works best as a social media scraper tool that you can combine with other LinkedIn automation tools like Expandi or Skylead. 

Lastly, Phantombuster offers Hubspot & Pipedrive CRM enrichment via integration through API key.


Pricing

PhantomBuster has 3 pricing plans depending on the number of automated actions and the time it runs during 1 month:


Expandi vs. Phantombuster

Feature-wise, Phantombuster may be different from other LinkedIn automation tools. However, you may reconsider it if you plan to create a campaign based on a CSV file using other tools.


Expandi and Phantombuster freature comparison table

How to cancel Expandi?

If you are unsatisfied with Expandi and want to try out other tools from our list, here is how to cancel your Expandi account.

First, log into your account and click the Profile Settings button in the side menu. Then, navigate to the Subscription Plan section.


Image of how to cancel Expandi account step 1

Next, click the Remove button. 


Image of how to cancel Expandi account step 2

Expandi will ask you to state the reason why you wish to cancel. You cannot proceed unless you do. 


Image of how to cancel Expandi account step 3

Once you cancel your account, you won’t be able to access your dashboard anymore, and you will be done. 


Image of CTA banner 2 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


Frequently asked questions


How do these alternative tools compare in terms of overall cost-efficiency, particularly for small businesses or individual entrepreneurs?

The overall cost-efficiency of alternative tools varies, with some offering more advanced features at a higher price point. For small businesses or solo entrepreneurs, choosing a tool that balances functionality with affordability is key to maximizing ROI.


What specific advantages do these alternatives offer over Expandi in terms of features like A/B testing, integration capabilities, and customer support responsiveness?

Compared to Expandi, these alternatives, such as Skylead may offer unique features such as more robust A/B testing capabilities, seamless integrations with other tools, and superior customer support, providing a tailored approach to LinkedIn automation and cold emailing strategies.


How user-friendly are these alternatives for someone with minimal experience in LinkedIn automation or cold emailing strategies?

The user-friendliness of these alternatives ranges widely, with some prioritizing a straightforward interface and guided setup processes to accommodate users new to LinkedIn automation, while others may offer advanced customization options suited for experienced marketers.


Ready to try other tools from the list?

Now that you know other Expandi alternatives and their main features, choose the best LinkedIn automation tool for you to test. The good practice is to analyze what you personally need for your outreach and the budget you have.

To recap, let's go over all Expandi alternatives' features compared to one another. 


Image of Expandi, Skylead, LinkedFusion, MeetAlfred, Zopto LinkedHelper and Phantombuster features comparison

Would you like to give Skylead a try? 🙂

Then sign up for a 7-day Free Trial. Or if you have any questions, drop by and say hi via chat on our website. We will be happy to meet you!


Image of excited people

Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

Is outreach part of your day-to-day tasks? Are you a part of sales, marketing, customer success, recruiting, or business development teams? Yes? Then, let us introduce you to outreach automation.

Using outreach automation might help streamline your workflow and get you to the desired results, fast. You can use outreach automation for:

Sounds like a game-changer, doesn’t it? Cutting hours on manual tasks and improving overall outreach efficiency is what we had in mind when creating Skylead. In fact, we didn’t just create a tool and give it to our users - we are using it ourselves. To back this claim, we should tell you that we used our mighty tool to boost our user base from 2,500 to 10,000 in 9 months alone!

That being said, we created this article to help you understand the fundamentals of outreach automation. You will learn how to leverage outreach automation to your benefit, reach goals faster, and book 3x the meetings. Moreover, we’ll show you the use cases, the success stories of our users, and the benefits experienced. 

So, without further ado, let’s begin introducing you to your latest industry game changer - outreach automation. ⭐️

Game-changer meme

What is outreach automation?

Outreach automation uses software tools to streamline reaching out to potential leads, customers, or any target audience. You can automate parts of your outreach, such as sending personalized messages and follow-ups on multiple channels, analyzing your outreach results, and optimizing campaigns.

In business-to-business communication (B2B), it is common to come across automated outreach campaigns. Many companies rely on outreach automation due to the large number of cold messages and follow-ups required in outreach to streamline the process and carry out the demanding numbers, especially those working in sales and marketing. In fact, sales professionals claim that automation saves more than 2 hours on manual tasks per day.

We can’t talk about B2B outreach and not mention outbound email marketing and outbound sales. It is similar to cold calling, as you craft cold email campaigns to contact potential prospects and send unrequested cold emails. In fact, outbound marketing is an integral part of many industries, where large audiences are getting reached daily, thus creating the perfect setting for automation tools.

The same goes for business-to-consumer (B2C) oriented industries. No middle person is required, yet automation tools are necessary. Numbers show that companies that use automation software to craft elaborate outreach campaigns get twice as many leads and 58% more conversions than those who send out email blasts.

Good news, marketing folks, too! Direct-to-consumer (D2C) is also favorable for automation. Almost all social media activity can be automated nowadays, saving up to 6 hours per day! Spending funds on marketing automation will provide a jump of 77% in conversions! Not bad, right?

This images depicts different sales models and the percentage of using automation for each one of them

What are the benefits of outreach automation?

If you’re still unconvinced to automate your outreach, we can tell you that both we and our users experienced these benefits firsthand. Here are some of the main benefits of automated outreach and incorporating an automation tool into your workflow:

Image of CTA banner 2 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


Use cases for outreach automation

Thanks to outreach automation, we’ve seen many industries experience significant business development, sales, and marketing among the first. Customer support can also benefit from automating certain parts of their workflow, ensuring customer success. Recruiters can choose a niche, narrow their search, and get to the desired talent in no time.

Now that we know who, let’s look into the specifics and explore when and where we think it’s best to use automated outreach on a real-life example and through our tool - Skylead. 👇


Prospecting

Before you go into outreach, you need to find your audience first, and you can do that with prospecting. The good news is that prospecting tools can help with automation by:

  1. Identifying potential leads by custom criteria
  2. Sourcing and verifying prospect information
  3. Organizing prospect data

You can do prospecting in multiple ways:

Once you acquire quality leads via LinkedIn search filters or putting their names, emails, and LinkedIn URLs in a CSV file, you can then pull them into Skylead as a lead source, which could be one of the following types:

This image is a screengrab from the Skylead tool, showing multiple campaign types that you can run

Pro tip: You can use our Email discovery and verification feature to find prospects’ emails and incorporate multiple channels into your outreach.


Lead generation & lead nurturing

After prospecting, we get to lead generation and lead nurturing. Once you acquire qualified prospects, you can start the warm-up and build your future relationships until conversion. Skylead can help with all those processes, even with lead management. This is how you do it with Skylead. 👇 


Linkedin outreach automation

As the biggest professional social media network, with over 950 million users worldwide, LinkedIn is a safe bet for outreach. But how to automate LinkedIn outreach, you may ask?

Some call them LinkedIn automation tools, and some call them LinkedIn bots, but the premise is the same: these tools can help speed up and streamline LinkedIn outreach.

Here are the actions and conditions you can combine and automate in Skylead, thanks to our Smart sequence builder.

The Add elements section from the Skylead tool, actions
The conditions section from the Skylead sequence builder feature

Once you combine these actions and conditions, you get a Smart sequence - an algorithm with different outreach scenarios that Skylead will execute according to your leads' behavior. Here’s an image example:

An example of a Smart sequence in Skylead

And the best thing about our LinkedIn automation? Once you set it up properly, it does all the work for you! But that’s not everything…

There's more meme

Cold emailing

Hoping to secure new clients? Don’t have an existing relationship with them, or are they not responding to your LinkedIn outreach? Send a cold email or use an email template and start the conversation! Sending cold emails is an integral part of cold email outreach and email marketing. But where does automation fit into all of this? Well, everywhere. Use these tools to:

This is where Skylead comes in. Use unlimited email automation and combine it with LinkedIn automation to create multichannel Smart sequences. Here’s an example of such a sequence, which can be used for outreach, lead nurturing, content and event promotion, etc:

An example of a multichannel sequence from Skylead, using LinkedIn and email in the steps

Follow-up

Salespeople are well aware that follow-ups are an absolute necessity when it comes to outreach and closing deals. What if we told you that 70% of salespeople stop after the first sales email? Our experiences show that the first follow-up increases response rates by 43%, and the last follow-up, the so-called breakup email, receives a staggering 53% response rate!

As you can tell, devising an outreach strategy that involves follow-up emails after no response to the first outreach attempt and adding a sales engagement platform to the mix increases your chances of efficiency and success. Use Skylead to automate follow-up sequences and take over once they respond!


Customer retention

If you’re in marketing, and your goal is to keep your customers hooked to your product and nurture relationships easily, this is where marketing automation comes in. For successful customer retention, use Skylead to automate sending emails and LinkedIn messages with special discounts, gifts, promotions, and useful resources.


Event marketing

Have an event you want to promote? Is it a webinar or any kind of happening? Event marketing simply calls for automation. You can use Skylead to create a webinar promo campaign and send invitations automatically, reaching out to your guest list in just a couple of clicks.

Join Sales Tribe community banner with text: Set up your sales game today


When not to use outreach automation

There are only some rare cases where outreach automation isn’t going to work. It is a bad idea to overuse the tool and reach out to more people than is allowed. LinkedIn imposes certain limitations that block excessive use and could potentially lead to your account ending up in LinkedIn jail. The email account’s health could also be damaged, so be careful.

The second case where automation loses its function is the opposite case when you need to send just a couple of messages or don’t use much outreach as a part of your work. Automation isn't efficient enough if you’re planning just one touchpoint with your prospects, so it’s better to do all this manually.

Note: You need an average of 5 touchpoints with a prospect to get a response. We generally don’t advise aiming for just one touchpoint, as that outreach strategy isn’t effective.


Different types of outreach automation tools


LinkedIn automation tools 

We’ve mentioned LinkedIn outreach automation, and LinkedIn outreach tools are here to help create outreach campaigns that reach out to a larger number of people in less time. These tools can streamline any LinkedIn action you'd have to do manually to reach out to prospects.

Here are some examples of LinkedIn automation tools:

  1. Skylead - As we’ve shown you earlier, Skylead is a LinkedIn automation and cold email software. Our cloud-based tool is here to simplify outreach and let users (individuals or companies) streamline their outreach process

Our LinkedIn automation solution helps you automate LinkedIn actions. Plus, by using Image & GIF personalization, you can personalize all messages in a follow-up sequence, not just the first. 

Finally, our first-to-market Smart sequences help combine LinkedIn with unlimited email automation and let you use multichannel outreach in its full glory. This way, you can reach your prospects one way or the other.

  1. LinkedHelper 2 - Here’s another example. A desktop automation tool that focuses on lead generation and LinkedIn automation. LinkedHelper also has an internal customer relationship management (CRM), so there’s no need to integrate with any other tool. However, if you’re looking for email automation along with LinkedIn, you would need to use another tool and pay extra for this solution.
  1. MeetAlfred - This cloud-based tool’s main focus is social selling on LinkedIn. It has a native CRM, so there’s no need for another tool integration. Besides LinkedIn, it supports email automation as well. However, you cannot create multichannel outreach in one sequence, as it does not support Smart sequences.

Email outreach tools

Email outreach is one of the oldest types of outreach out there. Whether inbound or outbound, we’ve come to an era that allows us to focus less on manual tasks and more on building solid relationships with prospects. Email outreach tools are here to:

  1. Automate email outreach campaigns
  2. Send personalized emails
  3. Track all relevant email metrics (open rates, response rates, click-through rates, etc.)
  4. Manage follow-up email sequences

Here are some examples of email automation tools:

  1. Outreach.io - This is a sales execution platform that covers the entire sales process. It integrates with Hubspot, LinkedIn Sales Navigator, and Gmail. This integration allows sending personalized emails, automating different tasks, and tracking overall engagement.
  2. Mailchimp - This email automation platform offers audience segmentation, generative AI content features, and thorough analytics. While it could be what you’re looking for, Mailchimp does not provide other outreach channels, potentially slowing down your outreach.
  3. Salesloft - Salesloft is a revenue workflow platform with an email automation feature, an internal CRM, and sales pipeline software.

Note: While all these tools have unique features that add up to the email automation solution, they do not offer other outreach channels. You can use Skylead for email and LinkedIn outreach, doubling the chances of a response. Multichannel outreach in one tool? Well…

That's the dream meme

CRM integration tools 

These tools are designed to add more value to your existing automation tool. Your outreach automation tools integrated with your CRM system are powerful workflow enhancements used to keep track of all your leads and interactions in one place.

Here are some examples of CRM integration tools:

  1. Hubspot - Hubspot helps you seamlessly connect your data, teams, and prospects in one place. It’s a sublime CRM platform created to scale with your business.
  2. Salesforce - This cloud-based CRM makes it easy for companies to find, nurture, and analyze prospects. Salesforce keeps all of your data in one place, no matter the source.
  3. Zapier - Zapier is a powerful tool made to help end users integrate web applications they use. It’s a time-saving tool that cuts hours of manual work and automates workflows.

Note: Skylead integrates with most 3rd party tools. If you need to integrate your CRM with Skylead, you can do so easily by creating webhooks or using API.


Personalization tools

Tools that add a special visual touch to your outreach messages help you personalize your outreach at scale. Your messages will be more engaging and relevant to prospects, prompting them to hit reply faster.

Here are some examples of personalization tools:

  1. Personyze - This tool offers a personalized experience with your prospects at any touchpoint. You can send personalized, targeted emails and get a higher response rate.
  2. Nifty Images - This tool allows for sending customizable images, charts, and other visuals. They also support ESP merge tags, along with 100+ templates.  
  3. Hyperise - Hyperise is a tool that supports image personalization. The main feature, called the dynamic Image editor, allows for 16 personalization points.

Note: You might think how amazing these tools are, but you know what? If you’re already using an automation tool and don’t want to pay extra for another, you can use Skylead. We have a native Image & GIF personalization feature, so there’s no need to add it externally.
Note: Before creating this feature, we tested adding images &GIFs to LinkedIn and email outreach messages, and we’ve managed to increase the response rate to 63%.

Image of CTA banner 1 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Best practices for outreach automation


Segment your audience

Before you begin your outreach endeavors, be sure to dedicate time to audience segmentation. By segmenting your audience, you amp up the efficiency and effectiveness of outreach in general. In fact, this step can affect your outreach efforts later on.

Segmentation begins once you define your ideal customer profile (ICP) and buyer personas. By segmenting your audience well, you can easily personalize the pain points of each segment. Remember: the better the segment and targeting, the better the outreach results.


Personalize your messages

Skylead spent months testing and adapting text & image personalization in cold outreach. Our conclusion might not come as such a shock, but people will respond more to personalized content. In fact, our response rates jumped to 63% in total after numerous test campaigns. You can use this information to further personalize your approach

Here are some elements you can add:

Note: Our sales team tested our hyper-personalized sequences, and the results show that the response rate increased from the industry standard of 8.5% to a staggering 35%.

Finally, these are the benefits we underline when it comes to personalization:

  1. Targeted communication - If you know your niche, you can personalize and tailor your messages to a specific group. Your content should be more engaging and relevant to the target audience.
  2. Increased engagement - It’s a chain reaction. If you segment well, your personalization is on point. Therefore, your response rates are up.
  3. Improved analytics - Personalization makes tracking results more accurate. You can easily spot which step isn’t working and continue optimizing as you go.
  4. Brand loyalty - Once your audience gets a sense of your brand and that they can trust you, brand loyalty begins. We can conclude that proper personalization leads to brand loyalty and trust. 

Use a variety of channels

Ever heard of multichannel outreach? Using more than one channel is crucial in outreach since it gives you another opportunity for a touchpoint with prospects. In fact, if you’re reaching out with email and the prospect isn’t responding, you can use LinkedIn as another communication tool and vice versa. This is why Skylead combines both LinkedIn and email automation, thus maximizing the chances of a response.


Track your results

Looking at data is always a big part of a successful outreach strategy. By tracking your results constantly and testing each outreach attempt, you will get to higher outreach numbers faster. Skylead offers an A/B testing feature, allowing you to test different types of approaches with prospects. This way, you’ll figure out quickly which part of outreach to keep and what needs to be optimized. 


Use safe tools

If we know that LinkedIn doesn’t support the use of automation tools, we have to be sure we are using the safest option out there. We can find multiple types of tools which ultimately determine their safety:

  1. Chrome extensions (you have to install them + these tools insert a code into LinkedIn, which makes them detectable)
  2. Desktop apps (doesn’t work when your PC is off)
  3. Cloud-based tools (they have a dedicated IP address + cloud storage, + the software runs even when your PC is off)

Firstly, many tools are browser-based, yet they are not the safest option because LinkedIn can detect their activity. This could possibly send you to LinkedIn jail - getting your LinkedIn account restricted or permanently banned if LinkedIn’s algorithms spot suspicious behavior. Secondly, desktop apps are inefficient and have the same safety issues as browser-based tools. 

Finally, you should opt for a cloud-based solution like Skylead, which is undetectable thanks to the dedicated IP address and the human-like behavior algorithm. Cloud-based tools also allow you to connect multiple accounts and have an integrated inbox with all messages from all communication channels in one convenient place.

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


Common mistakes to avoid in outreach automation


Sending too many messages

Following up is one thing, but spamming prospects with messages without giving them the proper amount of time to respond is another. That’s one of the biggest mistakes of outreach. Sending regular updates is fine, but make sure not to overwhelm them. Otherwise, you might end up on the spam list.

The adequate wait period in between messages should be anywhere from 2-5 business days before you contact your prospects again. If we know that LinkedIn limits our activity on the platform, as they allow you to send only 100-120 messages per week, it’s better to send them to different people rather than just one.


Not following up

Our Head of Sales, Andrea, says that it usually takes her 4-5 touchpoints before she gets a response from a lead. Therefore, persistence is key. Although sending a follow-up email after no response can be challenging, if all the previous steps were done correctly, there’s no reason for your prospect not to hit reply. 

Each follow-up keeps prospects engaged and with your product/service on their mind. If you space follow-ups correctly, with a 2-5 day gap between them, each follow-up should bring more value and a higher reply rate. In fact, our testing suggests that the last follow-up - breakup email received a 53% response rate.


Using spammy tactics

When reaching out, you should avoid using anything that might be perceived as spam to avoid getting your account restricted and email flagged. That includes:


Using too many tools 

We’ve already tapped into this a bit before, but some tools offer only a partial solution for your outreach demands. Avoid using tools that need a large number of add-ons. Instead, opt for all-in-one solutions like Skylead that cover the majority of your outreach needs for the price of one.

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's Customer Success Manager, Nevena and text "Let's onboard you 1 on 1!"


Case studies

Theory is one thing, but what about real-life examples? We are not one of those big promises types of people, so below are two case studies that show just how efficient automation tools can be. But not just any automation tool. Skylead. Our users are our best advocates. See for yourself 👇


Case study 1: How 10x Millennial went from booking 20 to 80 calls per week using outreach automation

Company type: Marketing and lead generation agency

Use case: Sales, marketing

Our first success story is 10x Millenial, which used Skylead to automate certain parts of its business. By using Skylead, Michael Gonzalez, the founder of the company, was able to offer lead gen services to companies and clients through automated email outreach. LinkedIn was an added bonus that the company hadn’t used for outreach before.

They got to book around 80 calls per week and roughly 320 calls per month! The biggest deal they closed using our tool for their client was worth $40K.

Favorites: Smart sequences, Smart inbox, and Support team.


Case study 2: How NewPoort generated 45% of its business using automation

Company type: Lead generation agency

Use case: Sales and recruiting lead generation

The second success story we’re reviewing is from Toine Boelens, the founder of NewPoort. His business model relies on helping recruitment agencies and other companies create and manage LinkedIn outreach campaigns. LinkedIn automation is what helped him generate new clients for his clients, and with it, he usually gets 5 to 10 qualified responses per day and takes it from there. 

He underlines that arranging 100 meetings for his clients in 4 months is his biggest success story since incorporating Skylead into his business model. In the beginning, our tool helped Toine generate 40-50% of his business.

Favorites: Suggested sequence templates, Smart inbox, Smart sequences, sending InMails in LinkedIn outreach.


Frequently asked questions


How do different industries adapt outreach automation tools to fit their unique business models and customer interaction strategies?

Different industries tailor outreach automation tools by identifying customer interaction patterns unique to their sector, integrating these tools with industry-specific CRM systems, and customizing communication templates to align with the professional tone and language preferred by their target audience.


What specific metrics or KPIs should businesses focus on to accurately measure the success of their outreach automation efforts?

Businesses should focus on metrics such as response rates, conversion rates from lead to customer, engagement levels (like open and click-through rates), and ROI from automated outreach campaigns to measure the effectiveness of their outreach automation efforts accurately.


How does the implementation of outreach automation impact the roles and responsibilities of sales and marketing teams within a company?

Implementing outreach automation can streamline the workload of sales, recruiter and marketing teams, allowing them to focus on strategy and personalized engagement with high-priority leads. It often leads to a redefinition of roles towards more analytical and strategic tasks rather than manual outreach processes.


How do you automate emails for outreach?

Outreach emails can be automated with the use of automation tools. These tools can automate cold emails, entire follow-up message sequences, and drip campaigns. Some can even find and verify emails of prospects without the need for email lists.


Why do companies use outreach?

Outreach is used to promote products and services to individuals or other businesses, increase brand awareness, and build customer loyalty with the goal of selling those products/services. By using outreach, you can attract new customers and clients faster and build brand authority. 


What is outreach sales automation?

Sales automation tools are designed to save time on manual tasks like sales outreach, email campaigns, and data collection by automating parts or the entire process. These tools enhance the sales cycle by streamlining repetitive tasks, thus giving sales reps more time to focus on building and nurturing lead relationships.


Ready to automate your outreach?

Incorporating automation resources into your outreach is the key to streamlining workflows, and boosting in-house productivity, not to mention overall results.

To jog your memory, with automation tools, we can:

  1. Save time on manual tasks
  2. Use additional outreach channels
  3. Automate parts of the sales pipeline (prospecting, lead generation, and lead nurturing)
  4. Focus more on building solid relationships with leads
  5. Easily monitor and optimize campaigns by using detailed analytics

And what should you keep in mind when looking for this wonderful tool? Here’s a rundown:

So, where do you begin? With Skylead, of course! 🤩

Here’s a demo video to give you an idea of what our tool looks like, and if you’re sure about automating your outreach right, then do not hesitate to test Skylead today and enjoy the beauty of an outreach that thinks and works for you!

Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

To follow up or not to follow up?

Your first email got ignored. We’re sorry to hear that. Most of the time, that will be the case, and that is why you should focus your attention on follow-up emails. But why bother?

What if we told you that by sending a single follow-up, you increase your response rate by 9-13%? And if you keep sending more follow-ups, you can increase the response rate by three times?

We’ve come to find that crafting a good follow-up can be challenging. First, you must grab your prospect’s attention and point it to your email in an overly crowded inbox. Second, you need to make sure to put the right information in all the right places. Why? Well, to get a response and, hopefully, book a call.

Sounds complicated, doesn’t it? Do not despair. We’ve got you covered! Our sales and marketing teams came together to write this article only to help you learn and explain:

Bonus: You also get to enjoy tested-for-efficiency follow-up email after no response templates.

To follow-up or not to follow-up, Shakespeare

What is a follow-up email?

A follow-up email represents a message sent to a prospect you’ve already contacted before. Usually, the main intent behind a follow-up is to remind the prospect of your first email, request additional information, or remind them of an important meeting or event

Follow-up emails are a star of the show in the B2B world, which includes sales, marketing, job hunting, recruiting, and customer communication. When it comes to sales, you can use them for lead generation, warmup, and lead management. The same goes for recruiting and job hunting, too. 

Why is it important to send follow-up emails?

Always remember that there could be a number of reasons why your prospects aren’t responding after the initial email. Here are some:

What we can conclude from our experience and the experience of others is that sending follow-up emails pays off.

When it comes to sales, our sales team assured us that this statistic is true: sending follow-ups can increase the chances of a response by 25%. If we know that 70% of salespeople stop after one email, then you can use this info to your advantage and incorporate follow-ups into every outreach attempt. 

In fact, we’ve witnessed firsthand that follow-ups are crucial for B2B sales outreach, and if you’ve done prospecting on LinkedIn right, you will have a higher chance of hitting that sales quota in no time. Just ask our sales team!

When applying for a job, sending follow-up messages after a one to two-week wait can be a professional way to further underline your interest in the position. Moreover, you’ll get to find out the stage of the hiring process. Lastly, this could encourage HR to take another look at your resume, thus possibly giving you a second shot at the job.Lastly, lead management is only done right with a handy CRM and when follow-ups are heavily involved.

When should you send a follow-up email after no response?

In sales and outbound marketing, sending cold emails creates a need for follow-ups. In outbound email marketing, you are reaching out to potential prospects for the first time without them stating their interest prior. This is why follow-up emails are necessary, but the question is when should you click send for the second or third time?

From our experience, picking the right time to send a follow-up email can affect the open and response rates significantly. The norm is to wait anywhere from 2-5 business days before you touch base with your prospects again. The trick is to put yourself in your prospects’ shoes - they might be busy, or they still haven’t had a chance to read or respond to your email. 

Sending premature follow-ups can make your prospects lose interest and end potential communication before it even starts. For example, you can send the first follow-up after 5 days, giving them enough time to read the email. In case there’s no response after the initial wait, you send a second follow-up for a gentle bump-to-top in their inbox.

How to write and send a follow-up email after no response

Andrea, our Head of Sales, once said: “A follow-up email after no response should be powerful enough to offer the right value and inspire the desired response at the same time.” The question is, how do we deliver an email with such strength? Our sales team has the knowledge and experience, so open your notes, people. The class on “Writing and sending follow-up emails by Skylead” begins now. 👇

Subject line 

Have you heard? Crafting an eye-catching subject line is directly correlated to a higher open rate. Good email subject lines and pre-header text combined are what help prospects make the decision whether or not to open and read the email. If you didn’t have a chance to catch their attention the first time around, use your follow-ups for a second chance for a first impression.

When creating compelling subject lines, our sales team recommends following these simple rules:

Pro tip: Always A/B test your subject lines for efficiency. From our testing, we found that a high open rate is an indicator of a good subject line. Subject line optimization based on real-time results can significantly improve your response rate over time. 

Follow-up email subject line examples

For Web Inboxes (55-60 characters):

  1. {{firstName}}, this is your future workflow using SaaS! 🚀
  2. VIP sneak peek: You unlocked new features 😎
  3. {{firstName}} I need your advice
  4. {{firstName}}, let's make Q4 legendary together
  5. Your Q4 game-changer inside
  6. {{firstName}}, let's co-create magic for {{companyName}} ✨
  7. Tick-tock! Your Free Trial is Ending 🕰️
  8. Marco? Polo! Seeking Your Response

For Mobile Inboxes (under 30 characters):

  1. Your secret SaaS weapon 🌟
  2. Let’s join forces 👊
  3. Shortcut to {{benefit}} 🙌
  4. {{firstName}}, get started 🆓?
  5. Time to grow, {{companyName}} 🌱
  6. Does this work {{firstName}}?
  7. Supercharge your {{workflow}}! ⚡
  8. Missing chat: Still tuned in?

Opening

Once you’ve caught their attention, our sales account executive, Pavle, says that how you greet them is what determines whether they’ll keep on reading. Avoid intros like “Just checking in to see if you’ve read my last email” or “I’m just following up on my previous email.” Such intros are overused and could imply blaming the prospect for not responding, which is a big no-no in sales communication. Instead, say something like this:

  1. I know we’ve talked about {{painPoint}}...
  2. As we quite recently connected, I thought it’s only fair you know something about me as well…
  3. Hi {{firstName}}! I can’t believe how time has flown by since the last time we spoke. I just saw your post on {{topic}} and thought it was amazing. Anyway…

Let’s review the follow-up email after no response opening rules:

Bonus hack: Personalize intros - by adding some personal information about your prospect, you show them general interest and that you’ve done your homework. People want to feel special, so be sure to go that extra mile to show them that they are not just another prospect to you. 

Our sales team tested our hyper-personalized sequences, and the results show that the response rate increased from the industry standard of 8.5% to a staggering 35%.

Follow-up email opening examples

  1. Hey {{firstName}}!

Between caffeine doses and back-to-back meetings, my previous email about {{ToolName}} might've slipped through. Thought I'd pop back into your inbox. How does it look from your end?

  1. Morning {{firstName}}!

Did my last email decide to play hide and seek in your inbox? 😅 I chatted about some exciting rates and am curious to hear your thoughts.

  1. Hello {{firstName}},

Knowing how swamped we can get, I figured I'd circle back. Our conversation about a possible partnership had me excited. Where do you stand on it?

  1. Hi {{firstName}},

Last time, I dropped a hint about {{ToolName}}'s shiny new feature. Just like waiting for the kettle to boil, I'm here, curious: Any thoughts brewing on your side?

Still having trouble with your email opening lines? Try reading our guide to attention-grabbing cold email opening lines. Don’t skip out on the templates!

Body

We’ve covered the follow-up email openings after no response. Now, let’s dive into our sales team's tricks of writing a great email body:

Our pro tip: “Do not think of each follow-up as spam. Think of them as added value with each new message you send.” 

Closing & call to action

Our sales team says that when you write a closing and a final CTA, you need to create a perfect environment for your prospect to respond. That means:

Follow-up email closing examples

  1. How about next week? Does Wednesday at 11 PM work for you?
  2. Dive into the feature's details by hitting reply.
  3. Plot our next collaboration chapter? Choose your preferred time here.
  4. Respond with "Let’s do this," and I’ll send more educational content your way.

Still feel like you need some help with your CTAs? Check out our guide on creating a powerful sales email call to action in sales emails, and don’t skip the CTA examples part!

Using automation tools to send follow-up emails

Now that we’ve covered crafting follow-up emails after no response, let’s look at the next step - sending follow-up emails. Outreach emails might be hard to track, especially if you have a lot of prospects in your inbox. Plus, keeping track of the number of follow-ups sent, the context, and the goals for each specific lead can be challenging.

Now, before your outreach turns into a huge mess, you should ask for some help. And you know what? It sounds like what you need, dear salesperson, is LinkedIn automation and cold email software for lead organization and follow-up email sequences.

Let’s look at the numbers one more time. Andrea says that from our experience, the first and the last follow-ups get the most attention:

  1. with the first follow-up, the response rate increases by 43%
  2. the last follow-up - “breakup email” receives a 53% response rate

That’s a lot of follow-ups to keep track of. However, by using automation and email message sequencing, you can rest assured that all your messages are being delivered in a particular order. Now, your question is: where can I find such a platform or tool? 🤖

Drum roll GIF

How to do it?

This is where we come in, with a big grand entrance, only to introduce Skylead and our all-star, first-to-market feature Smart Sequences. With the help of our Smart sequences, you can use multichannel outreach messaging and personalization to supercharge your sales efforts! Smart sequences are algorithms that allow you to combine if/else conditions with outreach actions. This way, you can create scenarios based on your prospects’ behavior, ensuring you get a response from them one way or the other.

Skylead, example of a multichannel outreach smart sequence for follow-up email after no response

Use Skylead to:

Apart from follow-up message sequences for sales, marketers can also benefit from our tool. By using marketing automation, you can get more web traffic, drive conversions, collect event attendees, and raise brand awareness.

Either way, using SaaS tools or doing the work manually, you can organize your follow-up emails after no response in a sequence and incorporate a multichannel outreach. In Skylead, setting your follow-ups in a sequence is as easy as 1,2,3, and the sending process itself is done for you. Let’s show you a simple, multichannel sequence in Skylead if the lead didn’t respond.

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions

Example of a follow-up sequence when you are connected with the lead on LinkedIn:

Why it works

Setting up your sequence to include an outreach channel other than email works best, as it shows your prospects that you care about making a connection with them, and they are more likely to respond to you.

Furthermore, in this sequence, LinkedIn acts as a powerful and supportive lead generation tool, as you can interact more with your prospects and increase the chances of them seeing your message and responding. Just make sure to prepare your messages for the outreach carefully.

Kevin, Home Alone, Yes GIF

But how do you write them? Well, the next chapter is where we unveil the tips and tricks, so keep reading to find out. 🙌

Tips for writing effective follow-up emails

Our sales force, Andrea and Pavle, are back to help you by spreading their knowledge and gifting you with more tips on how to write effective follow-up email copy. Keep this in mind: hard work does not stop at the first email - it continues and increases. First off, let’s look at the do’s.

Start with a strong opening.

A strong opening is like a good first impression. Well, in this case, it's a second first impression, so make sure to avoid overused phrases and email cliches at all costs.

Use storytelling in the follow-up sequence

There are many approaches you can take with your sequence strategies, and one of them is storytelling. For example, you could invite them for an online coffee, and the entire sequence can have a coffee conversation theme.

The idea is to reveal one value to the pain point at the time in every following email, enhancing its value as you go. You can speak about the value in ascending order of importance, with each email being more important than the last.

Follow-up email with personalization
Personalization element, image, coffee

Personalize your follow-up emails whenever possible.

Personalization shows you’ve made an effort to get to know your leads. And despite the fact that you’re reaching a certain target group, it doesn’t have to seem automated. You can use Skylead and our image & GIF personalization feature to add some sparkle to your follow-ups. You can also add dynamic text to follow-ups to increase the level of personalization in outreach.

Get to the point quickly.

From what we’ve seen and from what you can tell from your own experience as an email reader, losing your prospect's attention is easy. It only takes a few mistakes, and your email is done for. Avoid all this by getting to the point quickly. No long sentences, no short novels, just facts and a little bit of creativity to keep them reading and ultimately doing the CTA.

Space out your follow-up emails.

If you’re being too salesy and aggressive, you’ll lose a good portion of your prospects. No one wants to be bothered, especially in the case of cold outreach. Make sure to space out your follow-ups anywhere from the standard 2 to 5 business days.

Pro tip from Skylead’s sales team: Give your prospects enough time to respond. Some of them might be too busy to go through your emails and have not had a chance to read them yet. Sending too many follow-ups after no response doesn’t seem like a friendly reminder or check-in but rather a pushy salesman trying to shove their product/service down their prospect’s throat.

Show credibility.

Cold outreach can be tricky. It’s hard enough you’re trying to establish contact out of the blue, but you’re also asking for something. Prospects are usually not so trustworthy with cold emails, so in order to show them that you’re serious, you need to show credibility

We’ve mentioned that every follow-up email should add extra value. Use each follow-up to show them your accomplishments - link to credible sources, testimonials, and case studies that can help them decide whether or not to trust you.

Offer value.

Your prospect’s first thoughts are usually, “Why is this person contacting me?” or “What is this person trying to sell?”. By following our rules of writing follow-up emails after no response from the section above, you’ll lead them straight to the point with your follow-up email, underlining the value of your product or service. 

Throw some numbers around. People respond to numbers and statistics well. Prospects appreciate value, and if you offer them a solution to a niche problem, the conversation will just keep flowing. 

Be empathic.

Another pro tip from our sales team: You need to listen to your prospects carefully and truly understand their issues. If you know they have a problem your product can fix, try approaching them in a subtle way where you show them compassion. Once you get a reply, your work doesn’t end.

Create urgency.

You can probably guess that creating urgency is what makes your prospect believe he should take immediate action by replying to your message. However, if it did not work for the first time, you can create more urgency in your follow-up, but be subtle. 

Our pro tip: Don’t use sensational subject lines and promises you can’t keep only to lure them into replying.

Image of CTA banner 1 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo

Common mistakes to avoid

Andrea and Pavle are full of knowledge when it comes to the dos of sending follow-ups after no response, but after years of sales experience, they can also easily spot cold email mistakes. The list below shows what you shouldn’t do if you want a high reply rate with your follow-up email sequence. 👇

Following up too quickly.

One of the main rules of cold outreach is not to spam your prospects with messages! Be patient. Nobody likes an overly aggressive approach. The industry standard is to spread your follow-ups out by roughly 2 to 5 days. If you wait for more than that, it will probably reduce your chances of getting a reply. 

It’s a good idea to map out your follow-ups inside your Smart sequence in the correct order and wait for a reply. You can thank us later.

Sending too many or not enough follow-up emails.

What is the optimal number of follow-up emails you can send to a prospect before that final “breakup” email? We know for sure that sending just one email isn’t enough. So, we take into account that by sending each follow-up after no response, you increase your chances of a reply. That said, it’s safe to say somewhere around 3-6 follow-ups is enough

From our own experience, a prospect says “no” 4 times before saying “yes.” That’s why this range works perfectly and might get you that desired result.

Being too pushy or aggressive.

We’ve mentioned this before - people do not respond well to aggressive salesmen and aggressive job seekers. Being direct and pushy are not synonyms. It’s one thing to show prospects or employers your interest in them, but another to demand and be borderline rude about your approach. It’s all about setting a fine line between being subtle yet decisive and direct. You can sell without sounding too salesy.

Missing important information.

You’ve probably received an email that’s missing crucial information in the past. Heck, we all did at some point. Sometimes, the email is very catchy and inspires immediate action, but wait. Parts of it are missing. It could be a missing attachment, a link, or some other information. That means you’re creating an additional step for the prospect. They will have to ask you for that information, but as you know, most of them won’t. The lack of crucial or promised information can be very offputting to prospects, so make sure to double-check if all the info is in each follow-up.

Not proofreading.

This one is tied closely to the previous advice. We’ve noticed that mistakes are not tolerated by prospects, so make sure to go through your follow-up sequence and maybe get a second pair of eyes on it. Mistakes show sloppiness and a lack of interest in the prospect. Plus, they can also be perceived as spam.

Check for typos and grammar, and if all attachments and visuals are there, along with all the necessary information, then you can click send.

Writing too much text.

If the email body is too long, your prospect won’t read it. It’s that simple. Our sales team has tested longer and shorter versions of the same follow-up sequence and saw significant differences. Shorter emails have received a higher response rate.

Not having a clear call to action (or too many of them)

Our head of sales, Andrea, always reminds us that you have your prospects’ attention for a very short time. Make sure to have only one and a clear call to action. Otherwise, you’ll lose their attention quickly, and you won’t get the desired action from them.

Not offering an unsubscribe option.

Given the fact that you’re contacting these people without their consent, some of them might feel the urge to unsubscribe (hopefully not if you’ve done your prospecting right). Nonetheless, adding an unsubscribe option is good manners. Plus, you’re helping deliverability, reducing spam rates, and improving your reputation. You want active users/subscribers in your email lists, so adding an unsubscribe option is how you help yourself.

Sending emails to the wrong person.

This is a part where we talk a little bit about prospecting. Knowing your product/service is where you begin before you think about your audience. Thought about it? Good. Now it’s time for prospecting. However, if you have trouble with this step, here is a guide to the best LinkedIn prospecting strategies so you can get to the right person every time.

Skylead tip: If you’re sending emails manually, make sure to spell their name correctly.

Sending a follow-up email after no response samples & templates

We’ve come to the part of the article where our sales and marketing teams put their knowledge to the test. Get ready for follow-up email examples after no response (salespeople, recruiters, and job seekers, take notes!). Feel free to use them and test their efficiency yourself. 🤓

Squinting dog with glasses meme

#1 Reminder email after no response (first follow-up)

Subject: Tap Tap: Is This Thing On? 🎤

Hey {{firstName}},

Sending a cheerful nudge your way! Seems like our chat about {{topic/Issue}} decided to take a little vacation. Ready to welcome it back whenever you are.

Eager for the sequel to our chat,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Reminder email after no response, first follow-up

Why it works: One of the major rules of writing follow-ups is not to be afraid to have fun. Being humorous is something that most people respond to well. 

#2 Reminder email after no response (second follow-up)

Subject: RE: Mic Check for Round Two? 🎤

Hey {{firstName}},

It looks like we keep missing each other over and over again. I know things get busy, but I believe that a productive exchange is worth every second!

How’s {{date/Time}} for an encore of our previous productive chat?

Real-life example:

Reminder email after no response, second follow-up

Why it works: In the second follow-up, you are showing your prospect that you are consistent. It’s short, and it shows your outreach efforts clearly.  

#3 Follow up sales email after no response

Subject: Green, Yellow, or Red for {{product/Service}}? 🚦

Hi {{firstName}},

Our chat from last week about {{product/Service}} seems to be idling at a traffic light. Which color are we on?

If you're stuck at yellow, need more green insights, or hitting red, I'm all ears.

To clear signals,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

follow-up sales email after no response

Why it works: Avoiding boring lines and overused sentences is crucial for any outreach email. Plus, this one shows you got inspired and took the time to write a creative follow-up with a witty comparison. 

#4 Follow-up email after no response (formal)

Subject: Revisiting Our Lost Thread

Hi {{firstName}},

The daily email cluster must have pushed our thread regarding {{topic/Issue}} down the inbox black hole. This note is a gentle nudge, hoping to push our conversation back to your attention.

Eagerly waiting for your reply.

Best,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Formal follow-up

Why it works: Although most business communication nowadays tries to steer clear from generic and cliched email communication, being formal has nothing to do with that. This follow-up email shows that you’re polite and well-mannered but also clear with your intentions.  

#5 How to bump an email politely

Subject: An Elevator Pitch: Bringing Our Chat Up Again

Hi {{firstName}},

In the vast sea of daily emails, I’m sending this note as a gentle elevator, hoping to lift our previous discussion on {{topic/Issue}} back in focus.

Looking forward to your insights!

Ready for your reply,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

bump follow-up email

Why it works: Your email got lost in the daily bunch. How to get it back into the limelight? By sending a polite follow-up email and replying to your primary thread and stating your purpose once more. This one works because it’s a creative way of showing the recipient that you demand their attention.

Image of CTA banner 2 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo

#6 Follow-up email after no response from a client (sales)

Subject: Piecing Together Our {{product/Service}} Puzzle 🧩

Hi {{clientName}},

Seems our dialogue on {product/Service}} took a quiet turn. Are there missing pieces I can help with?

If adjustments or additional support is needed, I'm ready to jump in. Just give me a sign.

Awaiting your cue,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up to a client

Why it works: Offering your help and support is sometimes just what a client needs to clear their confusion. This is not a potential client but a doubtful client. If the client is doubtful, you could lose the account, so make sure to follow up frequently and gently. 

#7 Follow-up email after sending resources (sales)

Subject: Resource Roundup: Hit or Miss? 📚

Hey {{firstName}},

Dived into the resources yet? Would love to know if anything clicked or raised an eyebrow about {{product/Service}}.

Got any questions or an 'aha' moment to share? I’m just a call away: {{yourPhoneNumber}}.

Warmly

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up after sending resources, template

Why it works: Gentle reminders in email form are much needed in the cold outreach game. This template is not aggressive, has a friendly note, and just the right amount of pressure on your end.

#8 Follow-up email before free trial (sales)

Subject line: Dropping A Quick Present 🎁

Hey {{firstName}},

Just wanted to say thanks again for the call. As we talked about {{painPoint}} and explored your company's current strategies for dealing with it, my belief was reinforced that {{yourProduct}} can help with achieving {{metricValue}}.

That’s why I included a little gift for you: {{giftRegardingFreeTrial}}, so you can fully try our product out and experience {{MetricValue}} firsthand.

Let me know when you start the Free Trial so I can send it to you.

Cheers,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Message template before free trial

Why it works: This is a short, precise email that the prospect doesn’t waste time reading. With exact value and a gift to top it off, which everyone likes to get, you will be sure to get a high response rate.

#9 Follow-up email after demo (sales)

Subject: Post-Demo Checkup 🧐

{{Date}} was not just another crossed-out meeting. Let’s recap:

{{yourProduct}}: Not just a tool, but a {{benefit}}.

{{theirChallenge}}: On our radar now.

If you’re wondering what's next, have any doubts, or need more details, let’s discuss.

How about a second quick chat on {{date/Time}}?

To making ‘just another day’ count!

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Email template after demo, sales

Why it works: Checking in with your prospect after a demo is just as important as the demo itself. Demos can be confusing for some, and not everyone is prepared to process all the given information. This is your chance to remind them that you can clear any confusion they may have and ultimately lead them to the next step - conversion.

#10 Follow-up email after a missed call (sales)

Subject: Call Missed: Ready for Redial? 🤙

Hi {{firstName}},

Seems our phone lines played hide and seek earlier when I called about {{product/Service}}.

Let's hit redial and aim for a good connection. How does {{suggest a specific day/time}} work for a quick chat? Or simply shoot me a time that works for you.

Cheers,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Email template after missed call

Why it works: Missed calls and meetings happen all the time. This is where this template comes in handy. It’s short and direct but has that tiny bit of informality that you need to get another chance at an online encounter. Remember: sales follow-ups are important!

#11 Follow-up email that mentions the competition (sales)

Subject line: Wish to know the truth about {{competitorName}}? 🤫

“You can’t handle the truth!” said Jack Nicholson.

Just kidding, {{firstName}}.

Hope you are doing well. Just thought of knocking on your door and leaving a comparison page - {{yourProductName}} vs {{competitorProductName}} since I know you’ve been testing them as well.

Are you up for a quick chat to discuss the main differences and the benefits I sent previously?

Cheers,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up email that mentions the competition

Why it works: In case you already sent your prospect benefits and your prospect has been considering your competitor as well, this is the second follow-up email you send. Show them your benefits before they make a decision and run over to your competitors.

#12 Personalized follow-up email after no response (sales)

Subject line: Tailor-made strategy for {{company}}🧵

Hey {{firstName}},

{{painPoint}} must be tedious for you. Luckily, you are not alone in this. 

Since my last email, I have created a couple of strategies tailor-made for your company on how you can {{result}}. Want to hear them? 

If so, does {{date/Time}} work for you?

Real-life example:

Personalized email template after no response

Why it works: Adding personalization, such as name, image, or pain point, achieves the best results. However, if you have a low-buying-intent prospect who didn’t respond to your email, you need to go the extra mile. In other words, you need to create something applicable and tailor-made for their company to warm them up to your product.

#13 Follow-up email after sending a contract (sales)

Subject: Contract Follow-Up: Let’s Turn Pages Into Progress 📑

Hey {{firstName}},

The contract for {{product/Service}} is now on your desk. Peeked inside yet?

If any question marks or clarifications are needed, I’m just a call away. Contact me at {{yourPhoneNumber}}.

To turning pages,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up email template after sending a contract, sales

Why it works: After writing thousands of emails, we can say that finding the right balance between formal and informal communication is the key to success. Being too stiff and talking in a manner that wouldn’t reflect a live conversation is outdated. When writing, think about what you would say if your prospect were sitting in front of you.

#14 Follow-up email after a couple of months (sales)

Subject line: Hello from the other side - With exciting news 🗣

Hi {{firstName}},

I haven’t called a thousand times, as Adele, but as promised, I am checking in after a while.

How have you been? How did {{reasonForReachingOutLater}} go?

I have super exciting news to share with you. We have just {{companyNews}}. I  thought you might like it as it can help you {{achieveResult}}. 

Let me know if you are available for a quick call to catch up on everything that has been going on. Here is my calendar link.

Looking forward to hearing from you,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up email after a couple of months

Why it works: In case you haven’t had communication with your prospect for a while, you can send this or a similar follow-up. For example, the lead might have told you to reach out in the future. When you asked when exactly, they didn’t respond. The good practice here is to reach out after a month and check-in. They might be more open to hear what you have to say and offer.

#15 Follow-up email after a LinkedIn connection request

Subject line: Bridging Barriers: From LinkedIn to Real Talk 🌉 

Hi {{firstName}},

It seems we missed each other on LinkedIn, so I’m reaching out via email. Your stance on {{topic/IndustryTrend}} is a real conversation starter, and it works!

I believe there’s a bridge to be built here and a productive conversation to be had. How about we put words into action? Is {{time/Date}} okay for you?

Looking forward,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up after a LinkedIn request

Why it works: Use a follow-up email to reach out to a member of the LinkedIn community that you tried contacting by sending a connection request, but the prospect hasn’t accepted it yet. Having another conversation channel and putting an effort into starting a conversation there is what your prospect might perceive as determination

Remember: putting a smile on your prospect’s face is one last step before a reply happens.

#16 Follow-up email after sending a quote (sales)

Subject: Quote Mission: Countdown to Decision? 🚀

Hey {{firstName}},

Hope the quote for {{product/Service}} landed well. Any thoughts or roadblocks?

Let’s not leave things hanging. A quick call might clear it up: {{phoneNumber}}.

Waiting for your signal,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up after sending a quote

Why it works: The email is short, precise, and with a touch of spice. Just the way your prospects like them. Not being generic goes a long way in cold outreach + adding a phone call option for some busier prospects is also a plus!

#17 Follow-up “breakup” email (sales)

Subject line: Perhaps it is better this way… 💔

Hi {{firstName}},

I sense that now might not be the ideal time for {{yourProduct}} to address {{painPoint}} at your company. No worries at all – timing is everything.

If the future calls for a revisit, I'm here. Until then, I wish you and your team all the best.

Cheers, and until the next time.

{{firstName}}

Real-life example:

Breakup email

Why it works: If you've sent a couple of emails already and none of them worked, this is your sign to stop reaching out. While sending a so-called breakup email, it is best to evoke an emotional reaction from the prospect, as demonstrated in the email below. The key is to stay genuine.

#18 Follow-up email after a free trial (sales)

Subject: Free Trial Verdict: Thrill or Kill? 🧟‍♀️

Hi {{firstName}},

Just checking in after our thrilling free trial of {{product/Service}}. I’m curious to hear your thoughts!

Were there highlights, or perhaps something you missed? I'm here to clear any fog or explore possibilities.

For a quick chat, just ping me at {{phoneNumber}}, or let me know a convenient time for you.

Eager to hear your take!

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Message template after free trial

Why it works: Comparing your demo pitch to the best-selling album of all time? We say yes! Everyone likes a well-crafter themed message in their inbox, and chances of a reply are significantly higher.

#19 Follow-up email after no response to a job application (job seeker)

Subject: Resume for {{jobTitle}}: In Your Hands

Hi {{hiringManagerName}},

Wanted to confirm my resume for the {{jobTitle}} position has reached you. Looking forward to exploring how my background can contribute to {{companyName}}.

Awaiting your guidance on the next steps.

Warm regards,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Message template for no response after a job application

Why it works:

This is a very common scenario: it's been a couple of days or weeks after you’ve applied for the listed job, and nothing happened. So what do you do? You send a polite reminder and ask the hiring manager to give you details about the hiring process. That way, you’ll know where your application stands.

#20 Follow-up email after sending resume (job seeker)

Subject: Resume Dispatch: {{jobTitle}} Role

Hi {{hiringManagerName}},

I want to ensure my application for the {{jobTitle}} has landed in your realm. Ready to discuss how my unique skill set could add value to {{companyName}}.

If a brief chat would help, I’m all ears. Here’s my direct line: {{yourPhoneNumber}}.

Warm regards,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Email follow-up after sending resume

Why it works: When a position is open, hiring managers usually get hundreds of resumes daily and from various channels. Therefore, it’s easy for some resumes to slip through the cracks and go unnoticed. Politely asking the hiring manager if he had a chance to take a look at your accomplishments should do the trick, and give them a slight nudge they might need to notice you.

#21 Follow-up email after an interview (job seeker)

Subject line: Post-Interview Reflections: {{jobTitle}}

Dear {{interviewerName}},

Thank you for the thought-provoking interview. Our conversation opened new horizons, bringing the role and {{companyName}}’s vision into sharper focus.

Looking forward to any updates or next steps.

Warmest regards,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Follow-up after an interview

Why it works: Employers want present and engaged employees. If you’re interested in a position at a certain company, don’t hesitate to follow up after an interview. Ask questions, clarify everything that wasn’t clear while the interview happened, and seek out the hiring manager's opinion on how it went. Most job applicants don’t take this extra step, so don’t make that mistake if you’re really aiming to get the job.

#22 Follow-up email after no response after interview (recruiter)

Subject line: Here's the complete offer

Hi {{firstName}}, 

Time really does fly by, doesn’t it? It’s already {{DayOfTheWeek}} 😄

Anyway, I just wanted to touch base with you and go over our offer once again.

As we discussed, your conditions will be:

- {{Condition1}}

- {{Condition2}}

- {{Condition3}}

In addition, here are the benefits mentioned during our meeting. As our {{position}} you will have:

- {{Benefit1}}

- {{Benefit2}}

- {{Benefit3}}

Let me know how this sounds to you.

Kind regards,

{{yourName}}

Follow-up for recruiter

Why it works: We cannot talk about follow up email and not mention our recruiters. If you are an HR person and find yourself in a situation where your ideal candidate didn’t respond to you after the interview where you presented your offer, here is a template you can use to give them a nudge.

#23 Sample follow-up letter for job application status (job seeker)

Subject: {{jobTitle}} Application: Next Coordinates?

Dear {{hiringManagerName}},

I hope this message finds you well-rested and productive. In the quest for the {{jobTitle}} role, I'm writing to seek updates on our current position. Have we reached a new checkpoint, or are there further details I can provide?

Your status update is greatly appreciated.

With respect,

{{yourName}}

Real-life example:

Sample follow-up letter after no response for a job application status

Why it works: Knowing where you stand in the hiring process is crucial when applying for jobs. Plus, it shows your interest in the position and your determination to fill in the vacancy.

Frequently asked questions

What specific strategies can be employed to personalize follow-up emails for different industries or roles to increase engagement?

Personalizing follow-up emails can involve referencing specific interests, recent accomplishments, or industry news relevant to the recipient's field. Tailoring your message to their unique context fosters a more personal connection.

How does the timing of a follow-up email impact its effectiveness, and are there optimal times of day or week to send these emails for better results?

The effectiveness of a follow-up email can be significantly influenced by its timing. Sending emails during business hours, especially mid-week, may improve open rates. However, considering the recipient's time zone and work patterns is crucial for optimal timing.

Beyond the provided templates, what are some creative examples of follow-up emails that have successfully converted initial non-responses into positive outcomes?

Creative follow-up emails often incorporate humor, personalized GIFs & images, comments, or interesting questions that relate to the recipient's interests or industry. Such approaches can help break the ice and engage the recipient more effectively, turning a lack of response into a positive conversation starter.

How do you politely follow up on an email with no response?

Make sure to wait the standard 2-5 business days before reaching out again. Your tone should be professional yet direct. Finally, you should add more value and information. Underlining that your product or service fixes their issues creates the right amount of urgency, which in turn makes them hit reply.

How do you follow up professionally after no response?

If your first email went unnoticed, your follow-up should start off with restating your goal briefly. Avoid using cliché phrases and slang. Also, try changing your approach in each new email. Finally, send each follow-up in a new thread to avoid ending up in the wrong part of the inbox. 

What to say in a follow-up email when someone hasn’t responded?

Make sure to briefly remind them of your previous touchpoint and continue by adding additional value to your initial email. It also helps to create a sense of urgency by mentioning a challenge they might be facing daily and that your product or service can fix it for them.

How soon should you send a follow-up email after no response?

The standard waiting period for sending a first follow-up email after no response is 3-5 business days. Sending a premature follow-up can come off as spammy and overly aggressive, so make sure to wait a minimum of 3 days.

How do you follow up without being annoying?

To avoid being annoying and ending up in your prospects’ spam folder, make sure to wait the appropriate amount of time before sending another email. Also, make sure to keep each follow-up short and straightforward, with clear intentions and a strong CTA.

How long is it acceptable to wait to reply to an email?

If the email is urgent or deadline-driven, clearly state that in the subject line. The appropriate amount of time between your first email and a follow-up is 24 hours. Otherwise, give your prospect 3-5 days to respond. Also, if it requires an immediate response, consider using another communication channel.

Conclusion

We’ve come to the end of our follow-up learning journey. Our sales and marketing teams worked really hard to bring on the email campaign knowledge and experience we’ve gathered from years of constant testing and adapting, and hard work. After all, it’s how we’ve grown our user base from 2,500 to 10,000 users in nine months!

Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software

So, what have we learned about follow-up emails after no response so far?

  1. The more follow-ups you send, the higher the reply rate, but know where to stop.
  2. If you spend time crafting your email copy, the more likely you will boost open and response rates.
  3. If you build your follow-up sequences, you’ll save time.
  4. If you automate your outreach and create email follow-up sequences, you’ll keep better track of your prospects and the outreach phase.
  5. If you use other communication channels and practice multichannel outreach, you’ll boost your conversion rate.
  6. The more value you add, the more likely you’ll get a higher response rate.

And the next step? Choose Skylead to help you automate lead generation and your email sequences, plus add LinkedIn as another communication channel. By tapping into the possibilities of automated outreach, you double your chances of getting desired outreach results. Besides, you can always return to this article and reread the rules of crafting the perfect follow-up email, or simply use our follow-up email templates if you need a head start.

So, how do you get to Skylead? Watch our demo, test out Skylead today and discover the beauty of an outreach that thinks and works for you! You’ll see how our all-in-one tool can simplify your outreach efforts and get you where you need to be in no time. Trust us. Once you try it, you won’t know how you lived and worked without it! 🤩

Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

You’ve got a tool or a product to market? Or do you need to share your content and reach a wider audience? If the answer is yes for both questions, say no more. This is our call to action for you to discover outbound marketing and its benefits.

After sending hundreds of thousands of emails to potential customers using Skylead software in the past couple of years, it’s safe to say that we’ve gathered unique insights into best cold outreach practices and emerging sales trends. Not to mention that we’ve managed to skyrocket the number of users from 2,500 to 10,000 in just 9 months! It’s all been written in our sales e-book. Thanks to our software, you can do the same.

So what is it about cold calling and outbound prospecting that seems so promising? In this article, we will share our knowledge and explain what outbound marketing is, its main benefits, and how it is different from inbound email marketing. Finally, you’ll learn from examples and see all the secrets of crafting the perfect outbound email for your marketing efforts.


You'll learn meme

What is outbound email marketing?

Outbound email marketing is one of the traditional forms of direct email marketing, where you reach out to potential customers by sending unrequested “cold” emails. In fact, it is similar to cold calling, where your potential customers are somewhat or completely unfamiliar with your product or service.

However, the main goal of outbound marketing as a marketing strategy is:

The outreach game goes something like this: first, you finish your outbound prospecting, then you craft an outbound email marketing strategy, and finally, send cold emails and follow-ups to your prospects.

You can use cold emails as a powerful weapon to reach out to potential leads. Although these cold emails may be unsolicited in nature, the key to good outbound marketing is to be persistent, patient, and ready to test, adapt, and optimize your approach along the way.

What are the benefits of outbound email marketing?

Some benefits to keep in mind are: reaching a wider audience (more exposure means more potential conversions), fast results (scheduled outreach at the right time means immediate action on your lead’s part), and strategic targeting (targeting a specific audience and their pain points means a higher response rate).

When it comes to building brand awareness, you can always use digital marketing with all of its segments that need to work together, like social media, SEO, and content marketing. These powerful tools can help with getting your service or product out there, but outbound email marketing? This is where the real exposure comes in.


What is the difference between outbound and inbound email marketing?

While it could seem like outbound and inbound email marketing messages are the same, the approach we use in these two types of emails is different. The main difference is that inbound marketing works with leads who already gave you permission to contact them, opted-in, or showed general interest in your company’s products or services.

Inbound email marketing benefits:

With inbound marketing, you wait for your qualified prospects to get hooked on your content. The content is purposefully placed to catch their attention, as it matches with the target audience's pain points and your ICP.

On the other hand, when it comes to qualified prospects for outbound marketing, leads can also match your ideal customer profile (ICP) perfectly. One thing to note: a qualified prospect enters the sales pipeline with outbound prospecting efforts, so it’s safe to say that using both inbound and outbound marketing for lead generation can largely benefit your sales and marketing efforts.

Lastly, both inbound and outbound marketing use lead management, but the process differs, as the way we label the steps as we go along. Using a CRM like Hubspot can help with lead management and keeping track of your conversations with prospects.


Understanding the key components of outbound email marketing

Contacts 

One of the foundational elements of outbound email marketing is collecting contacts. After outbound prospecting efforts, you should have a narrowed list of emails from your target audience that matches your ICP. Additionally, you can automate lead generation by researching your prospects on LinkedIn and letting Skylead do the work for you with our Email discovery and verification feature.


Image of CTA banner 2 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


Accounts

Engaging directly with varied audiences over the years has helped shape our understanding of outbound email best practices. This is why we know that managing and grouping your contacts through accounts is a must for streamlined, well-operating sales efforts. This way, you make sure that you and your colleagues do not reach out to the same contact twice.


Segments

Categorizing your contacts into different segments once they respond can help with tracking the results of your outbound email marketing campaign. Therefore, a helpful feature to use is Skylead’s Smart Inbox which lets you label your prospects by the level of interest, specific data points, next step in the campaign, or practically anything you want.



Lists

Last but not least, email lists are a collection of prospect emails acquired thanks to lead generation techniques. You can use a CRM such as Hubspot or Salesforce to view and organize your prospect list. After acquiring the right contacts, the next step is to send that first email with a strong CTA.

Note that it is never a good idea to purchase email lists unless you want your email to enter the prospect’s spam folder or bounce, which can damage your domain.


Crafting the perfect outbound email campaign

We've learned as much from the few email campaigns that didn't hit the mark as from the many successful campaigns. This is why we know that creating the perfect first email, along with follow-up emails, is crucial. Let’s look at some of your options for a successful outbound email marketing campaign.


Email templates

Contacting people out of the blue has its challenges. If you want to avoid being ignored or your leads hitting unsubscribe, you should focus on proven strategies - implementing email sequence templates for inbound or outbound email marketing. Email templates ensure consistency and branding and can be very efficient when it comes to cold outreach. Building good email sequence templates, testing, and improving them is the best advice we can give you for outbound marketing.


Personalized templates

In the vast sea of received daily emails, you need to allow your prospects to tell the difference between promotional emails and your outreach attempt. This is where personalized emails come in, as they let you send relevant content to potential prospects, increasing the open rate and overall email deliverability and response rate

For example, Skylead has thoroughly tested text & image personalization in cold emails, and we came to the conclusion that the response rate jumped to 63%. With that in mind, you can use a different, personalized approach for each segment and list of prospects and level up your outbound marketing game, thus skyrocketing your return on investment.


Integrating with other marketing channels like LinkedIn

We’ve teased about it before, but now it’s time for you to consider making your outbound outreach bigger and louder by integrating other marketing channels. Multichannel cold outreach is what amplifies your outreach efforts and gives you an opportunity to reach more people, faster. But how?

We’ve tested and trialed many outreach methods but came to the conclusion that using multichannel outreach means reaching all leads from your list, one way or the other. By incorporating another channel and combining the two, we get a chance to reach people who are not as active on one channel or the other, thus getting more responses.

That is precisely why we’ve created both features in Skylead - a startup and a LinkedIn automation and cold email software that focuses on, you’ve guessed it, multichannel outreach. We’ve helped over 15,000 users with their cold outreach, skyrocketing their numbers and revenue. 

You can use our Smart sequence builder to create campaigns from scratch or use some of our proven templates to skyrocket your outreach as we did. Our first-to-market Smart sequence feature combines two outreach methods and scales up conversion rates and return on investment, thus supercharging your outreach efforts.


Email flood meme

Best practices for outbound email marketing messages

Crafting compelling subject lines

From our experience, what makes or breaks your outbound sales email is the email subject line and the pre-header text. They can determine whether your prospect opens, deletes, or marks your email as spam. Be sure to know your target audience well, and A/B test your content frequently. How do we know? We’ve tested it out.

We came to the conclusion that the best formula is using personalization. Firstly, this means dropping your lead’s first name or company name into the subject line. Secondly, you can reference their online activity or a mutual connection to grab their attention immediately. Try it out, and you’ll see instant results.


Keeping your email short

After running numerous outbound campaigns and testing shorter and longer content in emails, we’ve figured out a behavioral pattern: there’s a series of split-second decisions your prospects make when they see an email. First, if the subject line catches their eye, they decide to open the email. 

The second decision happens right after, when your prospect is looking at the email body. We came to an understanding that if the email seems too long, the prospect might make the decision not to read the email, regardless of content relevance. This is why we believe it is crucial to keep your content short and concise.


Personalized intro

If you’re reaching out to someone, outbound style, at least make the effort to personalize the intro. This includes adding some personal information about the prospect besides their name and showing them that you’ve done your research well. Our sales team has done it by using our tool, Skylead. The response rate for a hyper-personalized sequence we’ve tested has increased from the industry standard of 8.5% to 35%. Not bad for just a little extra effort, right?


Clear purpose

In your email copy, make sure to state your purpose clearly! Your prospect needs to understand your intentions right away. Of course, being clear doesn’t mean being blatant, so make sure to find a subtle balance.


CTA

They say a good call to action should be the last thing your prospect reads and the first thing they do. Therefore, make sure to craft your CTA in an unimposing yet clear manner.


Timing and frequency considerations

When people said that timing is everything, they had outbound email marketing in mind. Hence, sending an email at the right time can affect your conversion rates. One more important thing to note is the frequency of sending each follow-up email, as it can shield you from ending up in your lead’s spam folder. Research suggests that a single follow-up can increase the reply rate from 9%-13%. Also, make sure to wait at least 3-5 business days between follow-ups.


Ensuring mobile-friendliness

If we know that the majority of email views come from mobile devices (41%), then it’s safe to say that your email should be mobile-friendly so your mobile open rates are high. To optimize your cold email, keep the subject line (35 characters) and pre-header text (85 characters) within the character limit You should also left-align your email copy and opt for a single-column layout. Most email campaigns aren’t optimized for mobile, so make sure to use this information to your advantage!

Bonus tip: Always test your email on a mobile device before sending it out to ensure that the formatting and visuals appear as intended.

Email example:

Email marketing example

Executing your outbound email strategy

Whether you’re sending a welcome email, newsletter email, or promotional email, the execution is similar in each campaign. However, implementing an outbound email strategy is a bit different, given the cold nature of the campaign. What differs is the tone of voice and your overall approach. Nonetheless, most strategy outlines look like this:

  1. Choose a relevant email list (with your target audience in mind)
  2. Design your signature (logo, design, etc.)
  3. Personalize your email (subject line, relevant content, tone of voice)
  4. Create follow-ups (in case the lead is not responding immediately)

This is considered the foundation of any email marketing strategy. But, as we’ve said, that’s not all there is to it. When you’re looking to implement an outbound email strategy, there are things to keep in mind before and after the campaign starts. Here are some helpful tips to consider before launching your campaign:

After launching your cold email campaign, it is important to note that you need to continue working on improving and refining it. This is where A/B testing comes into play. In fact, QA, A/B testing, and spam testing lead to a 28% higher return on investment, so be sure to use them continuously as the campaign goes on.
Skylead gives you the option to A/B test your content copy and create up to 5 text variants. Managing a good outbound campaign means you need to optimize and adapt on the go for optimal results. You don’t want to end up in your prospects’ spam folders, do you?



Using automation in outbound email marketing

There’s a lot of manual work involved in executing a successful outbound marketing campaign. But what if you use marketing automation instead? Using outbound email automation software can cut hours of manual work, which you can use to focus on other parts of your outbound campaign.

Here are some other advantages of marketing automation:

Moreover, good automated outreach tools have all the features that support a successful outbound email campaign, such as:

Skylead is all about automation and, coincidentally, one of those tools. 😉

Jokes aside, Skylead is a LinkedIn automation and cold email software and can help significantly with automating your outbound campaigns. With our tool, you can utilize multichannel outreach and scale up your outbound outreach efforts.


Image of CTA banner 1 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


Measuring the success of your outbound emails

As we’ve learned from sending thousands of emails ourselves, once your campaign is live, that’s not where your hard work stops. In fact, this is where the real work begins. We cannot stress this enough! Tracking and interpreting email metrics is the most important part after the outbound campaign launch.


Key metrics

Other metrics

Other metrics to track include deliverability rate, best-performing links, revenue per email, email sharing rate, etc. Despite the numerous things that you can track, from our experience, too much data leads to indecision. Therefore, make sure to follow the metrics that align with your campaign end goals for easier decision-making.

Finally, you should always use your analytics to adapt and constantly refine your outbound email marketing campaigns. Numbers are your allies here and can significantly help with overall campaign success.


Join Sales Tribe community banner with text: Set up your sales game today


Examples of outbound marketing

To give you some examples of outbound email outreach, we’re going to show you how it’s done with the help of Skylead’s Smart sequence builder. This is how you build a sequence in the Skylead app:

  1. Go to your Skylead campaigns dashboard and click on “Create new campaign”. 📢

Create new campaign for outbound email marketing, arrow screenshot

2. Name your campaign.


Create outbound email marketing campaign step 2

3. Paste a LinkedIn search URL, or add some other source out of six possible lead sources.


Add LinkedIn search URL

4. Adjust your campaign settings and click on “Create campaign.”


Create sequence button, screenshot

5. After you click on “Create campaign,” a popup will appear. You can choose one of two options. Click on the “From scratch” option.


Create sequence, from scratch or from template buttons, pop up

6. The next step is adding your campaign elements, actions and conditions to form your outbound campaign.


Add campaign elements in Skylead to create outbound email marketing outreach campaign

We’ve tested and perfected the following sequence as an example of a simple outbound outreach campaign. We believe that outbound outreach campaigns are far more effective when you use the multichannel approach. Therefore, this sequence combines email and LinkedIn outreach, with added email, LinkedIn message, and InMail examples for two different outbound campaign scenarios:


Open rate: 63%


Scenario #1: Content distribution or event promotion

If you want to get more eyes on your content or more sign-ups for events, these templates will be a perfect way to do so.


First email:

Subject: {{solutionToPainPoint}}: Exclusive {{typeOfContent/Event}} Inside

Hi {{firstName}},

Facing {{painPoint}} challenges? We've got a solution.

We’ve created a {{typeOfContent/Event}} to specifically address these issues.

Check out our {{content/EventName}} and get hands-on experience on how to achieve {{results}}.

Cheers,

{{yourName}}


Content or event promotion using outbound email marketing, first email template

Follow-up email:

Subject: Missed Our {{typeOfContent/Event}} on {{painPoint}}?

Hi {{firstName}},

Just checking in about our exclusive {{typeOfContent/Event}}. It's tailored to help you achieve {{results}} by addressing {{painPoint}}.

Does this {{typeOfContent}} resonate with you? We would love to hear your thoughts.

Best,

{{yourName}}


Outbound email marketing follow up scenario 1

LinkedIn invite to connect message:

Hi {{firstName}},

Your work in {{specificField}} caught my eye. We’ve created something that will turn the tables on {{painPoint}}. I think you'd find it very useful and inspiring, so I wanted to reach out and connect on it.


Invite to connect, scenario 1

LinkedIn message:

Hi {{firstName}},

Thanks for accepting my invite. Here’s a link to {{content/EventName}}, which focuses on {{painPoint}}. I really think you, as a {{occupation}}, will benefit from it.

Please let me know if this hits the spot.


LinkedIn message, scenario 1

InMail message:

Subject: Let's Tackle {{pain point}} Together!

Hi {{Recipient Name}},

Noticed we missed connecting earlier, but your expertise in {{specific field/interest}} truly stands out. I wanted to reach out to share {{content/event name}}, aimed at {{pain point}}. Considering your background, I think it's perfect for you.

Does this hit the spot for you, as a {{occupation}}? I would really love to hear your thoughts on it.


Outbound email marketing, InMail message, scenario 1

Scenario #2: Product promotion

If you’re a lead generation manager, these templates might come in handy.


First email:

Subject: Get {{results}} With This Tailored Solution 

Hi {{firstName}},

I've been following your posts on LinkedIn because they talk about {{specificField/Interest}}, which I always love to see myself. Without taking too much of your time, I would like to showcase a product, {{productName}}, that reminded me of some of the challenges and topics you've discussed. It offers a unique approach to {{painPoint}}

I thought it might resonate with you. Mind if we jump on a call and talk more about it?

Warmly,

{{yourName}}


Outbound email marketing First email, scenario 2

Follow-up email:

Subject: {{productName}}: A Fit for Your {{occupation}} Workflow?

Hi {{firstName}},

Revisiting our chat about {{productName}} – its features seem to align well with your work in {{specificField/Interest}}. To be more specific, with {{productName}} you can: 

  1. {{benefit}}
  2. {{benefit}}
  3. {{benefit}}

How about it? Would you like to jump on a call, so I can get to know your precise workflow and create a tailor-made strategy that you can use to reach {{results}}.

Best,

{{yourName}}


Outbound marketing Follow up, scenario 2

LinkedIn invite to connect message:

Hi {{firstName}},

I was blown away by your posts on {{topic}}! As I also share your passion for {{topic}}, I wanted to connect and exchange our experiences.

Perhaps there is a potential for a collab.


Invite to connect, scenario 2

LinkedIn message:

Hi {{firstName}},

Thanks for linking up! Your forward-thinking approach with {{topic}} sparked a thought - what would you say if I told you that {{productName}} can help with {{painPoint}} and deliver results?

Would you be up for a quick chat about it?


LinkedIn message, scenario 2

InMail message:

Subject: Let’s Speed Up Your Workflow With {{productName}}

Hi {{firstName}},

I noticed we hadn’t had a chance to connect earlier. Your amazing post on {{topic}} really stands out from the crowd. It got me thinking about {{productName}}, which seems tailor-made for {{painPoint}} that you’ve highlighted in your post. With {{productName}}, you can:

  1. {{benefit}}
  2. {{benefit}}
  3. {{benefit}}

I would really love to chat about it since I believe you can greatly benefit from it.

Let me know when you’re available so we can discuss the potential.


InMail message, scenario 2

Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


Frequently asked questions

Is cold email outbound marketing?

Yes. Sending cold emails is the foundation of outbound marketing. When done right, it could help with brand awareness or bring traffic to your website. It can even act as a lead magnet, thus being one of the most powerful channels of outbound marketing.


How can one effectively measure and optimize the performance of outbound email campaigns to improve future strategies?

To effectively measure and optimize outbound email campaigns, focus on metrics like open rates, click-through rates, and conversion rates. Utilize A/B testing for subject lines, content, and send times to refine your approach based on data-driven insights.


Are there specific examples of how outbound email marketing has significantly impacted business growth or lead conversion rates?

Outbound email marketing can significantly impact business growth by nurturing leads into customers and enhancing brand awareness. Specific case studies highlight increased lead conversion rates and ROI when personalized, targeted email strategies are employed.


What are the most common challenges businesses face when starting with outbound email marketing, and how can they address these challenges effectively?

Common challenges in outbound email marketing include ensuring high deliverability, maintaining GDPR compliance, and crafting engaging content. Addressing these challenges involves using reliable email marketing tools, staying updated on email regulations, and continuously testing and adapting email content strategies.


What are 3 advantages of outbound marketing?

With outbound marketing, you can reach a wider audience but also use strategic targeting to narrow down prospects, find a niche, and enhance your results. Finally, you can get faster outreach results if you contact your prospects at the right time and with the right call to action. 


What are the advantages and disadvantages of outbound marketing?

While you can reach more prospects with emails and target your niche well, there are some disadvantages to outbound marketing. Cold outreach could damage your reputation: people tend not to trust emails from unknown senders. Additionally, outbound marketing costs more, depending on the outreach size and the tool you use.


How effective is outbound marketing?

Very effective. If we know that 99% of email users check their inboxes every day, we know that your prospects will surely see your email. It’s up to you to make the content stand out and underline the importance of your CTA, turning a cold into a warm lead.


Is it OK to cold email companies?

No. However, if companies comply with regulations, sending cold emails is legal. Nonetheless, if they do not opt in, you may risk damaging your company’s reputation by sending unsolicited emails. Ultimately, this practice might lead to recipients marking your emails as spam or simply unsubscribing from all future communication.


Conclusion

The immense potential of outbound email marketing is what kept you going through this article to this very point. If your goal is to reach more leads faster, grow your audience, and build brand awareness, then outbound email marketing is your best tactic. 

From years of experimenting and testing it out ourselves, we’ve managed to grow our own company and establish Skylead as one of the leading automation tools out there. If we could do it with our own tool, imagine what you can do with it.


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

Not thinking a cold email opening line through can cost you a response, a call, or a scheduled demo. 

The most common mistake rookies make is to invest time into coming up with a catchy subject line and then fail miserably once the email is opened. What makes a sales rep a top-notch performer is the ability to write attention-grabbing email introductions and to structure their writing in a way that is compelling enough to keep you reading all the way through. 

When writing an email opening line, keep in mind that you have around 6 seconds to capture the interest of someone you’ve never met in person. This time shortens for a busy decision-maker. Long story short, you don’t have words to waste. Therefore, start strong. 

Since lots of people are struggling particularly with email introductions, we’ve decided to write a short guide on how to write genuinely personalized email opening lines that catch your lead’s attention, make them want to keep reading, and finally, make them wish to respond. 

By the end of this blog, you’ll learn: 

Let’s get started! 

Why your email opening line matters


Cold emails can be used for pretty much anything - getting that perfect job or landing a really good deal for your business. 

So, even if you’re not a sales rep, selling is a crucial part of our everyday lives. We sell our knowledge, our expertise, our point of view, face-to-face or in writing. However, cold emailing is a specific task and its success depends on various factors.

When it comes to email opening lines, their purpose is to build rapport with your lead and to convince them to keep reading. Such an important task for such a short paragraph, isn’t it? But the rules of sales have changed, and not much can we do about it. Relevance and personalization became a straightway to success, and the sooner you abide by the new rules, the faster you’ll begin to see the results. 

However, before we move onto the email opening line templates, let’s quickly go through several important points when sending cold emails that could potentially compromise the effort you’ve put in writing a good email sales copy. 


Business email verification: Safeguard your domain 

Many resources talk about how to find your lead’s business email addresses, as it’s obviously a minimum requirement for cold emailing. However, the second minimum requirement for cold outreach to be anywhere successful are emails being delivered. Despite this, not many mention the importance of email verification and how skipping this step could seriously harm your domain in the long run. 

Namely, high bounce rates are one of the top reasons, alongside excessive volume and consistency, complaint rate, and being blacklisted by too many users, for poor email deliverability. High bounce rates represent the percentage of email addresses that didn’t receive your message because it was invalid and therefore returned by a recipient’s mail server. The more times this happens, the higher the chances are for your emails to end in a spam folder instead of the primary Inbox. 

While you can solve the above threats by investing time into planning your outreach and making every email matter, there is only one way to lower your bounce rates - and that is to use Sales Engagement Platforms such as Skylead that find and verify business emails for you. In case a business email address is not verified, the platform won’t send the email as it may affect your domain health. 

If you’ve never used a Sales Engagement Platform of this kind, check how Skylead assures higher email delivery rates


6 most common mistakes when writing email opening lines 


12 email opening line templates for 12 outreach scenarios 


#1 Connect after you’ve met in person 

Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

It was really nice chatting with you at {{eventName}} {{timeOfTheEvent}}. I found your point of view on {{topic}} interesting and decided to get in touch with you personally. 

[...]

Example 

Hello Anna, 

It was really nice chatting with you at the 2022 Marketing Trends & Predictions event last Tuesday! I found your point of view on the development of social media marketing for small businesses interesting and decided to get in touch with you personally. [...]

This email opening line works because it specifies right away where you met and what you spoke about. The more precise you are, the more you show that you listened and that you genuinely cared for what someone had to say. Additionally, the tone is friendly, casual, and complimenting. Use this email introduction to connect and network or develop the conversation in the sales direction. 


#2 Reach out to a content creator on LinkedIn 

Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

{{time}} I came across your LinkedIn post on {{topic}} that helped {{lead’sEndResult}}. I have been following you and your content on LinkedIn, and I must tell you that applying your advice {{yourEndResult}}. 

Example 

Hello Jerry, 

A month ago I came across your LinkedIn post on objection handling that helped your Sales Team scale LeadUp by 30% in revenue in just 3 months! I have been following you and your content on LinkedIn, and I must tell you that applying your advice increased my conversion rate by 10%. 

[...]

This email opening line works because it shows that you are truly following their content, that you admire their work, and that the lead’s advice was valuable for you too. Use this email introduction to offer a solution that your lead could benefit from or that is complementary to the lead’s business. This approach will do just perfect for your LinkedIn lead generation message, as well.


#3 Investigate on the solution that your lead’s already using  

Template

Greetings {{firstName}},

I saw that your company is using {{solution}} for your {{purpose}}, is that correct? I hope you don’t mind me reaching out directly, just wanted to ask you if you could change one thing about {{solution}}, what would it be? 

Example

Greetings Martha! 

I saw that your company is using GetResponse for your newsletter automation, is that correct? I hope you don’t mind me reaching out directly, just wanted to ask you if you could change one thing about GetResponse, what would it be? 

[...]

This email opening line works because it shows you’ve done your research and are reaching out to your lead with facts and concrete reasons. Furthermore, you are not trying to pitch your solution right off the bat, but are investigating customer satisfaction first and building rapport. Use this email introduction to offer your solution that has the competitor’s weakness as a unique selling point. 


#4 Use your lead’s review as a reference 

Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

I saw that you recently reviewed {{lead’sProduct}} on {{reviewWebsite}} and expressed concerned regarding their {{concern}}. I know how frustrating that situation can be, so I wanted to take a moment and introduce {{yourProduct}} that might solve that problem for you. 

Example 

Hey Jasmine, 

I saw that you recently reviewed PopBy on Capterra and expressed concerns regarding their customer support. I know how frustrating that situation can be, so I wanted to take a moment and introduce Meety that might solve that problem for you. 

[...]

This email opening line works because you are reaching out to your lead with a verified pain point they are experiencing. You want to see if they would be interested in hearing more about your product because it would directly solve the issue they expressed in the review.


#5 Reach to an attendee of your event/LinkedIn event 

Template 

Hello {{firstName}}, 

It was great seeing you at {{eventName}}. I just wanted to thank you personally for participating and ask if you found the event useful for {{company}} and the {{industry}} industry in general. If yes, I have something that might interest you! 

[...]

Example 

Hello Ross, 

It was great seeing you at the Social Selling Strategy For Medium-Sized Businesses Event. I just wanted to thank you personally for participating and ask if you found the event useful for TransFly and the transportation industry in general. If yes, I have something that might interest you! 

[...]

To clarify, this email opening line works because it states in detail the event that the lead attended, the company they work for, and their industry. Moreover, it indicates that you did your research and want to offer a solution that might specifically help their business/industry.  


#6 Ask a question to pitch a solution 

Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

I came across your LinkedIn profile as I was researching {{occupation}}. I just wanted to ask {{question}}. 

Example

Hello Steve, 

I came across your LinkedIn profile as I was researching SEO & Web Content Specialists. I decided to contact you directly as I am curious to know if you’ve ever got valuable results in less than 20min when researching keywords and keyword synonyms? 

[...]

This email opening line works because it shows you researched your lead before reaching out to them. You know their niche and the niche’s pain point/rooms for improvement, and you might have a solution that could help them save time and improve their service/product.


#7 Email a lead that commented a post on LinkedIn (or anywhere else)

Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

I am writing to you regarding your comment on {{user’sName}} LinkedIn post. I wanted to send a resource that might help you understand {{painPointLeadExpressed}}. If this clarifies a bit the issue you mentioned in the comment, there’s more where that came from!  

Example

Hello Jane, 

I am writing to you regarding your comment on Josh Duane’s LinkedIn post. I wanted to send a resource that might help you understand where and when to use personalized GIFs and Images, and how to make them. If this clarifies a bit the issue you mentioned in the comment, there’s more where that came from!  

[...]

This email opening line works because you are reaching out to your lead with the intent to help them. Additionally, you are offering a resource to solve a problem or issue they expressed in the comment of someone’s LinkedIn post (or anywhere else). Use this email introduction to later pitch your product that has this feature in particular, for example. 


#8 Make a reference to a mutual connection (potential collaboration) 

Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

{{mutualConnection}} from {{company}} spoke highly of you and your professional achievements, your {{achievement}} in particular! That’s why I decided to directly reach out and speak about a potential collaboration. 

Example

Hello Jenna, 

Marta Jamerson from FlyHigh spoke highly of you and your professional achievements, your development of Sales Techniques for smaller Sales Teams in particular! That’s why I decided to directly reach out and speak about a potential collaboration.

[...]

This email opening line works because mentioning a mutual connection right away is a smart move. It gives you certain credit and whoever sees a familiar name will most likely keep reading. Furthermore, it shows that you know what the lead is doing, what their achievements are, and that those are the ones you are writing them for. 


#9 Give value and then offer your service

Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

I came across your {{product}} the other day while researching {{solutions}} and immediately spotted a few things that you can change to {{endGoal}} (déformation professionnelle, hehe, sorry!). This tip might help you see this side of your business in a new light. 

[...]

Example 

Hello Tiphany, 

I came across your website the other day while researching Marketing Automation Tools and immediately spotted a few things that you can change to improve your visitor’s experience (déformation professionnelle, hehe, sorry!). This tip might help you see this side of your business in a new light. 

[...]

This email opening line works because you are giving value (free gift) to your potential customer even if they don’t decide to hire you for the above service. Use this email introduction to hook your service and show the quality of your work. 


#10 Follow up after a cold call

Template 

Hello {{firstName}},

Great talking to you today! As promised, I am sending you a quick summary of the topics we covered over the phone this morning. 

Example 

Hello Kate, 

Great talking to you today! As promised, I am sending you a quick summary of the topics we covered over the phone this morning. 

[...]

This email opening line is an excellent reminder even if the cold call didn’t go the way you wanted to (and even if it did). This is your second chance to interest your lead into knowing more or you can investigate deeper on their pain points and rooms for improvement.


#11 Create a need to pitch your product 

Template

Hello {{firstName}}, 

When was the last time {{company}} {{yourService}}? 

Did you know that - 

{{whyLead’sWayIsNotGoodForBusiness}} 

What if we changed things up a bit? 

Example 

Hello Anthony, 

When was the last time EightUp organized a team-building event that was more than food and drinks after work hours? 

Did you know that - 

- 75% of employees find team buildings of this kind useless, draining, and forced to attend?

- Only 10% of employees claim that they actually bonded with someone from another department during the team building of this kind?

- 83% of employees wish they could learn more from team buildings and actually bond with colleagues that are higher up the hierarchy? 

What if we changed things up a bit? 

[...]

This email opening line works because it shows concrete statistics that the lead’s way of doing certain things is not productive (or maybe even counterproductive). Moreover, you can offer a 180° turn to the way they are doing business. 


#12 Reach out to a churned user 

Template 

Hello {{firstName}}, 

I have exciting news for you! {{yourCompany}} now has a {{upgrade}}, which allows you to {{benefit}}. Let me briefly present all of its advantages. 

Example

Hello Angela, 

I have exciting news for you! Skylead now has a native Image and Gif personalization feature, which allows you to include personalized GIFs and Images into your outreach routine with just a few clicks. Let me briefly present all of its advantages. 

[...]

This email opening line works in case you reach out to a churned user. It lets them know that now you have something that they named as the reason to stop using your product. It's always good to reach out and try to re-sell them the improved version of your product from the start. 


Frequently asked questions


How to personalize these templates for different industries without losing the initial impact?

For personalizing templates across industries, focus on customizing your approach. To do this, weave in sector-specific language and referencing current industry trends or news. This ensures relevance and maintains the original's engaging effect while speaking directly to the recipient's interests and challenges.


How to establish the balance between humor and professionalism in cold emails to maintain credibility?

Balancing humor and professionalism requires a nuanced approach. In other words, consider your audience's industry culture and tailor your humor to be light and relevant to your message. Aim for humor that enhances, rather than undermines, the professional quality of your email, ensuring it's appropriate and adds value.


How to form follow-up strategies when an initial email with a catchy opening line doesn't receive a response?

When a catchy opening line doesn't prompt a response, develop your follow-up email strategy by offering new information or value. Highlight a different aspect of your proposal or share a recent success story related to their industry. This approach can re-engage their interest and demonstrate persistence without being pushy.


Summary

The hardest part of any important task is getting started in the first place, isn’t it? 

Now, we gave you 12 email opening line templates to get through to your leads from the very first email. 

Use these templates as they are or as an inspiration for your own scenarios. 

Additionally, what also worked for our Sales Team was combining these email introductions with personalized GIFs and Images and sending them out to leads found by prospecting on LinkedIn. This practice skyrocketed their reply rates and, to be honest, also did the ability to write good follow-ups after no response

And in case you are searching for a solution that will find and verify business emails for you, has a native feature for personalizing GIFs and Images (and includes them into your emails with just one click), and that can speed up your outreach process by 60%, sign up for Skylead's 7-day free trial and see it for yourself how much we rock! 


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

LinkedIn connections have been a hot topic among the platform’s active users ever since the major LinkedIn connection limit to 100 invites per week back in 2021.

The fall from over 1000 LinkedIn connections per week to merely 100 struck many users’ businesses, especially those who almost solely rely on the platform for prospecting and LinkedIn lead generation.

LinkedIn didn’t make any public statements regarding the introduction of the LinkedIn connection limit.

However, many users believe they’ve been introduced to provide a satisfying user experience and maintain the quality of the connections made through the platform. 

Despite everyone appreciating LinkedIn’s effort to remain a strictly professional, prime platform, they all want to know how to work around the LinkedIn connection limit. For this reason, in this blog, we’re going to show you 4 ways to bypass the LinkedIn connection limit. 


4 ways to bypass the LinkedIn connection limit 


Import via email 

Import via email is not to be confused with Invite via email.

Invite via email used to allow you to type in or import your leads’ emails through a CSV file to invite them to connect directly in the platform.

As mentioned above, LinkedIn discontinued this feature in the summer of 2022 and left its users with a similar feature - Import via email

Import via email, on the other hand, allows you to import saved contacts and other contacts from your email or any other email you have access to. 

Saved contacts are the email addresses you manually saved or imported through a CSV or Vcard file to your email. 

Other contacts are the email addresses of all people you engaged with via email, but you haven’t saved them as a contact in your email. 

How to use Import via email

So, to use Import via email, go to your LinkedIn home page, and click Show less. 


LinkedIn feed, the Show less option

Then, choose More options


LinkedIn home page, how to get to Import via email on LinkedIn

LinkedIn will then offer you to type in an email address you wish to import contacts from. Then click Continue. 


See who you know on LinkedIn

Once you click Continue, you will be offered to choose the account you wish to import contacts from. This implies that you can actually import contacts from any email address you have access to.


Import via email, choose among email addresses

LinkedIn will let you know what contacts it will take into consideration and will ask for permission. 


Import contacts LinkedIn, saved contacts and other contacts

Once LinkedIn imports contacts, you can check the box in the right corner of each contact you wish to Invite to connect and then click the button Add connection. 


Connect with people on LinkedIn via Import via email, final step

If the emails you have, match the ones your lead's used to create their LinkedIn profiles, LinkedIn will send them an invite to connect over the email and directly in the platform as well. 

These connection requests don’t count toward your limits, so, in theory, there is a way to use the Import via email to bypass LinkedIn restrictions. 

You could upload a CSV file with your leads’ email addresses to your email and then use the import via email feature to invite them to connect on LinkedIn.

However, this way of bypassing LinkedIn limits is a bit of a hassle.

Here’s how. 

First you need to find someone’s email address. In other words, need to find a way to get a hold of all those emails – scrape them from somewhere or purchase them from a database.

Then, you will need to add them to a CSV file manually, upload the CSV file to the contact list on your email account, and hope that the leads you’re trying to reach used those emails in particular to make their LinkedIn profiles. 

Only then will Import via email actually work. 


LinkedIn InMails 

InMails are free or paid direct messages on LinkedIn that you can send to members not part of your network, contrary to a regular LinkedIn message.

By sending InMails, you can actually avoid using your LinkedIn Connection Requests. 

LinkedIn InMails are, for many platform members, a mystery, therefore underused and often wasted.

That’s quite a shame, taking into account that, according to the official LinkedIn learning courses, InMails have an average response rate of between 18 to 25% compared to cold emails’ 3% average response rate. 

Every member on LinkedIn can receive a paid InMail, but only paid LinkedIn subscribers can send them.

LinkedIn’s way to encourage meaningful LinkedIn connections is by giving the paid InMails credits back to the sender each time they get a reply.

Additionally, every paid LinkedIn subscriber gets 800 free InMail credits (but for LinkedIn Recruiter) that only users with open profiles can receive.

If you are unfamiliar with InMail as a LinkedIn feature, check out our guide on how to send LinkedIn InMail.

Since, as mentioned above, InMails can be sent to users not part of your network, they can be more effective than LinkedIn Connection Requests themselves.


When should I use LinkedIn InMail?  

InMails can be your last resource to get to the desired lead. Or they can be a wise hack to outreach busy decision-makers who get numerous new LinkedIn connections every day.

Let’s say you tried to connect with a specific lead on LinkedIn. You’ve sent several emails, and called them, and you never got an answer. In these cases, sending an InMail turned out to be a practice that brings results for many Skylead users. InMails can also be part of your Smart Sequence. 

An InMail, among other things, has all the characteristics of a regular email (subject line, body, and higher character limit). If well-written, is a secure way to stand out in your lead’s Inbox and stay remembered in the long run.

By sending a LinkedIn InMail to a complete stranger on LinkedIn and composing an engaging InMail copy by following these LinkedIn InMail examples with a 25% reply rate formula, you are also diminishing the possibility of your lead clicking I don’t know this person once you send a regular LinkedIn connection invite. 


Image of CTA banner 2 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


Skylead allows you to include both free and paid InMails in your outreach.

By moving the toggle button to the right, you are allowing the platform to check if your lead has set their profile to Open profile status, and decide for you whether to reach them out via free or paid InMail. 


Paid InMails Skylead, how to bypass the LinkedIn connection limit

Emails

Since we mentioned LinkedIn’s version of emails, we cannot avoid highlighting all the advantages of regular cold emailing too! 

Yes, LinkedIn has over 800 million active users. But that doesn’t mean that the platform is the preferred means of communication for all of them. This is also one of the reasons, as mentioned above, why Smart Sequences come in “handy”.

By combining Email Outreach with LinkedIn Outreach, your sequence will show which channels work best for target leads. This information can be useful for your future sales and marketing strategies overall.

Here is how you can make the most out of emails.


The role of an email in a multi-channel approach

Send the same message as on LinkedIn and see where you get the answer faster. If you don’t get a reply whatsoever, here are some hacks on how to write a follow-up email after no response;


Use email to complement your Connection Message

Elaborate on the LinkedIn Connection Message you’ve already sent on LinkedIn, as email gives you more freedom in terms of character limits;


Subject line: Sara <> John

Hi Sara,

I recently tried connecting with you on LinkedIn.

I  saw that you’re VP of Sales at PowerData. 

I was curious if you are using cold outreach to get new clients. 

If the answer is yes, I would love to show you a multichannel solution that can help you scale your sales with minimal effort.

Would you be interested in learning more about our solution?

Best, 
 
John

Ask for a Connection Request via email.

Ask someone to send a LinkedIn connection to you by inserting a link to your profile in the email, if you reached the LinkedIn connection limit for the week. 


Subject line: Loved your post on cold outreach… 

Hey John,

Love the post you recently made on LinkedIn about Cold Outreach and totally agree with you on "how SDRs should be more creative".

I am a content creator, and I post majorly about prospecting, cold outreach, LinkedIn and email outreach hacks, and lead generation. 

I figured my content could benefit you and your team, so I wanted to connect with you on LinkedIn. 

Here’s a link to my profile - linkedin.com/in/jelenacerovic

Also, I saw that you’re Head of Sales at Leadgen.io and was curious if you are using any solutions to make your sales more efficient.

Best, 

Jelena

The Find & verify business emails via LinkedIn and Find & verify business emails by your source (if you are using a CSV file or API) are two of Skylead's native features. They make sure your email arrives at its correct destination. 

The most important segment of these two features is the “verification” part, which safeguards your domain from being blacklisted. That said, Smart Sequences will only send emails to double-verified emails. Moreover, they will make sure emails get delivered to the intended recipient. 


Smart sequences

Smart Sequences are AI-inspired algorithms that track your leads’ behavior and act accordingly. Yours is to create different paths to your leads (via email, LinkedIn messages, InMail), combine them with if/else conditions, and then click Start Campaign. Skylead will find the fastest and most effective way to your lead. 

This Skylead’s all-star feature allows you to combine all platform solutions in one campaign. That way, you can take advantage of all possible touch-points with your leads. 


How to use Smart sequence bypass LinkedIn limits

As you may see from the above example, Smart Sequences are perfect for bypassing LinkedIn connection limits.


Image of CTA banner 2 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


With Skylead’s 

you will, for sure, find a way to get in touch with your lead. Also, you will discover what your lead’s preferred channel of communication is, and, therefore, increase your response and engagement rates. 


FAQ about LinkedIn connections

Let’s go through several most commonly asked questions regarding LinkedIn connections and the LinkedIn connection limit.


How many LinkedIn connections can you have? 

LinkedIn limits the number of 1st-degree connections to up to 30 000. After you reach this number, you won't be able to send or receive Connection Requests until you resize your network under its limit. 

On the other hand, LinkedIn allows you to follow and be followed by an unlimited number of members. 


LinkedIn Follow VS Connect

When someone is your 1st-degree connection, you can see each other’s content and any update on your feeds. Also, you are allowed to exchange regular LinkedIn messages. You always follow your 1st-degree connections by default, but you can also unfollow them. 

If you turn on the Creator Mode, you can continue growing your network without necessarily adding new connections. 


What is the LinkedIn connection limit? 

The LinkedIn connection limit is the restriction introduced by the platform at the beginning of 2021. It implied that each member could send up to 100 Connection Requests per week. 

In the meanwhile, as of December 2021, LinkedIn raised the connection limit to approximately 200 invites per week. 

We say approximately because the truth is the LinkedIn connections limit depends on many factors.

These factors could be how old your profile is, the number of connections you have, how active you’ve been lately, your acceptance rate, etc. No one knows how many LinkedIn connections exactly you can send per week. Undoubtedly, it is far less than it used to be before the restriction. 


When does the LinkedIn connection limit reset? 

Your LinkedIn connection limit resets at the beginning of each week - over the weekend or Monday, depending on the user. 

Basically, if you use all your LinkedIn connections for the week on Friday, you won’t wait long to have your connection limit reset. 

However, despite respecting the LinkedIn connection limit, you must be careful to whom you send invitations. LinkedIn members who get turned off many times, left pending, or marked as I don’t know this person are more often subject to additional screening. Consequently, they are more likely to end up in LinkedIn jail or with restrictions


Summary

As you may see, there’s no reason to panic about the LinkedIn connection limit.

There are legitimate and secure ways to bypass them.

Furthermore, aside from sending LinkedIn connections, messages, InMails, and emails, Skylead also performs all time-consuming sales tasks for you. This way, it allows you to focus on finding qualified leads and closing the deal faster.

If you are not part of the Skylead team, register and test out Skylead for 7 days for FREE. Our support team is at your disposal from the start. They will be more than happy to help and answer all your questions. 

Let's scale up your business!


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now

If LinkedIn prospecting, lead generation, and even marketing automation are a part of your job, you’ve probably heard of Dux-Soup. This tool helps you to find and engage with your target audience in real-time and on autopilot.

However, there is a lot of discussion about whether Dux-Soup is safe to use for your LinkedIn account, how effective it is, or if there is any better alternative. So, to resolve any mysteries revolving Dux-Soup, in this article, we cover everything you need to know, including:

Let’s dive into it.


Dux-Soup or alternatives?

LinkedIn automation software, Dux-Soup, helps sales teams, recruiter specialists, and outbound marketers find LinkedIn prospects, reach them on autopilot, and close deals. In other words, it optimizes outreach workflow by streamlining some of the time-consuming tasks on LinkedIn. 

These tasks include: 

Dux-Soup also offers drip outreach campaigns that allow you to send messages and follow-ups in a simple sequence. In addition, you can add up to 12 messages in the campaign and set delays between them. However, these features are only available for Turbo plan subscribers.


Dux-Soup drip campaign image

Moreover, Dux-Soup is able to find email addresses of your 2nd and 3rd-degree connections. However, you will need to buy additional Dux-Soup points to do so. Prices of these points range from $11.91 for 100 emails, to $135.44 for 2000 emails.

For all those who wonder how it works, this LinkedIn automation software is a chrome extension. To clarify, you need to create your account and install a chrome extension to use it. Moreover, you need to keep your PC and browser on to run successfully.

If you use any CRM, like Pipedrive or Hubspot, you can integrate it via Zapier. If you need help with integration, you can always contact the Dux-Soup support team.

Lastly, Dux-Soup is considered one of the simplest LinkedIn lead generation software, as it doesn’t offer many prospecting and outreach features. So it’s suitable for small businesses that are just getting started and freelancers who are beginners.


Chrome extension disadvantages

Being a chrome extension, Dux-Soup does come with some severe drawbacks

Firstly, chrome extensions are unsafe since they automatically inject the code into LinkedIn. This code injection would’ve been fine if this social media platform didn’t like its users to use any LinkedIn automation. Thus, by injecting the code into this social media platform, LinkedIn can register if you’re using automation software. Furthermore, you risk getting your LinkedIn profile restricted.

Moreover, this LinkedIn automation tool doesn’t offer a dedicated IP to shield your activity

Secondly, chrome extensions cannot work unless your PC or laptop is on. This means you cannot set the software to run in the background, turn off your computer and forget about it for the day. 

Apart from these disadvantages, chrome extensions don’t offer an advanced reporting system or integrated inbox, nor do they mimic human-like behavior.

Due to the previously-mentioned limitations, you might find worth in exploring cloud-based LinkedIn automation tools. In other words, a cloud-based solution provides a dedicated IP address, doesn’t inject any code, and mimics human-like behavior. What’s more, with this type of automation, you can manage multiple accounts, have an integrated inbox, and, most importantly, it works even when your PC is turned off. What’s better than that? 🙂


Dux-Soup pricing

Dux-Soup offers 3 pricing plans and sub-plans, depending on team size and available features.


Individual Pricing Plan

IndividualMain featuresPrice per seat / month (ex. VAT)
FreeVisit profiles only;Search by tags;$0
Pro Dux- Scan & visits profiles;- Send connection requests;- Sends follow-up messages;- Sends direct LinkedIn messages & InMails;- Auto endorse;- Auto profile tagging;- Data export/import;$11.25
Turbo Dux- Scan & visits profiles;- Send connection requests;- Sends follow-up messages;- Sends direct LinkedIn messages and InMails;- Auto endorse;- Unlimited drip campaigns;- Integrations;- Reports;- Auto profile tagging;- Data export/import;$41.25

Dux-Soup charges Individual pricing plans monthly or yearly, as per your choosing. In addition, if you’re looking to use the free version, you’ll soon notice that you cannot do much with it. So, you’ll need to upgrade to a paid version if you wish to use this software for real outreach. 


Team pricing plan

TeamMain featuresPrice per seat / annually (ex. VAT)
Pro Edition- Scan & visits profiles;- Send connection requests;- Sends follow-up messages;- Sends direct LinkedIn messages & InMails;- Auto endorse;- Auto profile tagging;- Data export/import;
- Dux-Soup VIP customer support;
$135
Turbo Edition- Scan & visits profiles;- Send connection requests;- Sends follow-up messages;- Sends direct LinkedIn messages and InMails;- Auto endorse;- Unlimited drip campaigns;- Integrations;- Reports;- Auto profile tagging;- Data export/import;
- Dux-Soup VIP customer support;
$495

To clarify, Team plans are only charged annually and use a tiered pricing model. For example, choosing between 1-10 seats will cost you $135 per seat. If, however, you select a seat number between 11 and 20, you’ll pay $121.50 per seat, etc.


Agency pricing plan

AgencyMain featuresPrice per month total (ex. VAT)
Pro- Scan & visits profiles;- Send connection requests;- Sends follow-up messages;- Sends direct LinkedIn messages & InMails;- Auto endorse;- Auto profile tagging;- Data export/import;
- Dux-Soup VIP customer support;
$337.50
Turbo- Scan & visits profiles;- Send connection requests;- Sends follow-up messages;- Sends direct LinkedIn messages and InMails;- Auto endorse;- Unlimited drip campaigns;- Integrations;- Reports;- Auto profile tagging;- Data export/import;
- Dux-Soup VIP customer support;
$412.50

Pro and Turbo Agency sub plans have 10 and 30 prepaid accounts, respectively. You can always add more seats, which will be charged additionally. However, if you do not use some seats, you cannot refund them.


Image of CTA banner 1 for Skylead salesbook - ready-to-use outreach template that can be applied to our LinkedIn automation and cold email software


7 best Dux-Soup alternatives

Dux-Soup is a beginner-friendly LinkedIn automation tool with very limited features. However, if you wish to really step up your outreach game and protect your LinkedIn profile, we suggest trying out one of the following Dux-Soup alternatives.


Skylead

That’s us - Hello! It’s nice to meet you 🙂

Skylead is a LinkedIn Automation & Cold Email Software that helps sales teams, recruiters, and alike streamline tedious outreach tasks. It even serves as marketing automation, helping individuals with backlink outreach and network expansion.

It’s not like we’re praising Skylead for no reason, but it really is the best alternative to Dux-Soup on the market. Let us explain.

Firstly, Skylead is a cloud-based solution. It means it doesn’t inject any code into LinkedIn, so this social media can’t notice the automation. Most importantly, your LinkedIn profile gets threefold security: 

In addition, with Skylead, you get to manage multiple accounts. Moreover, you get an integrated Smart Inbox to see all your correspondence with the lead from any platform.

Skylead integrates with LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, Recruiter, and Recruiter Lite. Therefore, anyone can use it to close deals - from sales teams, recruiters, marketers of any small businesses, agencies, and even freelancers. That said, you can create outreach campaigns based on 6 sources:

Lastly, while we’re still on the integration train, you’d be happy to know that Skylead can integrate with any other app via API, Zapier, or Integromat. You can even integrate it with your favorite CRM, like Pipedrive or HubSpot.

Sounds amazing, right? We’re just getting started. 😀 

Let’s cover other amazing features of Skylead.


Change your LinkedIn outreach game with Smart Sequences

Unlike Dux-Soup's simple outreach campaigns, Skylead offers Smart Sequences - a ground-breaking algorithm that performs actions according to your lead's behavior. In other words, Smart Sequences gather all outreach activities in one place and execute them depending on your leads’ actions

The true benefit of this unique algorithm is that it optimizes your workflow by streamlining all time-consuming tasks in real-time. Skylead then continues executing further actions depending on your lead's behavior, thanks to If/Else conditions.

Image of a smart sequence feature from a Dux-Soup alternative, Skylead

In addition, Dux-Soup limits your drip campaign to a maximum of 12 messages. However, with Skylead, you can send an unlimited amount of LinkedIn messages, InMails, and emails and perform other actions in a sequence. 

Whatsmore, you also get advanced analytics and reporting for each step and action in a sequence. To be precise, you can analyze:

Moreover, with Skylead, you can A/B test each part of the messages and see which one works best for you. 


Increase conversion rates with email outreach

Dux-Soup specializes in LinkedIn outreach alone. However, we all know that email is an essential means of communication. So, the best sales approach is to multichannel your outreach. That’s why Skylead introduced an Email Outreach, allowing you to expand your reach to leads who aren’t active on LinkedIn. With this functionality you will increase response rate and the conversion rate, as well.


Decrease a bounce rate with email discovery & verification feature

Dux-Soup offers an email finder feature. However, there is no say if these emails are verified. Thus, the validity of these emails might be compromised, and you can end up with a high bounce rate and damaged domain. 

With Skylead, you can find and verify leads' business emails with any connection type from the chosen lead source. In addition, Skylead can find and verify an unlimited number of emails, whereas, with Dux-Soup, you can only find 2000.

Lastly, unlike Dux-Soup, Skylead doesn’t charge extra for Email Discovery & Verification features. In other words, you can find and verify as many emails as you’d like at no additional cost.


Increase your response rate with hyper-personalized images & GIFs

Did you know that you can increase the response rate and the acceptance rate by simply incorporating a personalized image or GIF? Yes, it’s true. This feature demonstrates the alternative sales approach and shows that you’re a human, not just another salesperson. 

That’s why Skylead offers Native Images & GIFs Hyper-Personalization feature, so you can stand out in the crowd and need not pay for this feature to other platforms to do so. 


Image of Dux-Soup alternative software, Skylead with image & GIF hyper-personalization feature

Connect with your leads faster by sending 500+ invites a week

With Skylead, you can send 500+ invitations per week and thus avoid LinkedIn’s limits. This way, you can reach leads faster than with any tool on the market.  Most importantly, you’ll also achieve your sales quota by closing more deals per month. 


Image of CTA banner 2 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


Pricing

Skylead is an All-In-One tool that costs $100 per seat a month. However, unlike other LinkedIn outreach tools on the market, and from this list, Skylead doesn’t limit the number of features you can use. 

In addition, we offer different video and article tutorials, as well as sequence and message templates to get inspired.

Lastly, Skylead has a very dedicated customer support team that is ready to help anyone with the questions they might have. 


Zopto


Image of Dux-Soup alternative software Zopto dashboard

Next in line for the best alternative to Dux-Soup is Zopto. This tool is another cloud-based Dux-Soup alternative sales teams use for LinkedIn prospecting and lead generation. 

Firstly, Zopto supports LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Recruiter, or Premium accounts. Moreover, being a cloud-based solution, it offers integrated inbox and integrations with Hubspot, Pipedrive, or other CRMs via Zapier or API.

Secondly, feature-wise, Zopto has an email discovery functionality, named Email Enrichment. However, unlike Dux-Soup, it can verify them. Sadly, Zopto limits how many leads you can enrich with the email, depending on the pricing plan, whereas Skylead doesn’t. 

What differs between Zopto and Skylead is that with Zopto, you can create and schedule LinkedIn posts and like Tweets on autopilot. 

However, Zopto doesn’t have Smart Sequences like Skylead, which is a significant disadvantage. Instead, it offers a simple 4-step drip campaign with no conditions available. 

Zopto offers 3 monthly-subscription-based plans. 

As you can see, Zopto estimates their pretty basic lead generation tool at the highest price on the market. So if you're considering Dux-Soup alternatives, you should analyze this and other tools' cost VS features ratio to make the right decision.


WeConnect


Image of Dux-Soup alternative WeConnect; campaign dashboard

WeConnect is another cloud-based LinkedIn automation tool that can be used with either LinkedIn Premium, Sales Navigator, or Recruiter Lite accounts (it doesn’t support Recruiter accounts).

Firstly, WeConnect offers an integrated inbox where you can see all your messages. In addition, you can integrate WeConnect with any tool using API or Zapier and streamline your workflow to the fullest. 

As for other exciting features, WeConnect offers A/B message testing like Zopto and Skylead. 

Sadly, WeConnect, an Expandi alternative, doesn’t offer advanced features like Post Engagement Campaigns, Image & GIF personalization, or Smart Sequences. Even if they claim they have Smart Sequences, they do not since this sequence doesn’t have conditions, as Skylead does. Instead, they offer a simple drip campaign with a different action, including:

Lastly, the significant disadvantage of WeConnect is that you cannot use a multichannel outreach. In other words, it doesn’t offer Email Discovery & Verification and Email Automation features.

If you need some basic LinkedIn outreach campaign, such as from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, Recruiter Lite search, or CSV, then WeConnect could work for you for $49 per user/month.


Image of Free Trial CTA banner with Skylead's smart sequence that demonstrates multichannel outreach using LinkedIn automation and email steps with if/else conditions


Lead Connect


Image of Lead Connect, a Dux-Soup alternative; sequence feature

Another Dux-Soup alternative is Lead Connect - a chrome extension you can use with LinkedIn Premium or Sales Navigator accounts. 

Even though it’s not a cloud solution, you can use it to create a campaign via CSV file. In addition, Lead Connect offers a drip campaign with a few features and steps available: 

If you don’t know what to write in a message, Lead Connect has got your back. They offer various templates to get inspired. However, you should know that the number of templates available depends on your chosen pricing plan. 

Lead Connect has integration with Hubspot, or you can connect it with any other CRM via Zapier. Moreover, it’s integrated with other email discovery tools, such as Hunter.io, so you can find your prospect’s emails. Sadly, you’d need to pay an additional cost for it. 

Unfortunately, Lead Connect doesn’t have Smart Sequences, Image & GIF Personalization, nor does it support Recruiter. 

Price-wise, this tool offers 4 plans depending on the number of invites and messages you can send and templates you can use per day: 


Linked Helper 2


Dux-Soup alternative, Linked Helper 2, LinkedIn automation software

As opposed to Dux-Soup, Linked Helper 2 is a desktop-based tool. In other words, it’s a bit safer since it doesn’t inject code into LinkedIn. However, this kind of software still doesn’t offer a dedicated IP address, nor can you manage multiple accounts. Furthermore, you need to keep a PC on to work. 

With Linked Helper 2, you can create Recruiter search campaigns. In addition, all contacts are kept in Linked Helper’s CRM, and you can search them by tags and add notes. 

Sadly, Linked Helper 2 doesn’t offer a list of advanced cold outreach features other tools have, such as:

Linked Helper 2 is affordable, and you can get some basic lead generation features for $15 a month. Needless to say that they limit this plan based on invites and messages you can send a day. 

If you wish to get rid of this limit, you can opt-in for a $45 subscription with unlimited basic features. 


Meet Alfred


Dux Soup alternative LinkedIn automation software, MeetAlfred dashboard

Another cloud-based LinkedIn outreach tool that salespeople use for lead generation is Meet Alfred. What separates Meet Alfred from other tools is that it mainly automates social media activities such as scheduling Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn posts.  

Even though they point out Email Outreach as their second main feature, it's worth noting that it is incomplete. To clarify, with Meet Alfred, you can only send emails to your 1st-degree connections. This means that if the prospects don't accept your LinkedIn invitation, you won't be able to reach them via email. So, you can't use multichannel to its fullest potential.

In addition, like other tools mentioned above, you can connect Meet Alfred with other software via Zapier's webhooks.

Unlike Skylead, Meet Alfred doesn't have Smart Sequences but offers a simple drip campaign with more steps available than Zopto. Other disadvantages include a lack of email discovery and verification features. In addition, it doesn't have native Image & GIF personalization. However, since they are integrated with Hyperise, you can pay an additional monthly amount for this feature. 

Price-wise, Mee tAlfred offers the following plans:


Salesflow


Image of Dux-Soup alternative software, Salesflow, campaign builder

A cloud-based solution, Salesflow, is a tool that isn’t compatible with Recruiter, unlike other solutions from our list. So you can create the campaigns only from Sales Navigator or LinkedIn search results.

You can also import a CSV file with the customer’s info and create a campaign sequence based on that source. Speaking of campaign sequences, like Zopto, Salesflow doesn’t offer Smart Sequences. However, you can send as many LinkedIn messages as possible, whereas Zopto limits you to a 4-step campaign sequence. Moreover, they offer some message templates should you need any inspiration. 

When connection requests, with Salesflow, you can send 400 invites per month.


Image of CTA banner 1 for watching Skylead - LinkedIn automation and cold email software demo


In addition, Salesflow doesn’t have an Email Outreach feature, nor does it have Email Discovery & Verification. So, you cannot use multichannel outreach to the fullest. 

Lastly, it provides CRM. However, if you don’t find it adequate, you can always integrate it with other tools via Zapier.

SalesFlow users can opt-in for one of the 3 pricing plans, depending on the number of users and features available: 


How to cancel Dux-Soup?

If you wish to try out any of the LinkedIn automation tools listed above, you need to cancel your Dux-Soup subscription first and link your LinkedIn account to other software.

Here’s a short tutorial on how to do it.

To cancel your subscription, you need to access your Dux-Soup dashboard. Simply click the Dux-Soup extension at the top of your browser, and click the Dux-Dash button. 


Image of how to cancel Dux Soup step 1

Then, from your dashboard go to Manage Account & Subscription.


Image of how to cancel Dux-Soup step 2

Then click the Dux-Soup subscription button. 


Image of how to cancel Dux-Soup step 3

Lastly, click the Cancel Subscription button. Yes- it’s that easy.


Image of how to cancel Dux-Soup step 4

Final thoughts and feature comparison

As mentioned, Dux-Soup has a so-called feature starters pack for LinkedIn lead generation, outreach, and prospecting. However, if you wish to step up your game, it might be time to move on to the next LinkedIn automation tool on the market. 

Thus, here is the table with full feature comparison to help you choose the best alternative.


Image of comparison table among Dux-Soup alternatives; feature comparison

And remember, it’s about your business needs. So, take time to analyze the features, check for limitations, and integrations, calculate the price VS features ratio and inspect LinkedIn profile compatibility. Only then will you be able to find the right tool for your cold outreach that will help you with your outreach conversion rate.

Enjoy the research! 


You've got this; GIF

If you have any questions about Skylead, feel free to contact our support team via chat. They’ll be more than happy to meet you and help. Or simply dive right in and try Skylead yourself by starting a 7-day Free Trial.


Launch your first outreach campaign today!
Start free now Start free now