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 targeted 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:

• What are outreach sequences
• 5 types of sequence messages
• 4 best outreach sequence examples
• Outreach sequence best practices

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

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:

• Email
• Social media (LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter, etc.)
• Phone calls
• Direct mail

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:

• Save up to 11+ hours of manual work per week.
• Book 3x more meetings.
• Reach a higher number of quality leads in less time.
• Increase response rates with our in-app hyper personalization feature, and more.

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:

• Email finder & verifier - Helps you find your leads’ double-verified business emails without breaking the outreach flow, at no extra cost, and with no 3rd party tools.
• Image & GIF personalization - Adds an extra visual touch to your outreach, making each message tailored to your leads’ interests and personal information. Plus, it increases the response rate.
• A/B testing - You can test up to 5 variants of copy to determine which approach works best for which leads. 

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.

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

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

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 👇

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. 

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!

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:

• See the magic in action
• Receive bite-sized insights & case studies
• Test-drive with zero fuss at zero cost.

What’s your choice?

Cheers!

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!

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?

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.

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.

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.

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!

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!

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.

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

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

• 76% acceptance rate
• 35% reply rate
• 85% open rate

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

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:

• 53% acceptance rate
• 27% reply rate
• 73% open rate

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

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:

• 43% acceptance rate
• 23% reply rate
• 71% open rate

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

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:

• 63% acceptance rate
• 41% response rate

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

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.

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:

• simple
• straightforward
• clear

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, value-drive, personalized 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:

• Using automation tools in outreach saves time, boosts results, and gives you more time to focus on building better sequences and nurturing relationships with leads.
• Using a multichannel approach, which means two or more communication channels, is key to a faster and more effective outreach.
• Personalization is the key to higher response rates.
• Catchy subject lines are directly related to higher open rates.
• A clear CTA leads to better click-through and response rates.
• Strategic timing in outreach sequences improves overall results and affects all relevant metrics.
• By combining relevant content with personalized communication, we build trust and interest.

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! 💥

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:

• Benefits and advantages of split testing
• How to split test 
• What to split test
• Split testing process
• Split testing best practices.

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

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. 

2. 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:

• LinkedIn connection messages
• InMails
• Emails
• Messages 

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.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. 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.

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.

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.

2. 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.

3. 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. 

4. 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. 

5. 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.

6. 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.

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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. 

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. 

2. 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.

3. 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.

4. 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. 👇
2. 
   

2. Name your campaign.

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

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

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.

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. 

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

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

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.

2. 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. 

3. 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!

4. 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.

5. 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. 

6. 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.

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.

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! 🏃

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 cold outreach is;
• How sales, marketing, and recruiting can benefit from it;
• Best practices for successful cold outreach;
• And will give you a list of resources with ready-to-use cold sales message templates. 

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:

• cold outreach (cold emailing, cold calling, cold messaging on LinkedIn),
• billboards,
• events,
• advertising through TV or radio,
• print,
• online,
• in-person contact, etc. 

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.

Submit your content to be published on external resources / Generate backlinks for your website 

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. 

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

• Cold outreach is cost-effective. You don't need a specific budget to invest in ads, event planning, advertising, etc. 
• It's scalable. If you use automation tools, hyper-personalized cold emails and follow-ups can reach thousands of people in a few clicks. 
• You can include personalized images, gifs, and videos to make your cold emails or LinkedIn messages more attractive. 
• You can reach potential clients and industry peers from all over the world. Cold outreach allows you to expand your business and networking efforts outside a specific geographic area.
• Consequently, cold outreach offers broader brand exposure. Cold emails and cold LinkedIn outreach can reach anyone on the globe. Additionally, LinkedIn provides specific features to promote your business through its feed, online events, sponsored InMails, communities, etc. 

Cold outreach: Best practices

Understand your prospects' needs 

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

• the content your prospects share or like,
• the communities they participate in,
• their professional and educational background,
• and their interests.

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.

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

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. 

Automate your cold outreach

It's 2025, 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. 

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. 

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.

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.

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).  

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.

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). 

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

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? 

• Identify prospects more likely to convert.
• Consider using multichannel outreach to identify their preferred means of communication.
• Prepare your LinkedIn and/or email strategy in advance.
• Prepare your LinkedIn sales messages and/or cold sales emails in advance. 
• Personalize. 
• Follow up. 

Is cold email legal? 

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.

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:

• Lead generation
• Segmenting your audience
• Sending personalized messages and emails
• Automating follow-up sequences 
• Creating drip campaigns
• Using multiple communication channels
• Collecting data and tracking progress

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. ⭐️

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 targeted 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?

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:

• Time-saving (the right automation tool can help save up to 11+ hours per week on manual work - that’s 6 days a month! 😱)
• Ensures accuracy
• Increases effectiveness
• Scalable (automation tools can help scale your business - this especially applies to sales and marketing)
• Provides consistent engagement with prospects
• Allows for mass personalization (by using variables and other visual elements - images, GIFs, videos, etc.)
• Decreases the chances of errors (if done correctly, automation tools can help in avoiding human error)

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:

• Social media (e.g., prospecting on LinkedIn)
• Networking - virtually or in-person)
• Lead magnets - relevant content such as blogs, case studies, newsletters, etc. that resonate with your target audience (inbound marketing techniques)

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:

• LinkedIn search URL 
• Sales navigator search URL
• Recruiter search URL
• Imported list of leads from a CSV file
• People who’ve liked a post on LinkedIn
• Imported Sales navigator leads list
• Recruiter talent pool
• Recruiter pipeline

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.

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:

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…

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:

• Find prospects’ email addresses
• Send cold messages and drip campaigns
• A/B test your email copy for better open and response rates
• Monitor your performance with real-time data and detailed analytics

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:

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.

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.

2. 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.

3. 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…

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%.

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:

• Images
• Dynamic text
• GIFs
• Videos
• Variables (with Skylead, you can use variables for First name, Last Name, Current Company, Years in current company, occupation, etc. You can even set up your own custom variables and use them with each new message you craft in a campaign.

Note: Our sales team tested our personalized outreach 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.

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 all-caps subject lines
• Excessive use of exclamation points
• Overuse of emojis
• Irrelevant links
• Typos in subject lines and email body

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.

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:

• It should be cloud-based (for your account health and safety)
• Possible multichannel outreach (for better outreach results)
• An all-in-one solution (without the need for add-ons and extra costs)

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!

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:

• How to write a follow-up after no response; 
• The dos and don'ts of follow-ups and what to avoid; 
• How can follow-ups increase your response rate;
• How to use a multichannel approach for your follow-up emails;

Bonus: You also get to enjoy tested-for-efficiency follow-up email after no response templates.

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:

• They are too busy.
• They forgot to respond.
• The message is not clear.
• They are not the decision-makers.
• They are genuinely not interested. (in this case, use objection handling to win them over)

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 your email 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:

• Keep it short and to the point.
• Our CEO, Relja, says that catchy subject lines should be under 55-60 characters for web inboxes and under 30 characters for mobile inboxes.
• Limit punctuation marks (our research suggests that more than 3 punctuation marks may look like spam)
• Avoid all caps and exclamation points.
• Be careful with emojis (we’ve found out through testing that you should use 1 emoji at a time and that you shouldn’t replace words with emojis to avoid not being clear)
• Personalize your subject lines.

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:

• Start with a friendly greeting.
• Briefly remind the prospect of your original email by restarting the conversation (like in the examples above)
• Clearly state the purpose of your follow-up.
• Don’t be afraid to get creative and use humor in outreach.

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?

2. 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.

3. 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?

4. 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:

• Be concise - clearly written emails win over prospects.
• Keep it short - from our experience, longer emails could negatively affect the response rate.
• Be specific - no need for filler phrases and words.
• Be polite and professional - People value manners, and if you’re not being too aggressive, you might get a chance to pitch.
• Offer value - People want to see the value behind your offer. If you’ve done your prospecting well, you’ve caught some people who can largely benefit from what you’re selling. Be sure to add some extra value by underlining some known issues that your tool/product/service fixes for them or by sending educational content.

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:

• No vague statements - Do not confuse your leads with overly complicated demands at the end of the email.
• A clear and short call to action - Sales experts agree that a good CTA is the last thing your prospects read and the first thing they do.

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? 🤖

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.

Use Skylead to:

• Create smart message sequences 
• Add hyper-personalized elements such as dynamic text or images & GIFs
• Use LinkedIn as an additional channel and explore multichannel outreach
• A/B test your content, analyze and optimize campaigns
• Keep track of each follow-up in the Smart inbox and label leads that require additional follow-ups.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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. 🤓

#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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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.

#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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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:

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}}

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:

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!

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! 🤩

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.

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:

• to build a solid connection with your target audience
• spark interest in exploring your product
• raise brand awareness

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:

• Interested potential customers
• Results over time
• Lead nurturing
• More engagement = more loyal relationships with your target audience
• Cost-effective

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. That why various businesses and B2B email marketing agencies use a CRM like Hubspot to help them with lead management and keeping track of the 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.

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.

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:

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:

• Send emails from a real person (for higher open and response rates)
• Follow email or spam regulations and the GDPR (to avoid spam filters or your email accounts getting banned)
• Hyper-personalize your outreach (by using the Image & GIF personalization feature for a higher email  response rate)

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:

• Faster outreach (for faster results)
• Automated outbound prospecting (with the email discovery feature)
• Better tracking (analytics, content success, and lead behavior)

Moreover, good automated outreach tools have all the features that support a successful outbound email campaign, such as:

• A/B testing content copy
• Email discovery
• Integrated inbox
• Hyper-personalization
• Using other communication channels (apart from email)

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.

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

• Open rates - This is one of the most important metrics for email marketing. It shows you the average number of open emails from your campaign. If you want to analyze the effectiveness of subject lines, pre-header text, and sender names, you should consider your open rate numbers.
• Click-through rate - This metric measures the number of times your prospects clicked on any links or CTAs that were inside your email. Click-through rate is important for determining email engagement.
• Conversion rate - This metric indicates the number of people that converted (did the end-goal action) from your specific email or campaign in general. It determines the overall success of your campaign.
• Bounce rate - The bounce rate shows you the number of contacts that “bounced” or didn’t receive your email. This usually happens when the email address is inactive, fake, or outdated. To avoid having a high bounce rate, and staying out of trouble with your email service provider, make sure that your email addresses are legit, or simply use tools that support Email discovery and verification. You’ll get verified emails only and thus significantly lower your bounce rate.
• Spam complaints - This metric shows you how many times your email was marked as spam. Spam complaints could happen due to irrelevant content, spammy-looking subject lines, or unsolicited emails.
• Unsubscribes - This metric is meant to show you the number of people who unsubscribed from your email list. Having a high unsubscribe rate could mean one of two things: the content isn’t relevant for your audience, or your emails aren’t being sent to the right prospects.
• Mobile open rates - The number of emails opened on mobile devices.

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.

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”. 📢

2. Name your campaign.

3. Paste a LinkedIn search URL, or add some other source out of six possible lead sources.

4. Adjust your campaign settings and click on “Create campaign.”

5. After you click on “Create campaign,” a popup will appear. You can choose one of two options. Click on the “From scratch” option.

6. The next step is adding your campaign elements, actions and conditions to form your outbound 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}}

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}}

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.

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.

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.

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}}

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}}

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.

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?

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.

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.

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: 

• Why your email opening line matters;  
• How to safeguard your domain and prevent high bounce rates;
• 6 most common mistakes when writing email opening lines;
•  12 email opening line templates for 12 outreach scenarios.

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.

• How well you targeted and researched your lead;
• How relevant and to-the-point your personalization is;
• If your subject line made your lead curious enough to open the email;
• If your email opening line was compelling enough to keep them interested in reading more;
• Whether you included some kind of a hook;
• If there’s a call to action, etc.

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 

• You start your email with Hi, my name is;
• Your email is not straight-and-to-the-point from the start;
• Your email introduction talks about how “amazing” you or your company is;
• You opened your email in a generic way;
• There’s no name or last name of the person you are writing to;
• Your email opening line is too long.

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! 

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:

• What Dux-Soup offers;
• How much Dux-Soup subscriptions cost;
• Is using Dux-Soup really safe;
• And the best Dux-Soup alternatives with the feature comparison table.

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: 

• Scanning your target audience’s LinkedIn accounts; 
• Sending connection requests, LinkedIn InMails, and regular LinkedIn messages; 
• And auto endorse feature. 

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.

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

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

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

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.

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: 

• You get a dedicated IP that shields your activity; 
• Skylead mimics human-like behavior, making it impossible for LinkedIn to detect it; 
• And your profile starts from warmup mode, slowly increasing the activity over time. 

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:

• LinkedIn search results; 
• Sales Navigator search results;
• Recruiter search results;
• Recruiter Talent Pool or Pipeline URL;
• Event attendees;
• People who reacted to the LinkedIn post;
• LinkedIn Sales Navigator Lead Lists;
• CSV file with native or custom variables to increase response rate or acceptance rate.

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.

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:

• Graph Metrics for visual representations of the ratio between the actions;
• Table view for spotting trends that happen during specific days;
• Sequence steps to examine steps in detail.

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. 

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. 

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

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. 

• Personal: $215 / month for 1 account
• Grow: $344 / month for 2 accounts
• Agency: $860 / month for 5+ accounts

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

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:

• Profile visit;
• Post like;
• Invite to connect;
• Follow;
• Regular and free InMail messaging;
• Message group members.

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.

Lead Connect

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: 

• Sending a connection request;
• And sending messages and follow-ups.

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: 

• Free
• Professional: $25.95 per month
• Grow: $45.95 per month
• Ultimate: $85.95 per month

Linked Helper 2

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 LinkedIn 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:

• Smart Sequences;
• Image & GIF personalization;
• Post-engagement campaign;
• A/B testing;
• Email Automation;

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

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:

• $49 for single users and limited features; 
• $89 for Sales Navigator users;
• $699 for large sales teams.

Salesflow

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.

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: 

• For small businesses €89 per user/month;
• Teams can choose from €71, €57, and custom price per month, depending on the number of users;
• If you wish a Done-For-You subscription, prepare for a €429 per user / month;
• The Agency plan comes with custom pricing.

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. 

Then, from your dashboard go to Manage Account & Subscription.

Then click the Dux-Soup subscription button. 

Lastly, click the Cancel Subscription button. Yes- it’s that easy.

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.

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! 

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.

The rules of selling have changed. 

A formal product presentation days where Sales Representatives would meet face to face with their potential customers are far behind us. 

Nowadays, around two-thirds of the B2B buyers make their decision via online content.

And as you're not the only one with an online presence, you need to find a way to stand out in the era of information overflow. 

Nowadays, LinkedIn is the platform that provides salespeople with valuable tools for prospecting on LinkedIn, and researching ideal customers. It allows them to get in touch with their perfect leads and send product or service offers directly in their Inbox. 

However, just like salespeople put in less time to reach their potential customers, it takes only a few seconds for customers to decide if they have any further interest in what you are presenting. 

The age of the customer 

The ability to quickly access information about any product or service changed how business is being done. 

Furthermore, customers openly talking about their experience with your company and sharing it for everyone to see has had a considerable impact when opting for a product or service. 

Customers are tired of random products and services being pushed into their faces.

They want to hear from salespeople who know how to adapt the qualities and properties of what they have to offer to their customers’ needs and expectations. 

They want you to know what they lack better than they do. 

The salesy lingo doesn’t work anymore. Moreover, it is highly unwelcome. 

So, for all of you that use this platform for LinkedIn Lead Generation and other sales activities, here are 5 tips on how to sell without sounding too salesy. 

A pitch should never be your first conversation

When you are connecting with someone on LinkedIn, it is highly frowned upon to start a conversation with a pitch. 

Moreover, when approaching a potential lead, the Invite to Connect is what in real life is the first impression. You only get a couple of seconds to catch your prospect’s attention or be dismissed for any reason. 

That’s why the best way to approach a potential customer is to make a reference to something that you have in common.

It could be a shared interest, you might be members of the same LinkedIn group, work in a similar or adjacent industry, or have attended a specific LinkedIn event, etc. 

This type of well-thought approach brings high acceptance and response rates. 

Here’s an idea for your Invite to Connect. 

[template]

Hello {{firstName}}, 

I see that you attended the “5 Marketing Strategies for a Post-Covid World” event.

As someone with {{totalYearsInCareer}} experience in the industry, I would love to hear your thoughts on a multi-channel approach to engagement.

After you’ve been accepted, you can proceed following the same “hook”.

[template]

Multi-channel outreach implies so many online and offline channels of communication!

When speaking of LinkedIn, Skylead is an online platform that combines messages, InMails, and Emails with LinkedIn features such as View, Follow, Invite to Connect, etc., to create the highest number of touchpoints with your perfect leads.

It is a very effective way to do multichannel outreach and, with the right targeting, you will be able to generate and get through to leads who are most likely interested in whatever you have to offer.

I would love to tell you more about it. Would you like to join our group Demo Call? By clicking on the link, you will see several dates and times available.

I look forward to hearing from you!

Best, 

Joshua

Avoid hyperbolic words & phrases

Avoid hyperbolic words such as “cheap”, “one-in-a-lifetime opportunity”, “incredible”, “amazing”, “promotion”, etc. 

Clients take these statements with skepticism. 

Instead, show them that you’ve done your research and that you are messaging just because you genuinely believe that what you have to offer will significantly improve the quality of their business. 

Be precise where exactly you’ve seen room for improvement and how you can help.

Use words that imply the same.

There is no better selling proposal than the one that is supported with well-researched facts. 

[template]

Hello {{firstName}},

I have been following the work of {{currentCompany}} for quite some time now. 

Due to your vast experience in the role of {{occupation}} at {{currentCompany}}, I am sure you know the struggle with the timely and accurate flow of critical information during international transport.

I am here to offer a solution. 

“OnTheWay” is an application developed in collaboration with over 100 customs worldwide. It provides the most precise, reliable, and real-time information on any type of international shipment. You will be able to give even your biggest customers the exact day and time of their long-awaited purchase. 

I would love to schedule a call and further discuss the benefits it could bring to your company. 

Best regards,

Evan 

Turn your sales into a conversation, not a rehearsed monologue 

A genuine back-and-forth conversation will work more to your advantage than just blurting out a rehearsed monologue. 

By asking thoughtful and well-aimed questions not only will you keep your leads interested but you will also gain a more thorough understanding of what they exactly need. 

This will allow you to position your product or service better in comparison to your competitors that “haven’t done their homework”. 

Of course, all of this is on the condition that you have previously targeted your audience well enough to know that most likely there is room for your product or service to help. 

Start with something like this.

[template]

Hello {{firstName}},

I can see that you’ve been working in the Manufacturing Industry for quite some time now. 

As someone who has been holding the position of {{occupation}}, what is your experience regarding the problem of forecasting demand for products? 

Thank you so much for sharing! 

Best, 

Robert 

Once your lead answers back, you can go ahead and investigate further on what they need. 

[template]

Thank you {{firstName}} for sharing your insight! 

I hear you. 

Forecasting demand for products is for sure one of the main challenges of any Manufacturing business. 

If you fail the customer demand, your sale will significantly drop. On the other hand, the cost of producing too many items that don’t sell weighs hard on your budget. 

Do you mind sharing how you have been handling it so far? 

And then, once you’ve come to the root of the problem, try selling your service by showing them how it can apply directly to their particular situation. 

[template]

That is quite an interesting way of dealing with it. 

What if I told you there was a management system that helps manufacturers analyze consumer behavior, which products they are interested in, when they usually make purchases, how many products they buy at certain times, etc?

Would you be interested in hearing more about it? 

If the answer is yes, go ahead and explain why doing business with your company will save them time and money. 

Make it all about them 

At the end of the day, customers don’t care about the product or service itself. They care about what it can do for them. 

And with that being said, it means that they don’t even care about how that product or service worked for YOU. People want to know how it can change THEIR lives and the way THEY have been doing business. 

So, when you are reaching out to your potential customers, never start with “Here is how {{product}} helped ME”. 

[template]

Hello {{firstName}},

Thank you for taking your time to hear me out! 

I am reaching out because I would like to show you how our software could save up to 6 hours a day to your Sales Team while producing 10 times more leads. 

- Email Discovery & Verification works perfectly for your cold emailing campaigns. You will be able to discover verified business emails of your LinkedIn leads and expand your prospects list.

- Real-time insights offer detailed analytics so that you can evaluate which campaigns produce the best results. 

- Smart Sequences combine LinkedIn with Email Outreach. Would you consider adding LinkedIn outreach to your sales and marketing efforts? 

Let’s hop on a Demo Call and discuss how your company can further benefit from it! 

Best regards, 

Mary J. Luis 

It’s OK not to sell 

Last but not least, you don’t need to sell at all costs! 

Learn how to take no for an answer while still ending on a high note. 

Being pushy will not turn a no into a yes. It could just refrain people from ever doing business with you in the future. 

You would be surprised how often a genuine interest in customers and in selling them what they really need might result in them coming back or recommending your services to someone else. Even if they have never worked with you before. 

Know when to stop, but also how to leave the ending open to a potential collaboration in the future. 

[template]

Hello {{firstName}},

It was nice talking to you. 

Thank you once again for taking the time to hear about my services. 

I appreciate your feedback. 

Should you have any questions in the future or simply want to exchange experiences regarding Event Planning, feel free to reach out!

Have a great day and good luck with all your future projects!

Best, 

Michelle 

Summary

Nowadays customers have access to enough information to make a purchase without ever talking to you. 

However, it is usually a personal touch that gives them that extra push. 

They want to feel heard and taken care of and not just some random target of the act of selling.

That’s why make sure to narrow down your audience as much as possible, research their needs and room for improvements, and then get through to them with a well-defined offer. 

For more effective outreach, consider using a Sales Automation Platform. 

Skylead is an excellent choice for those who want to combine LinkedIn with Email Outreach for their sales process. Not only will you have a higher number of available paths to your prospects, but you will also, as seen in the above examples, be able to use their publicly available information on Linkedin to hyper-personalize your outreach. 

Long story short - be smart and let Skylead think for you.

Whether you want to network, find your perfect client, do cold outreach, showcase your expertise, or educate other users about your product, LinkedIn is a place to be. 

The platform offers so many possibilities not only when it comes to reaching pretty much anyone on the planet (crazy, isn’t it?) but also in terms of different communication channels - from direct messages to InMails, posts, polls, emails, etc. 

Get on LinkedIn, and the (business) world is your oyster. 

But what about the time? Yes, there are only so many hours at our disposal and so many things that need to be done. Luckily, the development of automation and AI-powered solutions took some strain off us and helped us focus on more “important” things. 

Take AI lead generation tools, for example. Sales reps that use them to automate lead generation and prospecting on LinkedIn have more time to focus on building meaningful relationships and closing deals, instead of getting stuck in certain repetitive actions.

The same goes for LinkedIn itself. If you automate these 3 things, you’ll reach more customers in less time and increase your company’s value.

Sales Navigator 

Sales Navigator is LinkedIn’s paid sales solution. It is designed to help its users do their outreach more effectively and land better deals.

Not only.  

Sales Navigator gives you some advanced options that can improve the quality of both your targeting and outreach efforts. 

Access to out-of-network connections

One of the biggest benefits of LinkedIn Sales Navigator, especially nowadays with the newest LinkedIn restrictions and limits, is the opportunity to extend your sales reach outside your network. 

Namely, you can only view a limited number of profiles outside your network. Sales Navigator lets you “unlock” that information for up to 25 profiles a month. This way you can better understand your leads and make more meaningful connections. 

Furthermore, the LinkedIn Sales Navigator account gives you 20 InMails each month. This way you can reach out to your 3rd-degree connections and establish significant business relationships. Additionally, InMails are credit-based. That is, if the user replies to your LinkedIn InMail, the one you sent first will not be counted towards your monthly limit. 

More targeted search

Sales Navigator gives you the chance of ultimate targeting!

With 24 filters only for “Lead Search” at your disposal, you can narrow down your audience until you achieve the very best results. Imagine how well you can refine your search and pick quality leads that will almost for sure be interested in what you have to offer. 

However, before you go ahead and start searching for that perfect customer of yours, learn how to use Sales Navigator filters. 

It would be a shame not to take it to your full advantage just because you haven’t done your research. 

Lead recommendation 

The “Lead Recommendations” feature suggests relevant leads based on your sales preferences, search history, profile views, and past saved leads. AI-powered techniques make this happen due to the pre-collected and labeled data.

The more you use Sales Navigator, the more it will use the data to do the valuable targeting for you. 

Therefore, it saves you a step in the sales process. 

Powerful sales insights

As you search for prospects, save leads, and make connections, Sales Navigator will keep you posted on updates in your network such as: 

• Job changes;
• Company updates;
• Relevant connections and warm leads.

This way you will always stay up with the latest industry tendencies.

CRM integration 

CRM stands for Customer Relationship Management Software. 

A CRM gathers customer data and interactions across all channels in one place. Managing centralized data helps businesses improve customer experience, satisfaction, retention, and service. 

Briefly, a CRM will help you understand your leads’ needs, segment your audience, and therefore, know how to target them better. 

That being said, Sales Navigator integrates with the following major Customer Relationship Management Software: 

• Salesforce;
• Hubspot;
• SugarCRM;
• SAP; 
• Pega;
• Oracle;
• Microsoft Dynamics. 

Hootsuite 

Hootsuite is a social media management platform where you can do everything from creating quality content and scheduling posts to managing team members and measuring ROI.

It gives you the option of: 

• Creating and scheduling posts;
• Managing all of your social media channels;
• Planing upcoming campaigns;
• Staying on top of incoming messages on social media;
• Measuring your performance and analyze results;
• Extending your social reach;
• Staying on top of the trends;
• Optimizing your advertising budget;
• And much more. 

Social media presence is crucial for any type of business. Nowadays, when companies and their employees have multiple accounts on multiple social media platforms, it is getting harder to post quality content and to plan a good strategy without using an automation tool. 

At the end of the day, trying Hootsuite out doesn’t cost you anything. 

Literally.

It is the only social media management platform that allows you a 30-day free trial. 

Check it out! 

Skylead

Surprisingly, cold emailing and/or reaching out on LinkedIn turned out to be some of the most effective ways of generating leads on LinkedIn. 

However, this works only if you have targeted your audience well, if you came up with a highly elaborated strategy, and have strong copies of the messages you will be sending. 

This is where Skylead comes into the picture. It is an Automation Tool, Scraping Tool, and an Email Finder, all in one software. 

Check out Skylead’s solution for an all-embracing outreach. 

LinkedIn outreach 

To perform LinkedIn outreach, you connect with your leads and message them. 

Or you can use paid or free InMail options depending on whether you have a LinkedIn basic or paid account. 

As you may see, Skylead gives you the option of hyper-personalizing Invites to Connect, LinkedIn messages, and InMails, and fully automating this process. 

It supports both LinkedIn Basic and Premium Accounts, but it is better to upgrade it to the extent of your possibilities. 

LinkedIn Premium Account, in comparison to LinkedIn Basic Account, can perform more in terms of features, such as having the option of an Unlimited Profile Search and sending a certain number of LinkedIn InMails. You can also view and engage with a much greater number of profiles with a Premium account.

Sales Navigator is more advanced as far as filters are concerned in comparison to a LinkedIn profile. 

Email outreach 

Skylead personalizes Email Outreach and combines it with LinkedIn features.

Email Outreach implies personal emails, emails imported through a CSV file, and business emails discovered and verified through Skylead’s Email Discovery & Verification Feature.

Here is an example of a campaign that combines LinkedIn outreach with business emails. 

As you may see from the picture, Skylead uses multiple channels to reach out to your leads. 

Email discovery & verification feature 

Thanks to its Email Discovery & Verification feature (see above), Skylead manages to collect the data, “compose” all the possible business email options, and verify them even without you being connected with the lead on LinkedIn. 

This is how your leads list will look like on Skylead. 

Image & GIF hyper-personalization tool 

With Skylead’s Image & GIF Hyper-personalization tool, you can offer products and services in a less conventional way, make fun job opportunity announcements, wish your clients happy holidays, or schedule a casual meeting. 

This option is available for LinkedIn Messages, Emails, and InMails.

As you may see, there are options to:

Add me: import your LinkedIn profile picture;

Add lead: import your lead’s LinkedIn profile picture;

Choose custom logo: import a logo from your computer;

Add lead’s logo: import your lead’s current company’s LinkedIn profile picture;

Add text: text is perfectly personalized by using all Skylead’s available tags. Additionally, in case you import your leads through a CSV file, each column of your CSV file becomes a tag as well. 

Smart sequences 

Skylead is the only Sales Engagement Tool that offers multichannel outreach through Smart Sequences. That is, it combines LinkedIn messages, Emails, and InMails, with other LinkedIn features such as Invite to Connect, View, Follow, thanks to the “if/then (condition)” step. 

The “if/then (condition)” step allows multiple scenarios in your outreach. Briefly, it ensures that you will reach out to your leads one way or another - whether by connecting on LinkedIn, sending an email, or simply following them on LinkedIn as a subtle reminder of you trying to connect. 

For example, let’s say you make the flow in the following manner: Invite to Connect - LinkedIn Message -  (follow-up) LinkedIn Message. 

In case the prospect doesn’t accept your Connection Request, the rest of the sequence goes down the drain. 

With Smart Sequences, the same flow would be put in the following manner - “If Connection Request Accepted” then “Send Message”, “If Connection Request Not Accepted” then - a whole bunch of other options, such as “View Profile” - “Email Discovery & Verification” - “If has verified email” then “Send Email”, etc. 

As you may see, your Smart Sequence will not just stop but will proceed with other available/possible paths to your lead. 

Integrated inbox 

Whether your leads’ responses come from LinkedIn, Sales Navigator, or Emails, Skylead has an Integrated Inbox. Its role is to put all of these together in a neat and organized way. You know where your prospects answered from at any moment thanks to the chat’s well-defined icons. It’s your choice where you want to continue the communication – in the Integrated or directly in the channel’s Inbox.

Summary 

Automation is there to help you scale your business while ensuring consistency in customer experience and opportunity costs. 

That is to say that with the right automation tool you will be saving and making money while watching your company grow. 

To learn more about how Skylead can help you make the most of your LinkedIn experience, schedule a demo call with our team representative. 

We look forward to opening a world of outreach possibilities for you! 

Are you tired of having to sign up to different platforms and then merge them for a successful sales engagement?

Do you get headaches from rarely being sure what step you are at and what your next move should be? 

How often do you wish there was one Sales Engagement Software that already has all the necessary features for successful and smoothly operating campaigns?

Well, there is!

Let us show you how Skylead replaces multiple different tools and generates and nurtures leads while saving you time and money. 

1. Email outreach feature

Unless you use a Sales Engagement Tool that is as versatile as Skylead, you will most likely need to go through different steps before starting a campaign. Down below we will present different types of platforms as necessary stages to complete the process of outreach. 

1a. Phantombuster (Growth Hacker Package, $30/month) + Hunter.io ($49/month) + NeverBounce ($10/month) + lemlist ($59/month) = $148/month

The flow would go as follows: 

1. Sales Navigator Search
2. Paste URL to Phantombuster
3. Paste results into a downloadable CSV file
4. Subscribe to Hunter.io and upload CSV file to scrape emails
5. Upload CSV file to NeverBounce to verify emails
6. Send emails through lemlist or any other outreach tool of this kind. 

1b. Skylead’s All-in-one plan ($100/month)

With Skylead, not only do you have an Email Discovery Feature, that finds and verifies business email addresses, incorporated but you also need just an URL from LinkedIn Search/Sales Navigator Search to obtain all the necessary data for personalizing your outreach. You have an option of running a campaign through Emails, LinkedIn Messages, and LinkedIn InMails.

2. LinkedIn outreach via image and GIF hyper personalization feature 

The majority of Sales Engagement Tools outsources the Image and GIF hyper personalization feature, while Skylead has it integrated. 

2a. Expandi ($99/month) + Hyperise ($99/month) = $198/month

Expandi outsources Image and GIF hyper personalization feature to Hyperise that is limited to 10 templates and 10 000 impressions (counted each time an image is viewed).  

2b. Skylead’s All-in-one plan ($100/month)

Skylead’s Image and GIF personalization feature offers an unlimited number of templates and impressions as part of its All-in-one plan. 

3. Multichannel outreach 

3a. Lemlist ($148) + Expandi & Hiperise ($198/month) + Zapier ($39/month) = $385/month

When you use multiple different tools for your outreach, you will need a software, such as Zapier, or any other of its kind, to “glue” them together. This will allow you the Multichannel Outreach and the Image and GIF hyper personalization feature. 

3b. Skylead’s All-in-one plan ($100/month)

LinkedIn Messages, InMails, Emails, and Image and GIF hyper personalization feature are all incorporated into Skylead’s All-in-one package. 

Plus, have you heard of Skylead’s Smart Sequences? 

Skylead’s Smart Sequences are groundbreaking algorithms that allow you to use Multichannel Outreach and personalization to its maximum potential. 

Due to the newest LinkedIn restrictions, Smart Sequences are actually the only effective way of generating leads on LinkedIn and via email. They combine LinkedIn features (LinkedIn InMails, Connection Requests, Messages, Follow) with Emails (found and verified by Skylead) and create the highest possible number of personalized touchpoints with your Prospects. 

While the old Skylead’s predefined threads are still available, now you have the option of making an entire branch of steps and operations the way you think it will work best for your business goals. 

Find out more about it here. 

As far as an Email Discovery feature is concerned… 

Skylead can discover emails in two ways - either collect the already existing email from the profile when connected with the lead, or discover and verify an email before connecting to the prospect or engaging with him/her in any way.

If you opt to reach via email by doing the search on LinkedIn or Sales Navigator, all you need to do is copy/paste the URL (once you finish prospecting on LinkedIn or other LinkedIn solutions) and use the following procedure:  

• For 1st degree connections on LinkedIn - first “View Profile” step and then “Send Email”;
• For 2nd degree connections on LinkedIn - first “Send Request” step to connect and then “Send Email”. 

If you opt for a campaign by importing a CSV file, Skylead only requires your document to have a column named “email” (lower case!). You can start an email sequence right away. 

With other tools, you either need to collect emails manually or choose to reach out via LinkedIn and then email them as a follow-up. Skylead gives you the option to launch a campaign on LinkedIn and through Email at the same time. Basically, “Email Step” is part of the sequence. 

4. Outreach to leads interested in a certain topic 

Let’s say you would like to reach out to all people who liked or commented on a post/any type of published material on LinkedIn.

4a. Other tools

The flow would go as follows: 

1. Phantombuster Post Likers first scrapes names of the people who liked the post and their LinkedIn URLs
2. LinkedIn Profile Scraper extracts their names, professions, contacts etc
3. Paste results into a downloadable CSV file
4. Subscribe to Hunter.io and upload CSV file to scrape emails
5. Upload CSV file to NeverBounce to verify emails
6. Send emails through lemlist or any other outreach tool of this kind.

4b. Skylead

1. Take URL and post it to the “Post Engagement” campaign type, then: 

• For 1st degree connections on LinkedIn - first “View Profile” step and then “Send Email”;
• For 2nd degree connections on LinkedIn - first “Send Request” step to connect and then “Send Email”. 

Have you noticed how everything with Skylead is just so much easier? 

As I said, one tool to rule them all, indeed! 

Explore all the benefits that Skylead offers by contacting our customer support team. Discuss how you can make the most out of our product and find out how you can benefit from Skylead the most.

Is it in your nature to always want more?

Do you have a feeling that if you’re doing something, and you’re dedicating your time and expertise to it, you need to do it the best way possible and use your highest potential?

If yes, we have a New Year’s present for you! 

We are giving you the possibility to multi-channel your outreach and step up your Lead Generation game with Skylead.

Your LinkedIn Lead Generation Strategy rocked and your campaigns brought many benefits. You turned bulk messaging into personalized thoughtful notes. By managing to reach so many people, you turned them into clients – your partners in business.

And that’s the core.

But actually, there is more we can do for you.

Including Email Automation into your Marketing Strategy is a must and now you can do it on Skylead!

Skylead’s new email automation feature 

Our main goal with the Email Automation feature is to provide a well-rounded experience of outreach campaigns.

Other than reaching out via LinkedIn, you are now able to:

• Send follow-ups via email, depending on the action a lead partaken 
• Discover business emails and collect personal ones
• Nurture your relationships by keeping in touch with leads or keeping them updated
• Use emails for fun occasions - wish them a happy holiday season, after all, it is the most wonderful time of the year now.  ?

Newsletters and one-time-only campaigns sure are an important part of your Email Marketing Strategy.

However, to level up means to start automating your Email Campaigns based on a user’s actions.

Your automated emails can be well-timed, personalized and relevant to the actual reader.

And that’s what we aimed for – setting up ONE email template, personalizing it by using various tags such as their names, occupations, company names, and creating workflows for different scenarios.

This version is a beta. Everyone gets a chance to develop it with us by giving feedback and pointing us in the right direction.

Here’s a 6-step guidance about creating email campaigns:

1. Introduce your Skylead account to your Gmail/Outlook account

Your first intersection is on the Settings page, and it’s the most intuitive thing.

The question is: are you more of a Gmail or an Outlook type?

Verify your account in less than a minute, et Voilà!

You’re one step closer to starting your first email-based campaign.

Keep in mind that you have all of Skylead’s features available in our all-in-one plan.

2. Target group - feel free to be picky

You can be picky as you want. Finally, you can get a narrowed and precise search result or use your Mailing list to grow your potential customer poll in the most efficient way.

Mailing list-based campaigns are now also a thing! 

If you have a rich list of contacts, that includes at least their emails and LinkedIn profile URLs, here’s the best way to use it.

If not, you can build it within our Discovering Emails feature. We will automatically extract prospects’ emails so you can download the results to a CSV, and build an extensive contact list of potential buyers. 

The best part about prospecting on LinkedIn with Skylead is that you can choose between getting someone’s personal emails and business ones, that are actually not listed on their profiles.

Just choose which Importing option suits you better:

• Importing a CSV file
• Post engagement
• Pasting the URL from LinkedIn search, 
• or from Sales Navigator lead list or saved search

3. Post engagement campaigns - Know what your leads' like

Target LinkedIn users who are engaged with your or anyone’s post actually.

Consequentially, you’ll have people who obviously share interest in that subject.

And that right there is a great conversation starter.

All you have to do is:

• Copy the link to that post;
• Paste it into the LinkedIn URL section of Post engagement, enter a Campaign name,  and hit Next;
• Choose the kind of campaign you want to start on LinkedIn, by setting a winning combination of steps

4. Campaign creating - your moment to shine

Until now, you’ve had a chance to create different campaign flows with Skylead, but let’s add a little spice. 

Improve your campaigns by adding an Email step.

Knowing that almost everyone checks their email inboxes multiple times a day, makes cold emailing one of the most reliable ways for businesses to develop relationships and boost sales.

First, View a lead’s profile to spark some interest.

Secondly, send a Connection Invite to enrich your network.

Thirdly, after some time an email surprises them with an update on that matter. 

Afterward, you can freely pursue your Email Automation, as you now have them on your Mailing List.

Keep in mind that if you’re aiming for your 1st-degree connections, you would need to have a View Profile before the Email step. That way we could actually collect the email deets from a profile.

Major hack: When your campaign finishes and you download the collected data, including profile URLs and email addresses, you can use that file for only emailing purposes, without having to add other steps.

And that’s how you get a campaign solely based on emails.

5. Watch your campaigns kick - the real deal

Skylead’s practical design enables you to easily create campaigns and switch between them in a single click.

Once they have started executing steps, you can easily track their path on the Monitoring campaigns or on the Reports page.

Choose what you want to track on the graph or in tabular view, and download your data to present it to your colleagues, team leads and clients.

6. Inbox management - All-in-one inbox

When you use the right automation tool that provides you with the right support and features, you can free up a whole lot of time to devote to tasks that require more creative thought. 

Skylead can help you save up to 7 hours a day that you’d otherwise spend contacting prospects manually.

On a plus side, a good automation platform gives you the freedom to reply to all your messages from a single dashboard – Messages, InMails, and now even Emails, all in the Integrated Inbox.

And a proven benefit is that Skylead provides a very useful chat feature for organizing your messages per campaign, label leads, add notes next to the conversations so that you never miss a message due to a chaotic inbox.

Additionally, emails too have daily limits that we recommend you follow.

We care about your campaigns running in the most human-like behavior as possible.

Image personalization feature o’clock

It’s almost 2021, and it’s time to get over those non-personalized messages.

Yeah, making a message template by using different tags is good, but how about crafting an image or even better, a GIF?

When I said all-in-one experience, I wasn’t joking.

Skylead’s unique set of features makes it the only software on the market to provide LinkedIn automation, Email automation and Image personalization gathered in one tool.

Here’s short guide on how to make your campaigns stand out using fun images and gifs:

• Make sure to set Message as a step in your campaign
• Pick Add personalized image/gif and upload some image that you wish to use
• Add a tag, leads’ LinkedIn profile avatar or their company’s logo
• Start the campaign, of course, and get this party started!

For example, within a Message step, you should click on the Add Image button, and a range of images and gifs show up, ready for you to make some art.

Pick the template or insert your own image. Spice it up with personalized messages by adding some {{tags}}. 

For example, we have a simple ‘Thank you for connecting‘ image. We could further experiment with it by adding the name of a recipient and using their LinkedIn. 

Put your creativity to use

Don’t forget to use the same template within the same campaign. Make sure everyone on your lead list receives this dynamic Image personalization going on with their names and  LinkedIn profile picture.

When and why to use Image personalization:

• Anytime and for many reasons, but let me get into details:
  • You’ll have a completely unique set of features at your disposal. Kind of a service that others would need multiple tools for setting up or would lose XY hours to manage it manually.
  • Standing out because you can surprise a person by sliding into LinkedIn or Sales Navigator inbox with a killer copy, follow-up via email, and insert an image as an extra touchpoint.
  • If there’s an event coming up and you’d like to send out the invitations, wish a happy holiday, say thank you for connecting, or send some updates via newsletter - we are your guys. 

Summary

Bravo to you, for reading this whole guide!

I hope you learned a lot.

If this was too much to process in one reading, feel free to ping us on the Support Chat, ask all about Skylead and how you can benefit the most.

Now go and make some memorable campaigns!