Cold outreach for agencies is one of the most traditional ways to attract more B2B clients. But is this the best strategy? And how can agencies create a cold outreach strategy that aligns with their goals?
We can help. After all, we helped a client generate $47k from a single email campaign.
Key Highlights of Cold Outreach for Agencies
- Define your Ideal Client Profile (ICP): Identify your target audience based on industry, company size, challenges, and decision-makers to improve outreach precision.
- Build a high-quality target list: Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo.io, and Hunter.io to source and qualify leads effectively.
- Craft personalized messaging: Generic outreach fails—tailor emails and calls to address specific pain points, goals, and company activity.
- Leverage multiple outreach channels: Combine cold email, social media, and cold calling to maximize engagement and response rates.
- Use automation and outreach tools: Platforms like SalesLoft, Outreach.io, and HubSpot streamline prospecting, follow-ups, and campaign tracking.
- Measure success with key metrics: Track open rates, response rates, conversions, and booked meetings to refine your strategy.
- Follow up consistently but strategically: Send 3-5 follow-ups over a few weeks, focusing on relationship-building rather than aggressive selling.
Preparing for Cold Outreach
Before diving into outreach, preparation is key. Follow these steps to set the stage for success.
Define Your Ideal Client Profile (ICP)
Contact list building should always occur in the beginning stages of your outreach campaign. To better identify and qualify leads, create an ideal client profile (ICP). Understanding your perfect client helps you focus your efforts. But your ICP should be data-driven and contain more information than just the industry or business size.
Define your ICP by considering factors like:
- Industry or niche
- Company size
- Location
- Challenges they face
- Decision-makers roles
The best way to get this information is from a data collection platform such as a CRM.
This data is essential to target and personalize your outreach efforts effectively. When creating outreach content, ask yourself these questions:
- Which pain points are you trying to solve?
- How can you form a connection with this lead or company?
- Which goals are your lead trying to accomplish? How can you help them achieve their objectives?
- What are the three main concerns you hear during the sales process?
- Was there ever a time when your products or services weren’t a good fit for a client?
After you have this information, you can start building your target list, which takes us to the next section.
Build a Target List
Source: Slide Team
You can build a target list once you have an ICP and establish criteria to distinguish qualified leads. Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator, Apollo.io, or Hunter.io to create a list of prospects that match your ICP. Ensure your list is clean and up-to-date.
Develop a Value Proposition
What makes your agency unique? What do you offer that sets you apart from competitors? Clearly articulate your value proposition to potential clients by answering these questions:
- What specific problems do you solve?
- What benefits can clients expect?
- Why should they choose you over competitors?
Craft Personalized Messaging
Generic messages don’t work. That’s because all sales outreach professionals must move past these hurdles:
- Your emails may feel like a sales pitch
- Most professionals have their guard up when they receive an unsolicited sales email
Gone are the days of sending mass unsolicited emails. Before getting to the subject matter, all sales professionals must use personalization in their outreach. Personalization can give you 10%-15% revenue growth since you develop a connection with your leads immediately after contacting them.
Start by researching your prospects and tailoring your outreach to reflect their needs, pain points, and goals. Convey this immediately by drafting a strong and persuasive email opening.
Another way to personalize your emails is by paying attention to a company’s activity and finding essential information, such as the pain points they’re trying to solve. Communicate this in your emails.
Some examples of internet activity you can track include:
- Blog posts
- Podcast
- Forum discussions
- Twitter or LinkedIn posts
Cold Outreach Channels for Agencies
Another part of client research is knowing the channels they use. Let’s explore the most effective channels for cold outreach. Segment your leads by these channels to better target these prospects.
Cold Email
Cold email campaigns are among the most popular outreach methods (especially for SaaS brands). After all, B2B emails have 3.18% click rates because these buyers prefer email communications.
But there’s an email method that sales professionals should follow. Start by creating an email list and include this recipient information:
- Name
- Company name
- Job title
- Contact information
Use the personalization mentioned previously to craft the sales message. Here are other ways to use cold email effectively:
Best practices for cold email
- Use a catchy subject line that grabs attention.
- Personalize the first sentence to show you’ve done your homework.
- Keep your email short and to the point (under 150 words).
- Include a clear call-to-action (CTA).
- A/B test your emails to find what resonates.
Example template
Subject: Ideas to improve [Specific Metric] at [Company Name]
Hi [First Name],
I noticed that [specific observation about the company]. At [Your Agency Name], we specialize in helping companies like [Prospect’s Company] achieve [specific result].
For example, we recently helped [similar company] increase [specific metric] by [percentage].
Would you be open to a quick call next week to discuss how we can help [Prospect’s Company] achieve similar results?
I am looking forward to hearing your thoughts.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Position]
[Contact Info]
Social Media Outreach
Marketers use platforms like LinkedIn, Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram to increase brand reputation and post content, but social media also provides excellent opportunities for direct engagement.
Social media best practices
- Personalize your connection request.
- Avoid being overly salesy in your initial messages.
- Engage with prospects’ posts to build rapport.
Social media outreach example
Hi [First Name],
I came across your profile and was impressed by your work in [specific field]. I’d love to connect and share some insights about how we’ve helped companies in [industry/niche] achieve [specific results].
Looking forward to connecting!
[Your Name]
Cold Calling
Source: Investopedia
Even though “cold calling” can refer to any sales solicitation, this section will strictly focus on sales calls. Cold calling is often seen as daunting; that’s because it takes an average of eight phone calls to reach a prospect. But cold calling can be highly effective when executed correctly.
Tips for cold calling
- Start with a strong opening line.
- Focus on the prospect’s challenges rather than your services.
- Handle objections confidently and professionally.
- Keep the call brief and to the point.
Example opening
“Hi [First Name], this is [Your Name] from [Your Agency]. I noticed [specific observation about their company], and I wanted to quickly share how we’ve helped companies like yours solve [specific challenge]. Is this a good time to chat?”
Sales Outreach Tools for Agencies
There are numerous platforms and software that can streamline the sales outreach process. Here are some of our favorite examples.
All-in-One Sales Platforms
- A robust platform for building and scaling sales cadences.
- Tracks activity across email, phone, and LinkedIn.
- Provides analytics for improving engagement, revenue, and conversion rates.
- Streamlines multi-channel outreach campaigns (email, calls, social).
- Offers team collaboration features and AI-powered insights.
- Includes tools to increase metrics like engagement rates.
- Tracks and optimizes outreach performance in real-time.
- Ideal for cold email, phone, and social.
- Follow-up automation.
- Includes A/B testing and templates.
- Integrates with CRM systems like HubSpot and Salesforce to find your ideal customers.
- Automate your meetings, follow-ups, and communications.
- Provides detailed insights into email engagement.
- Includes scheduling tools and email templates.
- Features integrations with Gmail and Salesforce.
- Offers phone, SMS, event, meetings, and video conferencing.
- Ideal for remote teams needing seamless communication tools.
- Includes call monitoring and reporting features.
Email Outreach Tools
- Custom emails with a targeted approach.
- Features advanced automation for follow-ups.
- Tracks email opens, clicks, and replies.
- Helps you build an email list.
- Tracks email outreach directly in your inbox.
- Provides templates and insights into prospect behavior.
- Works seamlessly with Gmail and Outlook.
- Includes A/B testing so you can see which messages engage your prospects.
- Finds and verifies email addresses from websites.
- Includes email tracking and integration with outreach platforms.
- Great for building clean and accurate email lists.
- Send highly tailored cold emails by using placeholders like names, companies, or job titles.
- Verify email addresses for free.
- Schedule and automate follow-up emails based on triggers, such as no reply, email opened, or link clicked.
- Test subject lines, content, or CTAs to determine which versions get better results.
- Works with CRM platforms like HubSpot, Pipedrive, Salesforce, and others to streamline lead management.
CRM and Lead Management Tools
- Software to track sales and marketing efforts.
- Free-to-use CRM with sales pipelines and tracking features.
- Helps manage contacts, track interactions, and schedule follow-ups.
- Integrates with email tools and marketing platforms.
- A sales-focused CRM designed to close deals.
- Manage deals with AI and automated activity reminders.
- Features customizable pipelines and AI-powered sales insights.
- Includes automation options for repetitive tasks.
- Designed for small teams and SMBs.
- Combines CRM functionality with email and call tracking.
- Enables easy task management and follow-ups.
Social Media Outreach Tools
- Sales tool powered by LinkedIn to find prospects.
- Advanced filters to find your target audience.
- Features lead recommendations.
- Relationship-building features such as InMail for LinkedIn messages.
- Integrates with many CRMs for streamlined tracking.
- Social media management tool that offers social listening and analytics.
- Schedules and monitors social media posts.
- Tracks prospect engagement across social platforms.
- Provides sales analytics to refine social outreach strategies.
Prospecting and Lead Generation Tools
- AI-powered tool that helps sales professionals find warm leads and close deals.
- Combines prospecting and outreach automation.
- Offers verified contact data and email sequences.
- Features a Chrome extension for on-the-go research.
- Automates sales outreach.
- Find qualified leads and book meetings.
- Tracks the performance of multi-channel campaigns.
- Analyzes email and call outcomes to improve outreach.
- Features a Chrome extension for LinkedIn automation.
Cold Calling Tools
- Cloud-based phone system tailored for sales teams.
- Integrates with CRMs and help desk software for tracking and logging calls.
- Features call analytics and voicemail automation.
Overcoming Common Challenges in Cold Outreach
Since 55% of sales professionals fail to hit their targets, it’s easy to make bad decisions in an outreach campaign. Here are common challenges that sales professionals face and how you can use them to create a successful cold outreach campaign.
Low Response Rates
Are you not getting any responses to your cold email strategy? This is one of the most common problems since cold calling has an average success rate of 4.8%. However, there are ways to increase open and response rates, even with cold outreach.
Solution: Personalization.
A problem that many sales professionals have is they use a generic template for every lead. While it’s more time-consuming to personalize your sales pitch for all contacts, personalization can increase response rates by 135%.
How can you personalize sales outreach while scaling your strategy? First, focus your content on the client and cut right to the pitch. If you’re introducing your brand, keep it brief and boast about your successes after your pitch.
Over time, test different subject lines and your value proposition.
Deliverability Issues
Source: lemwarm
If you’re struggling with no open or response rates, ensure that your emails are being delivered in the first place. 45% of the emails we send every day are considered spam. Safeguarding your cold outreach emails from spam filters is integral to your strategy.
Solution: Invest in tools.
In the previous section, we recommended several different sales outreach tools. Platforms such as Lemlist offer tools that track your email deliverability, ensuring your sales emails always reach the primary inbox. Some other best practices include using an email domain and avoiding spammy language, such as “Act now” and “Limited time offer.”
Rejections
How many cold emails do you need to send before getting a response from key decision-makers? You probably heard statistics like, “Customers say yes after four rejections.” But why wait for four rejections when you can get a “yes” the first time?
The key is to know why customers say no.
Solution: Be specific.
The main focus of a cold outreach strategy is to be specific. A vague sales pitch is a significant reason prospects will decline a meeting. For example, general subject lines such as “Book a Five-Minute Call” or a CTA like “Want to discuss how we can work together” won’t entice a prospect to continue down the sales funnel.
Instead, be specific in your pitch. Address their needs and pain points with data-driven reasons why your product is the solution. Continue with the following steps or ask questions to keep the conversation going.
Measuring Cold Outreach Success
Track the performance of your campaigns using metrics that matter to your campaign, such as:
- Open rate: The number of recipients who opened your email compared to how many contacts you sent them to.
- Click-through rate: Recipients who clicked on your CTA link compared to the ones who didn’t.
- Response rate: The number of leads who responded to your email.
- Conversion rate: Tracks how many responses turn into leads or paying customers.
- Number of meetings booked: Pending sales meetings in a certain period.
- Bounce rate: Shows the percentage of undeliverable emails.
- Win rate: How effective you are at closing sales.
- Lead to close rate: How many sales you have versus your number of pending leads.
While all these metrics are helpful, focus on the ones that align with your goals and the outcome that matters most to you.
The Importance of Follow-Ups
Source: Reve Chat
Follow-ups are crucial in cold outreach. If your prospects don’t respond to your first message, send them a reminder.
Consistency is also key, but don’t be spammy. Aim to send three to five follow-ups over two or three weeks. Your follow-ups should also focus on building a relationship with your leads, not trying to force them into a sale. The last thing you want is your email to get deleted once it’s in your prospect’s inbox.
Here’s an example of a follow-up:
Subject: Following up on my previous message
Hi [First Name],
I wanted to follow up on my previous email about [specific topic]. I understand you’re busy, but I’d love to discuss how we can help [Prospect’s Company] achieve [specific result].
Let me know if you’d like to schedule a quick call.
Best,
[Your Name]
Cold Outreach for Agencies Can Be Effective
Cold outreach has always been one of the key ways to attract new B2B clients, generate leads, and grow your business. And with the right strategy, cold outreach for agencies can help you build client relationships.
However, cold outreach can also fail without the right strategy. Follow these steps, use the right tools, and try these templates. Qualify leads, personalize your outreach, and offer your product to solve your prospect’s pain points.
If you don’t think a sales strategy is right for you, marketing is an exceptional alternative. You can use the same channels, such as social media and email marketing, to improve brand awareness and nurture leads down the sales funnel. Digital marketing agencies, such as Single Grain, can help with that.
If you’re ready to level up your cold outreach strategy, Single Grain’s marketing experts can help!👇
Related Video
For more insights and lessons about marketing, check out our Marketing School podcast on YouTube.
FAQ About Cold Outreach for Agencies
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What is cold sales outreach?
Cold sales outreach is reaching out to potential customers or prospects without prior interaction with your company or brand. The goal is to introduce your product or service, establish a connection, and convert them into customers. Cold sales outreach often happens over email, but brands can also use phone and social media to connect with prospects.
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Does cold sales outreach work?
Cold sales outreach can work, but its success depends on several factors. Follow the advice mentioned in this post, such as personalizing your outreach, targeting qualified leads, introducing a compelling value proposition, and using multiple sales channels. Avoid generic, spammy messages, and don’t overwhelm your prospects with constant follow-ups.
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What's the best way to send cold emails?
While you can use your email service provider for cold email outreach, numerous tools can automate this process and improve your email deliverability rates. We recommended many tools in this post, but focus on cold email tools like Woodpecker or a multi-channel platform like Mailshake.
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Is a cold sales outreach strategy expensive?
The cost of a cold sales outreach strategy can vary widely depending on your methods and tools. A sales outreach tech stack is the most expensive investment, but it includes features that can improve your strategy in many ways.
And if you hire dedicated sales representatives, you’ll not only need to pay them a fair wage, but they also get a commission for each sale they bring. Still, these professionals have the expertise to bring more leads to your business.
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Is a cold sales outreach strategy compliant with GDPR?
Cold sales outreach can be compliant with the GDPR, but there are key steps you must take to ensure you don’t break any data privacy laws.
First, always request consent from prospects before collecting any of their information. Only collect the information you need to qualify them as leads and contact them. Stay transparent during outreach; state who you are, why you’re contacting them, and how or why you have their contact information. Always offer a simple way for your leads to opt out of your communications.
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