Build a targeted email list for high-achievers

Cold email outreach is often misunderstood as a numbers game - send more, get more. But the truth is, quality always beats quantity. Your success largely depends on the quality of your email list. A well-curated list means you’re reaching the right people with the right message, while a poorly managed list can lead to low engagement, high bounce rates, and damage to your sender reputation. Here’s a few key steps to refine your cold email lists for better results: 1️⃣ Segment your audience: start by dividing your list into segments based on criteria such as industry, job title, company size, or previous interactions with your brand. 2️⃣ Regularly clean your list: over time, email lists can become cluttered with inactive or invalid addresses. Regularly clean your list to remove bounced emails, unsubscribes, and unengaged contacts. This not only improves your deliverability rates but also ensures you’re focusing on prospects who are more likely to engage. 3️⃣ Use data enrichment tools: tools like Clearbit, ZoomInfo, or Hunter.io can help you enrich your email list by adding valuable data points such as the prospect’s role, company details, and social profiles. This extra information enables you to personalize your outreach even further. 4️⃣ Monitor engagement metrics: pay close attention to open rates, click-through rates, and responses. If certain segments of your list are underperforming, it may be time to re-evaluate those contacts. Use these insights to continuously refine your list and improve your targeting. 5️⃣ Leverage intent data: incorporate intent data into your list-building process. This data shows which companies are actively researching solutions like yours, allowing you to target prospects when they’re most interested. Tools like Bombora or 6sense can provide these insights. If you do something extra special to your email lists, share below 🤓 #Sales #ColdEmail #EmailMarketing #Outreach #SalesStrategy

I've worked with newsletters doing $1M-$50M in revenue. Here are the 3 subscriber growth tactics they're using that almost no one talks about: 1. Custom landing pages Old method: • Run multiple ads • Create one generic landing page to convert visitors New method: • Review your Meta ad library • Identify the top-performing segments • Create custom landing pages addressing those segments • 2-3X your conversions Example: The Assist found one of their best ads targeted at director-level women. So they built a landing page specifically calling out this audience in the headline and messaging. 2. Send deeper engagement signals to Meta Meta learns who to target based on the data you send it. If you only send a "signup" event, Meta will keep targeting people who submit emails but never engage. Instead, send richer signals like newsletter clicks, calls booked, or products purchased. Meta will then find more subscribers who actually engage with your content. How to do it? Meta’s Pixel + Conversions API (CAPI) • Pixel tracks browser actions (e.g., page view, signup) • CAPI sends richer server-side data (e.g., purchase, email click) • Tools like Segment, Stape, or Zapier make setup simple 3. Qualify readers at signup For B2B newsletters, 100 targeted readers > 1000 random readers But without qualification, you risk building a list where only 10% match your target audience. Here’s how to avoid that: • Like Workweek, ask for job title, years of experience, company name, company size, and your role during signup • Use tools like ZoomInfo or Clearbit to enrich subscriber data automatically: The benefits are several: • Show sponsors you’ve hyper-targeted readers and charge them more • Send more personalized emails • Optimize ads toward higher-LTV subscribers (even if CPL is higher) • Build niche offers for different segments

Years doing cold outreach taught me this: Bad segmentation will break your campaigns Look, I get it—spray and pray is easy. It’s low maintenance, and sometimes it even works. But here’s the problem ❌ Low reply rates ❌ Risk of burning your dream clients ❌ Wasted email volume on unqualified prospects The result? Fewer meetings booked per week. Here’s what to do instead: 𝟭. 𝗕𝘂𝗶𝗹𝗱 𝗮 𝗵𝗶𝗴𝗵-𝗾𝘂𝗮𝗹𝗶𝘁𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝘀𝗽𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁 Scrape your Total Addressable Market (TAM) using Apollo.io (or similar). Then, upload the data into Clay for deeper segmentation. 𝟮. 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝗳𝗶𝗿𝗺𝗼𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗽𝗵𝗶𝗰𝘀 Break your list down by: ✅ Industry ✅ Seniority ✅ Revenue* ✅ Company size ✅ Role/Department To get precise revenue data, use waterfall enrichment: 🔹 Clearbit 🔹 HG Insights 🔹 RocketReach 🔹 People Data Labs 🔹 Owler - A Meltwater Offering This helps you focus on high-probability prospects who are more likely to convert. 𝟯. 𝗚𝗼 𝗱𝗲𝗲𝗽𝗲𝗿 𝘄𝗶𝘁𝗵 𝗮𝗱𝘃𝗮𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Leverage Claygent to segment based on unique attributes: 🔍 Does the company offer Buy Now, Pay Later? 🔍 Are they SOC II, GDPR, or ISO 9001 compliant? 🔍 Do they have a podcast? Use yes/no questions or multiple-choice (max 3 options) to improve accuracy. The goal? Gather enough intelligence to anticipate their pain points, and solutions before even reaching out. 𝟰. 𝗨𝘀𝗲 𝗰𝗮𝘀𝗲 𝘀𝘁𝘂𝗱𝘆-𝗯𝗮𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝘀𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 Ocean.io helps you find hundreds of companies similar to your highest-paying clients, while a simpler (but still effective) approach is to segment by industry and refine it over time. 𝟱. 𝗦𝗲𝗴𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗯𝘆 𝘃𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗼𝗿𝘀 & 𝘁𝗲𝗰𝗵 𝘀𝘁𝗮𝗰𝗸 Another powerful way to qualify leads is by the vendors they use: ⚡ BuiltWith – See what technologies are installed on a website. ⚡ ScrapeLi – Check if they follow a certain company on LinkedIn. ⚡ PredictLeads – Scrape employee certifications & job postings to understand what software they’re using. At the end of the day, better segmentation = better results. 𝗤𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗿𝗲𝗰𝗮𝗽: Scrape a lead list Segment by firmographics Use Claygent for advanced segmentation Use case study-based segmentation Use vendor-based segmentation P.S. Are you implementing these methods?

I booked 18 meetings in just 2 weeks with a single campaign. Here’s exactly how I did it: The goal was to target content creators. Typically, finding precise information about their socials is a challenge. Creators receive 100s of emails daily, so personalization is the only way to stand out. This is how we made it happen: 1️⃣ List Building I used influencers.club to build a hyper-targeted list of creators based on these key filters: ↳ Only Instagram creators ↳ At least 10% follower growth in the last 3 months ↳ Audience size: 5K - 110K followers ↳ Engagement rate: 1% - 4% ↳ Based in the United States ↳ Must have a link in bio ↳ Niche categories: Fitness, Wellness, Lifestyle ↳ Language: English 2️⃣ Data Enrichment with Clay I leveraged Clay to: ↳ Verify emails using a waterfall verification process ↳ Use ClayAgent to check if they were selling any info products 3️⃣ Personalization & Copywriting The key to the outreach was highly personalized messaging based on: ↳ Data insights pulled from the list-building phase (Engagement rate, and number of followers). ↳ Their info products, showing them how to increase their earnings. 4️⃣ Email Sending & Automation ↳ Used Smartlead to optimize deliverability and response rates Here's how I used influencers.club 👇

8 step guide to procuring a top class email list. Procuring an email list and ensuring it aligns with your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) is a delicate process that requires careful consideration and validation. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you navigate this effectively: 𝗛𝗼𝘄 𝘁𝗼 𝗣𝗿𝗼𝗰𝘂𝗿𝗲 𝗮𝗻 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁 1. Identify Reputable Vendors:   - Choose vendors who are transparent about their data collection methods and comply with privacy regulations like GDPR and CAN-SPAM.   - Look for providers that regularly update their lists to ensure accuracy and relevance. - Ask for references to talk to when making a big purchase. Maybe within your industry. 2. Request a Sample:   - Ask for a sample of the email list to evaluate its quality, segmentation, and deliverability before committing to a purchase. 3. Match with Your ICP:   - Share your ICP with the vendor, detailing key attributes such as industry, company size, job roles, or geographic location. This ensures the list is tailored to your target audience. 4. Check Legal Compliance:   - Confirm that the contacts in the list have opted in/ Opted out for communications or are sourced ethically to avoid legal repercussions. 𝗩𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗘𝗺𝗮𝗶𝗹 𝗟𝗶𝘀𝘁 𝗔𝗴𝗮𝗶𝗻𝘀𝘁 𝗬𝗼𝘂𝗿 𝗜𝗖𝗣 1. Segment and Analyze:   - Review the sample or purchased list to ensure it matches your ICP characteristics. Use metrics like conversion rates, engagement levels, or customer feedback to validate alignment. 2. Verify Email Addresses:   - Use advanced email verification tools like EmailAddress.ai to validate all types of emails, including catch-all addresses. This ensures higher deliverability, reduces bounce rates, and confirms the vendor provided accurate data. 3. Test Campaigns:   - Run small-scale email campaigns targeting the new list to measure engagement rates (e.g., opens, clicks). Compare these results with your existing benchmarks to assess the quality of the leads. 4. Assess Deliverability Metrics:   - Monitor bounce rates and sender reputation. A high-quality list should result in minimal bounces and better engagement metrics. By combining these steps, you can confidently procure and validate email lists that align with your ICP while maximizing your campaign's success. Open to learning how you validate vendors and data that you procure. #emaillist #emailverification #b2bdata #leadgeneration #sales

If I were an advisor hell-bent on building a pipeline and AUM, I'd start here: Build the RIGHT email list. Not just a list. The right list—built with intention, clarity, and strategy. ✅ First, get clear on your Ideal Client Profile. Do you know who they are? Do you know the pain they experience? Do you know the value you deliver to solve that pain? If you’ve dialed that in, you know exactly who your marketing list should include. Now, let’s build it: 1. LinkedIn Roughly 90% of your connections make their email address available. Send a personal follow-up. Be human. Be helpful. Start nurturing. 2. Lead Magnets Create valuable content—something they want—and offer it in exchange for contact info. Promote it through your social channels and website. 3. OPN (Other People’s Networks) This is gold. Partner with professionals who already serve your ideal audience. Do joint webinars. Cross-promote. Share value. Share trust. You'll siphon off email address from joint-events. You’ve seen me do this all over LinkedIn—rarely solo. Because aligned partnerships accelerate growth faster than cold outreach ever will. Want to grow? Focus on the list. Email is still KING when it comes to converting relationships into revenue. #FinancialAdvisorMarketing #LinkedInStrategy #LeadGeneration #EmailMarketing #OPN #FinancialAdvisorGrowth #IdealClient #AUMGrowth

You can keep rewriting your outbound emails… ....But what if the problem isn’t the copy ?....but your lead list Here’s the thing most outbound pros miss: Your results are only as good as your list. - Not your subject line - Not your CTA - Not your send time And yet, building a truly targeted list still feels like wishful thinking: - Niche filters? Missing - Relevance? A gamble - Volume? Not enough Let me show you a concrete example: I recently needed leads for a very specific ICP: “AI B2B SaaS with a remote team, French founders, and most employees based in France.” Most tools gave me generic results. Validation took forever + almost none were usable 😩 Then I tested Explee, a lead gen tool built around semantic search. It changed everything: => Dozens of hyper-relevant companies => Verified decision-maker emails => Full visibility into team setup, location, and structure What stood out? Explee’s filters match how real GTM teams think: => Remote ratio, geo distribution, team size => Lookalikes by tech stack or GTM motion => Tags like “free trial” or “Android app” => Actual employee locations (not just HQ) I recorded a short walkthrough to show what it looks like in action.

I’d pick 100 targeted leads over 10,000 cold leads any day. Here’s why… We’re all told to aim big. Build huge lists, hit high volumes. But for me, it’s been the opposite. Instead of a massive outreach list, I create “micro-campaigns”. Small, focused lists of leads that are a perfect fit. These aren’t just random accounts. They’re lookalikes of recent customers, for example, carefully chosen for a higher chance of real engagement. Here’s the strategy: I start by identifying similar accounts, using tools like Ocean.io to build my initial list. Then, I layer in insights from ChatGPT and tap into my network to refine the selection even more. Finally, I reach out to my investors and partners for warm intros to people on that list. The outcome? - Better fit leads that are truly interested - Higher conversion rates - Higher retention. In prospecting, quality beats quantity every time. And focusing on fewer, better-targeted accounts has been one of the smartest shifts I’ve made. So if you’re also tired of the volume game, try going small. A few strong connections often beat a thousand shallow ones. How do you make your outreach more effective?