Lead Generation Techniques

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Segmentation beats personalization. Personalization is terribly inefficient... (and oftentimes unnecessary outside of highly strategic enterprise selling). Think about the ads that really grab your attention. None of them have your name in them. Or mention podcasts you were interviewed in or posts that you wrote. These ads work because they're segmented based on patterns amongst small-ish groups of people. Outbound should be treated similarly. Pro tip: this approach works WAY better over the phone than via email. The expectation for personalization and quality is much higher in emails than over the phone. Here are a few ideas for segmenting your lists so you don't have to personalize so much: ✅ By region/location If you sell anything brick & mortar, SLED, etc—segment your accounts by geographic region. You really don't have to personalize much when you can: - Name-drop local businesses/organizations - Drop the location This sounds like: "Hi David, we work with Fit & Fashion right down the road in SLU. It's Jason with ________. Ring a bell?" ✅ By tech stack Let's say you sell a tool that enhances Salesforce. Or Jira. Or some other specific tool. Segment your accounts by tech stack. This sounds like: "Hi Katie, we're partnering with engineering teams who wish sandboxes were way easier to set up and use in Zendesk. It's Jason with ________. Got a min?" ✅ By persona Let's say you sell to ecomm solutions to SMB retail business owners. This sounds like: "Hi Tom, we're working with several retailers in the Seattle area. It's Jason with ________. Heard our name tossed around?" (H/T Armand Farrokh) ✅ By trigger This list gets pretty extensive. Hiring, job changes, customer/champion change, M&A, expansion/contraction, promotion, etc This sounds like: "Hi Dave, congrats on the promotion. It's Jason from __________. Was just talking to a new HR leader yesterday who's running into all kinds of complications scaling international hiring. That by chance something you're running into?" ✅ By niche One of my favorites. Take a well-recognized logo like Rippling. You could go after direct competitors, but it's even better to focus on non-competitive products selling to the same personas. This sounds like: "Hi Cierra, we're working with Rippling to help scale their product suite for HR leaders. It's Jason with ________. Thought you might want to hear how they've doubled ACV in the last 6 months. Have a min?" ~~~ Before you think of personalization, start with segmentation. Do the work upfront to avoid having to customize too much. Agree or disagree? We're training entire sales orgs at companies like Shopify, Rippling, Zoom, and many more on how to land more meetings with outbound. Interested in custom training for your team? DM or email me jason [at] outboundsquad.com for more info.

Email still delivers strong ROI. What’s changed is how leading teams are using it. Here are 7 modern and practical email strategies you can use now and into 2026. 📩 1. AI-Driven Decisioning An example is “next best offer.” Use real-time, historical, and behavioral data to determine the most relevant content, offer, or CTA. Instead of sending the same message to everyone, tools like Movable Ink personalize content based on what users have or haven’t done. 📈 2. Product-Led Lifecycle Messaging Trigger emails based on what users do inside your product. If someone signs up but doesn’t activate, send a reminder. If they complete onboarding but skip a key feature, follow up. Email becomes part of the product experience. 🧱 3. Modular Templates + Guard Rails Stop building emails from scratch. Modular templates let teams assemble emails using approved, no-code blocks. Platforms like Knak help you move faster while staying on brand and rendering correctly across devices. 👁️🗨️ 4. Inbox Retargeting & Re-engagement If someone opens and scrolls but doesn’t click, you can adjust the next email. These behavioral signals help guide follow-ups. A scrolled-but-no-click email may call for a stronger CTA or tighter copy. 🧪 5. Automated Experimentation Go beyond A/B tests. Today’s tools can test dozens or even hundreds of variations at once, subject lines, images, layouts, and more. Platforms like OfferFit by Braze optimize automatically to drive better performance. ⏱ 6. Real-Time Triggers Send the right message the moment someone takes action, like signing up or abandoning a cart. It only works if your data flows smoothly and your systems are well-integrated, but the results are worth the effort. 💰 7. Revenue-Based Measurement Connect email to pipeline and revenue. If your data and attribution are in place, you can measure how nurture programs or product launches actually impact the business. Which do you think is most effective? What would you add? PS: Be sure to check out Knak to scale your email efforts, link in the comments. via Nick Donaldson #marketing #martech #marketingoperations #email

Cold outreach doesn’t fail because of bad writing. It fails because your data is a mess. Let me tell you about the time I thought I cracked the code. I spent hours building a lead list. Personalized it. Crafted the perfect emails. Felt like a cold email wizard. Then I hit send. BOOM. Inbox chaos. → 22% bounced → A warm lead replied, “Wrong person” → My domain got flagged → And I questioned every life decision Turns out, good outreach needs more than good copy. You need clean, enriched, reliable data. That’s when I found the power combo: Icypeas + Clay Here’s how they fixed my mess: 1. Icypeas = clean, verified emails No more guessing. No more bounce rate heartbreak. 2. Clay = effortless data import Forget spreadsheets. Clay pulls your lead list in like magic. 3. Clay enriches your leads Job title? Company size? LinkedIn URL? All there. Ready to personalize. 4. Better data = smarter campaigns More emails landed. More replies. Fewer “pls remove me” messages. Moral of the story? Don’t let bad data ruin great outreach. Good tools don’t just save time. They save your sender reputation. If you're tired of starting every campaign from scratch, this duo is the shortcut to doing it right. You can also use their API for automation with n8n or Make to build custom workflows. You should give them a shot. ______________________________ Like this? Repost to help others. Follow Arpit Singh & tap 🔔 for more. #Outbound #Clay #Icypeas

In 27 months, I grew my SaaS startup from $1M-$10M ARR in with only 1 salesperson doing 100% OUTBOUND SALES. Here’s my 7-step playbook for building a lean, high-velocity cold email machine: Step 1) Make sure you have product-market fit - My thesis for 2023 and beyond is without word-of-mouth, nothing will work - But if you have strong word-of-mouth (from PMF), many things can help speed you up, including high-volume, low conversion outbound - which we ran Step 2) Identify your target audience - We used BuiltWith to ID domains who used complimentary tech - We then ran the site traffic with SimilarWeb - For us the winning combination was Shopify + Klaviyo above 10k/mo uniques Step 3) Get creative about getting email addresses - The *lazy* thing to do is pull directly from the data vendors - We find the contacts on Linkedin, then use Skrapp and Hunter to find emails - We would include up to 5 potentially relevant people and copy them all - We sell to the high end of SMB (so we always include CEO as well) Step 4) Create short email sequences - We have used a very similar 3-part sequences for the last 3.5 years - Email 1: Present the main idea. For us, “We can get you email addresses of your anonymous web traffic, even if they don’t fill out a form” - Email 2: Social proof from brands they truly admire (hard in the beginning) - Email 3: A super-simple use case email explaining the actual workflow Step 5) Write clear and simple copy. - Each email should be no longer than a few sentences - Make each sentence its own paragraph - Have no more than one idea per email - Keep it conversational - CTA is a Calendly link in both the body and signature of the email Step 6) Manually send the emails, rather than using automation tools. - We have a team of VA’s in the Philippines manually sending from Gmail - Any response gets routed back to a BDR/AE in the USA - The team in the Philippines also does the lead gen, very manually - Cold email gurus will say this is stupid and sucks, but … scoreboard! Step 7) A/B test the sh*t out of it. - Change something, pick a winner - Try to hone in on things to optimize - You’re building a machine that improves itself It may not work for everybody, but it worked for us. Happy to answer questions in the comments! 👇 TL;DR Step 1) Have Product-Market Fit Step 2) Identify Target Audience Step 3) Get Email Addresses Step 4) Create Short Sequences Step 5) Write Clear/Simple Copy Step 6) Send Manually Step 7) A/B Test

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

Struggling to break through the VC wall? Forget cold emails and endless networking events. Here's a smarter (and surprisingly welcoming) secret weapon: the portfolio companies themselves. Think of it like a backdoor into the VC kingdom. Instead of banging on the main gate, you find a friendly resident inside and ask for a hand up. That resident? A founder already funded by your target VC. Here's why it works: Shared DNA: VCs invest in specific sectors and problem areas. Their portfolio companies share similar characteristics. If you resonate with their existing investments, there's a much higher chance you'll fit their mould. Founders are Founders: Let's face it, entrepreneurs understand the startup journey. They've been in your shoes, battled the same dragons, and (hopefully) emerged victorious. Reaching out for advice or mentorship is natural, and they're often glad to help fellow adventurers. Warm Introductions are Golden: A personal intro from a trusted portfolio company carries immense weight with VCs. It's not just a random pitch; it's a stamp of approval from someone they already know and respect. Beyond Competition: Of course, blatant competitors are a no-go. But if your solution complements or expands the VC's portfolio, the founder might even see you as a strategic partner. So, how do you tap into this network? Do your research. Find portfolio companies that mirror your vision and stage of development. Reach out to their founders with genuine interest in their stories and challenges. Ask for advice, offer your own insights, and build a rapport. If the connection feels organic, mention your interest in the VC firm and see if they'd be willing to make an introduction. Remember, it's not about asking for a handout, it's about building genuine connections. The VC world may seem exclusive, but it's a community at heart. Find your fellow travellers, share your journeys, and you might just find the door to funding swing open wider than you ever imagined.

You can’t “prompt” your way out of bad targeting. Yes, AI is great, personalizing Cold Emails is awesome 🔥   But there’s a better hack:   Break your list into smaller targets.   Let me tell you a story 👇   A few months ago a client came to us asking to target: “Ecommerce founders.” That was the whole brief.   So, what do you do?   You ask questions. For example:   → Shopify or Amazon? → Fashion or supplements? → Funded or bootstrapped? → Do they grow through paid ads or organically? → Who’s handling growth?   Then you build the list:   → Shopify brands → Selling skincare → Based in the EU → Running Meta ads → Hiring but no Head of Growth → Founder posts 3x/week on LinkedIn   Now your Cold Email doesn’t need a clever opener. It’s already relevant.   This is how we build Outbound at SalesCaptain. We don’t stop at “industry.” We segment by:   📦 Category → Not just HR software → but compensation platforms, 100–300 headcount, scaling in LATAM, using Gusto   📡 Signal → Not just “growing teams” → Teams hiring SDRs, posting on LinkedIn, with no RevOps function in place   We use AI, but not to fake relevance. We use it to find signals that show who’s actually in-market.   Because in 2025: Signals > prompts Context > copy   The broader the list, the harder the message has to work. Shrink the list. Sharpen the context. Let relevance do the work. Have a nice weekend.   #b2bsales #coldemail #leadgen #gtm #personaliztion #aiinsales

Lead scoring is killing your pipeline. And nobody wants to admit it. We spend weeks tweaking scoring models. Assign points to page views. Build complex logic in our CRMs. But here’s what no one tells you: High intent doesn’t live in a spreadsheet. It shows up in the conversation—not in the clicks. I’ve seen marketing teams disqualify real buyers because they didn’t hit the right thresholds. • No demo booked? Must not be ready. • Didn’t open the nurture email? Disengaged. • Didn’t hit the lead score? Not a priority. Wrong. Some of your best buyers are the quiet ones. The ones asking deep questions in Slack groups. The ones lurking on Reddit threads. The ones reading everything—but never clicking. We’ve optimized ourselves into blindness. Instead of scoring leads, we should be scoring signals. • Context > clicks • Questions > form fills • Conversations > downloads Stop worshipping the dashboard. Start listening to the buyer. Disagree? Let’s debate it. Agree? Hit follow—I say what others won’t.

One of the biggest mistakes in marketing is the expectation of immediate ROI. It’s tempting to seek instant results. But this mindset often misses a crucial aspect of the customer journey: the time it takes for potential customers to transition from awareness to purchase. In reality, the path from initial exposure to a final decision isn’t always swift—it can span weeks or even months. This extended timeline is a key part of consumer behavior that marketers must recognize and plan for in their strategies. This is where nurturing becomes essential. Effective nurturing goes beyond quick wins and involves building meaningful relationships through personalized email campaigns, targeted SMS messages, engaging content, and active audience interactions. However, nurturing doesn’t stop after the first purchase. Continuing to engage with customers post-purchase is crucial for fostering loyalty and trust. Although immediate ROI from nurturing may not be immediately visible, its long-term benefits are substantial. Proper nurturing enhances conversion rates and boosts customer lifetime value. To build a successful nurturing strategy, start by mapping out the customer journey. Develop targeted content that resonates with your audience, leverage marketing automation to streamline your efforts, and personalize your communications to create a more meaningful connection. Continually refine your approach based on feedback and performance data to ensure your nurturing efforts are as effective as possible. By embracing this long-term perspective, you'll turn initial investments into sustained growth and lasting success.