Become an expert on how to attract qualified prospects to your business. With this guide, you will learn different outreach methods and channels you can use to leverage your sales tactics.
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Every company needs to know how to attract prospects. Some methods of filling the sales pipeline will work regardless of your outreach method, while others are specific to an outreach method.
We’ve gathered some of the best techniques on how to generate leads in sales using both cold email outreach and multi-channel marketing. Start with a quick refresher on these methods and learn why multi-channel marketing is the way to go. Then, look at specific tips, from how to write a cold email to why your outreach campaign will do best with a multi-channel approach.
You will notice that some of the techniques for qualifying prospects are listed for specific scenarios – either multi-channel marketing or cold emailing. With some creativity, you can adapt those to other lead prospecting strategies as well.
Before getting into techniques on how to attract prospects, get a feel for the most common categories of outreach methods.
While this guide will primarily focus on cold email outreach, it’s still worth mentioning the other channels that you can use for cold outreach. This will give you a better idea about cold outreach and how to make the most of it with tools like cold email templates.
As mentioned, email is the primary form of cold outreach and one that we will continually mention in this guide. This method refers to sending targeted emails to help you find the right customers for your product or service.
Emails are a great choice when it comes to cold outreach because they are less intrusive. On top of that, they are very easy to automate with the right program. Thanks to automation, you can easily send hundreds of cold emails with one click. Simply choose your software, write or select your ideal cold emailing template, get details about the prospects to personalize the emails, and set up the automation.
LinkedIn is quickly growing in popularity and effectiveness when it comes to cold and warm outreach. LinkedIn is especially popular for B2B, thanks to its ability to form professional connections.
Like email, you can easily automate LinkedIn messaging to reach out to people. As a bonus, your prospects will have a fair amount of personal information on their LinkedIn profiles, saving you the need to gather it another way.
The process of LinkedIn outreach automation is very similar to automating email outreach. You choose a LinkedIn automation tool that has the features you need, create or find LinkedIn messaging templates, and send them with personalized information.
Meet Alfred makes it incredibly easy to personalize your automated LinkedIn lead generation. You can use all the expected personalization elements, such as name, company, job title, and industry. But if you want to add even more personalization, just import a .csv file with your leads. Meet Alfred will turn the additional columns into extra personalization when you automate LinkedIn messages.
The traditional method of cold outreach is calling people on the phone. While this is still commonly considered “old school” when used alone, it can be part of effective multi-channel marketing.
So while you can make cold calls, it’s better to save them for leads you have already warmed up. If you decide to use cold calling, focus on prospects who have already responded positively to your email or other methods of outreach.
SMS outreach is the modern version of cold calling and is incredibly efficient. It takes advantage of the fact that most people are glued to their phones. Notably, 90% of messages are read within three minutes, and 98% are opened.
As a bonus, you don’t need an internet connection to send an SMS. You can also automate the process with the right program. The important caveat here is that you have to follow some legal guidelines. It should come with a specific opt-in process, as well as requirements for letting the recipient opt out.
Now we have tackled that cold outreach can be done on various channels. But as mentioned, we’re going to focus on cold emailing. Let’s explore cold emailing in more detail.
With cold emailing, you are emailing prospects you don’t have a connection with. This is a popular method of starting and even maintaining professional relationships. Cold emailing enables you to start a conversation, especially with prospects who haven’t even heard of your product or service.
Most people today would consider the early days of cold emailing spam. People would send mass sales-focused emails without any segmentation or personalization. It relied heavily on automation, copying, and pasting without personalization.
But what people want and expect from email has evolved over the years. Now, people expect a more personalized approach, even when reading an automated message from a stranger. As with LinkedIn message templates, cold emails now have more personalization and segmentation. Hyper-personalization has become crucial.
Today’s prospects want to feel as if you understand them. Effective sales and outreach teams need to have clear customer personas and understand the pain points of customers.
With a better understanding of all the forms that cold outreach can take, what about multi-channel outreach? As the name implies, multi-channel outreach is when you reach out and connect with leads across various channels. You may use some combination of those mentioned above for potential cold outreach. Maybe you’ll use other channels as well.
Having multiple marketing channels delivers plenty of benefits, including letting you put your prospect first.
Multi-channel outreach is easily among the most effective methods for boosting lead generation. Using this type of outreach will offer numerous benefits, including the following:
When you reach out to leads over multiple channels, you give them the choice of how to reply. Perhaps they hate emailing but love texting. Maybe they never check their phone or email but are active on LinkedIn. The more channels you use, the more options for your leads to get back in touch with you.
They will see this as you putting their preferences first. That, in turn, can go a long way to building a strong relationship with them.
Once your leads respond to you on their preferred channel, you can take note and focus on that channel in the future. This is good for you and the lead. They won’t go back to an infrequently-used account only to see dozens of messages from you or miss out on crucial information. Think of it as another method of how to manage your sales pipeline.
At the same time, you won’t waste marketing efforts on a channel that your lead doesn’t prefer. That saves you time and money. In the case of LinkedIn, it can also help you stay within your LinkedIn daily limits, as you won’t waste part of your limit for LinkedIn connections on prospects that prefer to hear from you via email or text.
If you rely on a single marketing channel too much, you put your sales strategy at risk if something happens to change that channel’s effectiveness. What happens if it gets too saturated and people stop noticing your messages or posts? Or what if the platform changes its algorithms, and you temporarily stop getting the results you are used to?
In either case, your other channels can pick up the slack while you resolve the issue. Multi-channel outreach lets you ensure that at least one door always stays open. That, in turn, makes your sales strategy flexible and gives you time to adjust it as needed. The best sales automation solution will work on multiple channels to help with this.
Using multiple channels not only helps you adapt when algorithms change but also if your account gets flagged for any reason. For example, you run this risk if you go overboard with LinkedIn automation tools and exceed the LinkedIn message limit per day or one of LinkedIn’s other limits.
Meet Alfred includes safety limits to prevent your account from being flagged. Meet Alfred automatically evaluates your LinkedIn account type and sets conservative LinkedIn limits. If you prefer, you can also adjust the LinkedIn messaging limits built into Meet Alfred, making them more or less conservative. Just remember that increasing the limits beyond Meet Alfred’s suggestions comes with a risk.
If you opt for a single-channel approach, you have to guess which one will deliver the best results. Yes, information like your LinkedIn analytics dashboard can help you make an informed decision. Still, that information may be inadequate.
With multiple channels, you give your team a chance to determine the one that works the best. For example, if you thought that cold calls would give you the best results, you can check your LinkedIn campaign analytics, which may show that LinkedIn does better.
Anyone in sales knows that it takes a certain number of interactions between you and the potential client to convert your lead. Having more touchpoints is a crucial part of how to convert leads into sales.
If you use more than one channel, you will be able to include more touchpoints without overdoing it on a single channel. After all, if you reach out just once on each LinkedIn, email, SMS, and Twitter, that’s four touchpoints right there. But it doesn’t seem too overwhelming, as you only reached out on each channel once.
Meet Alfred excels at multi-channel marketing automation. You can start a conversation on LinkedIn, then move to email or Twitter DMs. From there, go back to one of the other channels. Add as many steps to your LinkedIn campaigns as you want, going back and forth between channels as many times as necessary.
Cold emailing can be effective, but your best choice will always be to use it as part of a larger multi-channel outreach strategy. Simply put, cold emails aren’t as effective as some other channels, and you miss out on the other benefits of multi-channel marketing mentioned above. On top of that, cold emails are very likely to be missed in cluttered inboxes or may even be sent to spam.
While cold email outreach shouldn’t be used in isolation, we still want to prepare you for both cold emails and multi-channel marketing. So, we’ll explore tips, best practices, and guidelines for both, as part of an omni channel sales strategy.
As mentioned, personalization is crucial to cold emails or any other type of communication. But personalization isn’t the only thing to keep in mind. You will also want to incorporate the following tips on how to write outreach emails. You’ll notice that many of these tips also apply to crafting a LinkedIn message template and the best sales email sequences.
Define why you want to connect, whether it's to learn about a company, find a mentor, or get advice on a career change. For example:
- Discovering the company culture of a potential employer.
- Seeking mentorship from a senior professional in your field.
- Getting insights from someone who has successfully pivoted careers.
A compelling subject line is crucial. It should be specific and engaging without sounding desperate. Consider:
- Referencing a mutual contact: “Referred by Jamie Lee” or “Colleague of Mark Tran.”
- Mentioning a shared interest: “Fellow Tech Enthusiast” or “Avid Runner and Marketing Pro.”
- Highlighting their achievements: “Inspired by Your TED Talk” or “Impressed by Your Book.”
Use a polite and personal greeting, addressing the recipient by name and including any professional titles. For example, "Dear Dr. Williams," or "Hello Ms. Parker."
Include a concise introduction that provides context. Mention your name, current role, and aspirations:
- “I'm Alex, a data analyst at Tech Solutions.”
- “I'm Emma, transitioning from teaching to corporate training.”
Compliment their work or offer something useful, like a resource or a helpful connection:
- “Your recent podcast on digital trends was enlightening.”
- “I’d be happy to introduce you to a graphic designer I work with.”
Explain why you want to connect and how it could be beneficial for both parties:
- “I’m eager to learn more about your innovative strategies in customer engagement.”
- “Your expertise could significantly impact my project on market research.”
Be specific about what you want, making it easy for them to respond:
- “Could we schedule a quick call next Tuesday?”
- “I’d love to connect over coffee if you’re available next week.”
End with a thank you and a professional sign-off, including an email signature with your details:
- “Thank you for your time and consideration.”
- “I appreciate your willingness to connect.”
You are obviously going to want to include a sales pitch in your email. After all, that’s the reason you sent it. But one of the best cold email tips is don’t be too pushy. Try to maintain a non-sales tone throughout the pitch.
For example, avoid the temptation to list all the features of your product. Instead, mention its benefits and how it overcomes your prospects’ pain points.
- Keep It Brief: Aim for a quick read, ideally under two minutes.
- Proofread: Ensure correct spelling and grammar.
- Personalize the Message: Tailor each email to the recipient.
- Follow Up: If no response, consider a polite follow-up email.
Dear [Name],
[Introduction and brief bio]
[Compliment or mention something specific]
[Reason for reaching out and value proposition]
[Call to action]
[Thank you and closing]
Best regards,
[Your Name]
[Your Title]
[Contact Information]
```
Subject: Inspired by Your TED Talk
Dear Dr. Carter,
I'm Michael, a marketing coordinator at Creative Solutions. Your TED Talk on innovative branding strategies was truly inspiring.
I’m eager to explore how your insights could apply to our work, especially in engaging a younger audience. Could we schedule a brief call next week to discuss potential collaborations?
Thank you for considering my request. Looking forward to your response.
Best regards,
Michael Johnson
Marketing Coordinator
michael.johnson@creativesolutions.com | 555-123-4567
Following these steps and using the template can help you write effective cold networking emails that foster valuable connections.
Meet Alfred has hundreds of LinkedIn connect templates and message templates in our library, each of which allows for hyper-personalization. Use them to automate LinkedIn InMail. Or make minor changes to them and use them for your cold emails.
As mentioned, multi-channel outreach is the best approach, as it lets you reach customers on their preferred channel and reduces your reliance on any single channel. But how do you use it effectively? Keep the following outreach tips in mind.
Eventually, your multi-channel strategy may include five or more channels. But it isn’t feasible to use this many right from the start. It is much better to start with two or three channels first. Take your time to learn how to make the most of them. Then, once you are confident that those channels require minimal upkeep, add another channel to the mix.
Which channels should you start with? That will depend on your client base. For many B2B companies, email and LinkedIn are good starting points. But make sure you also consider where your clients are. Maybe they prefer Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram. They may also prefer texting.
No matter the channel you use for outreach, it’s crucial to warm up your account. This helps ensure that your outreach looks more natural. It means that you shouldn’t go from sending a few messages straight to sending 100 a day with your automation tools.
Instead, you want to set up your LinkedIn automation software to send a lower number of messages per day. Stay at that level for a few days or weeks, gradually increasing it over time. Repeat this process until you reach your goal. This dramatically reduces the chances of your account being flagged or disabled.
You may find it a challenge to handle outreach on multiple channels without any assistance or occasionally dropping the ball. Instead of hiring a large team, consider taking advantage of automation and sales outreach tools. The best sales automation software will let you automate messages on more than just LinkedIn, such as in a larger campaign sequence. Ideally, it will let you automate these various channels in parallel. There should also be a feature to stop the automated sequence when the prospect responds, as you don’t want to overwhelm them or come across as too pushy.
But don’t just think about automation for messages or a LinkedIn connection request. You can also automate other aspects of your multi-channel outreach, such as posts on social media. Look for a tool that includes a social media post scheduler. Regular posts on LinkedIn and other social media platforms will help boost engagement. It will also give you more chances to connect with potential leads.
Meet Alfred includes a free social media post scheduler as part of the software. But it does more than just schedule a LinkedIn post. You can use this Meet Alfred feature to cross-post on other platforms, such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
Remember that the goal of automation, whether you automate LinkedIn or another channel, is to use your team’s time more efficiently. You can reduce the time you spend on each outreach channel, giving you more leeway to integrate other channels. You also have the option to focus your efforts on the part of the sales funnel requiring a human touch.
When discussing the benefits of multi-channel outreach, we mentioned you may discover that an unexpected channel delivers the best results. But to do this, you need to analyze metrics and gather data. So, look for a tool that makes LinkedIn strategy and analytics simple, and look for similar analytics on every other channel you use.
Meet Alfred has analytics for LinkedIn built into the software. This eliminates the guesswork of how to see LinkedIn analytics and lets you easily see how your LinkedIn campaign is performing.
Remember that you don’t stop with tracking the metrics and analytics. You need to put them to good use by adjusting your campaigns.
As mentioned, include personalization in every single channel. Whether you are sending a personalized LinkedIn message or segmenting your audience to send more personalized text messages, personalization is crucial. It makes prospects feel you took the time to understand their needs and preferences.
Meet Alfred is the top tool for LinkedIn lead and sales automation. In addition to LinkedIn,Alfred offers automation on other channels, such as social media post scheduling on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram, as well as multi-channel messaging sequences that include Twitter and email.
Try Meet Alfred with a demo, and then take advantage of our 14-day free trial to experience the benefits of Meet Alfred for yourself. No credit card is required for the free trial of our sales automation platform.
