The Role of Targeting in Outbound Marketing

Teams who take a “boil the ocean” approach to outbound will fail. Here’s how to fix it and build sequences that actually drive results: Step 1: Focus your team on accounts most likely to buy now, invest at a premium, and become long-term customers or referral sources. This means moving beyond “anyone who fits the ICP” and zeroing in on high-priority targets. Step 2: Create deeper, more meaningful segments from that refined group. Traditional segments are great for organizing territories but fall short for crafting sequences that resonate. Instead, you need segmentation that helps your team speak the language of specific sub-groups. Use multiple layers of data—firmographics, intent signals, and contact-level insights—to break your TAM into smaller, actionable groups. Step 3: Launch micro-campaigns that target those precise segments with messaging designed to feel tailor-made. When you take this approach, personalization becomes scalable because it’s rooted in segmentation. Your reps don’t waste time on one-off customization, and your messaging feels 99% relevant to the prospect. I've been teaching this process as #ValueBasedSegmentation for the better part of a decade. It’s the key to building sequences that drive higher CTRs, replies, and engagement without tedious manual effort. ➡️ With this approach, you’ll: - Improve email performance - Write copy that prospects actually care about - Give your team a clear roadmap for focused outbound 📌 How are you helping your team build relevance into their outbound sequences?

Every failed outbound campaign is a signal. A signal that your Go-To-Market strategy didn’t break down at scale — It broke in the first 10 seconds of attention. The mistake isn’t always in the tool, or the sequence, or even the copy. It usually comes down to two simple things: - Targeting the wrong people - Sending the wrong message Let’s break that down in real-world B2B terms — and fix it. ❌ Mistake #1: Targeting the Wrong People If you're selling onboarding software for HR teams, but your list includes marketing managers, you’re speaking to the wrong person. Or if your solution is built for mid-market companies, and you’re messaging founders of 5-person startups, you’re mismatched. ✅ B2B Fix: Use tools like LinkedIn Sales Navigator to filter by role, company size, and industry Use enrichment tools like Clay or Apollo to layer on funding data, tech stack, or headcount Only go outbound once your list feels specific and relevant 🧠 Example: An HR tech company focuses their LinkedIn outreach on People Ops Directors at healthcare orgs with 100–500 employees — where the need is real, and the problem is urgent. ❌ Mistake #2: Sending Generic Messages Vague intros like “We help companies optimize operations” get ignored. It’s not personalized. It’s not specific. And it doesn’t start a real conversation. ✅ B2B Fix: Reference a real, observable insight: “Saw you’re expanding to the UK — must be an exciting challenge.” Make it about their world, not your product End with a low-friction, relevant question 🧠 Example: A GTM platform notices a company just raised a Seed round. The message? “Saw your raise — congrats. Are you currently hiring SDRs, or planning to outsource the first wave?” That’s how you start real LinkedIn conversations in 2024. 💡 What High-Performing Teams Do: Segment precisely Use public data to infer real needs Automate the research without automating the relationship Don’t sell in message #1 — start with relevance, then earn the right to pitch 🧠 The Takeaway Outbound is not a volume game. It’s a precision game. You don’t win by messaging 1,000 people. You win by engaging 30 of the right people — at the right moment — with the right insight. Fix the first 10 seconds. And you fix your funnel. #B2BSales #OutboundSales #LeadGeneration #SalesExecution #LinkedInSales #SalesNavigator #Clay #HeyReach #GTM

Tired of generic LinkedIn messages filling your inbox? Brex just set the bar higher with their Champagne Campaign 🥂— and it’s not about cold outreach, it’s about thoughtfulness and results. Most days, my inbox 📩 is flooded with cold, non-personalised LinkedIn messages. Sure, some of these may convert, but they lack connection. Compare this with what Brex did—an ABM campaign that targeted the right audience, at the right time, and made a real impact. In 2018, Brex was a small team with 30 employees and no customers. Instead of blasting out messages, they targeted 300 startups that had recently raised funding. They didn’t stop there—each of these startups received a bottle of Veuve Clicquot champagne 🍾 with a handwritten note 🗒 from Brex’s CEO and a personalised followup email a week later to ask for a demo. 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐮𝐥𝐭? A 75% demo booking rate. Of those demos, 75% converted to customers. Net result - 169 new clients from just 300 prospects. All of this with a campaign spend of only $19,000. This approach worked because it’s intentional and personal — Brex took the time to target companies who were at the perfect moment to need their product and followed up with a thoughtful touch. It’s a far cry from the mass outbound methods so many agencies push, which often fail to create meaningful connections. 𝐓𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐲: Outbound works—but it works better when it’s personal. Stop sending generic messages and start crafting thoughtful, targeted campaigns that create real results. Have you tried personalised outreach in your campaigns? Let’s connect and talk about how ABM can transform your sales approach. #OutboundSales #ABM #PersonalisedMarketing #LeadGeneration #MarketingStrategy #BusinessGrowth #SalesTactics #MarketingROI

Proven Strategies to Supercharge B2B Outbound Lead Generation Let’s be clear: outbound isn’t dead—it just needs to be smarter. In a world where buyers are more selective and inboxes are more crowded, effective outbound lead generation is about precision, personalization, and partnership with sales. Here are 7 strategies I’ve seen drive real results: 1. Laser-Focus Your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) Before you start reaching out, refine your ICP. Go beyond firmographics—consider buying triggers, tech stack, growth signals, and key pain points. Use intent data and predictive analytics to prioritize accounts most likely to convert. A highly defined ICP ensures your efforts are efficient and relevant. 2. Multi-Threaded Outreach Modern B2B decisions are made by committees, not individuals. Build relationships across multiple stakeholders within a target account. Tailor messages to specific roles—finance, marketing, operations—and connect them to how your solution supports their objectives. 3. Hyper-Personalized Messaging at Scale Generic emails are dead. Use dynamic personalization tools to tailor messaging based on job title, company news, shared connections, or industry trends. AI can help scale personalization while keeping your messaging authentic and relevant. 4. Leverage Warm Channels First Outbound doesn’t have to mean “cold.” Use mutual connections, recent webinar attendees, or social media engagement as warm entry points. Pair outbound efforts with LinkedIn nurturing, retargeted ads, or personalized video messages to increase response rates. 5. Sequence with Strategy Use automated sequences (email, phone, social touches) designed around your buyer’s journey. Ensure every touchpoint adds value—share relevant case studies, industry insights, or pain-point specific content. A well-structured sequence improves both response and conversion rates. 6. Align with Sales for Speed and Feedback Marketing and sales alignment is critical. Share real-time feedback loops so messaging can be optimized based on what's resonating. SDRs should be armed with the right content, timing cues, and conversation starters to accelerate qualified conversations. 7. Test, Learn, and Optimize Relentlessly Outbound is not set-it-and-forget-it. Track metrics like open rates, response rates, and meeting conversion. A/B test subject lines, messaging, and timing. Leverage attribution insights to refine outreach and double down on what works. 💡 Outbound done right isn’t about volume—it’s about velocity and value. When marketers shift from “spray and pray” to precise, personalized, and data-driven outreach, outbound becomes a true catalyst for sustainable B2B growth. #B2BMarketing #OutboundLeadGen #GrowthStrategy #MarketingLeadership #RevenueMarketing #ABM #CMO #DemandGeneration

Fact: Outbound sales is broken. Incentives and strategies are misaligned. Tools like Salesloft and Outreach didn’t cause it. They amplified it. Now marketing and sales need to work together to fix it. The real issue is that sales managers push SDRs to prioritize volume over quality, leading to generic outreach that no one wants to read. Fixing this starts with focus. Give SDRs a small set of accounts, 30 per quarter, and tier them into A, B, and C priorities (using tools like Clay, Tofu, Unify). This makes it clear who they’re targeting and allows them to spend their time understanding the industries, companies, and people they’re reaching out to. Instead of chasing volume, they can dive deep into the problems their prospects are trying to solve. With the right tools, resources and 𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗶𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴, SDRs can educate themselves on the pain points, motivations, and challenges of their target audience. They can craft outreach that adds value and speaks directly to what matters most. Take me as an example. If you’re reaching out to someone like me at MoEngage, don’t send lazy, cookie-cutter emails like: “Does getting more pipeline keep you up at night” “Would you be interested in getting more qualified meetings” “Do you want customer lists of your competitors?” “Are you still interested?” “I haven’t heard back. I’ll assume this isn’t a priority.” These don’t work. They’re noise. If you want my attention, show me you’ve done your homework. Understand that I’m focused on growing in North America. Recognize the challenges of expanding into a crowded market. Tell me something valuable about how companies like mine are navigating those problems and how you can help. This approach may lead to fewer meetings overall, but the meetings you get will be better. SDRs and AEs will know their audience. They’ll understand the pain points. They’ll deliver messaging that lands because it’s relevant and thoughtful. And this isn’t just a sales problem. Marketing has to help. Marketing should train SDRs and AEs with insights about the market, the ICP, and the problems worth solving. Outbound sales works best when sales and marketing are aligned, working together to get the right message in front of the right people. Stop trying to get more meetings. Focus on getting better ones.

Month 1 of building our outbound system from scratch. Here's the game plan. I built a bunch of outbound systems (one took ARR from $1M→$14M in 2 years) But back then, the tech was clunky. No Clay, no AI, no smooth workflows. Now, the outbound game is the same. But we are playing with better gear. My goal - use it wisely. It’s easy to chase tools and never ship. Tool FOMO is a great procrastination hack. So instead, let's start with foundations: Rule #1: Lead list quality > everything Every lead must pass the 3Qs filter: Why now (evidence they’re buying), Why them (ICP + ACV match) and Why you (unique fit). I'm using multiple intent tools and Clay to score and prioritise accounts with real buying energy, not just a job title. Rule #2: Match ACV to effort High ACV → LinkedIn + calls + email + manual Mid/Low ACV → email-first at scale Outbound isn’t blasting; it’s matching effort to potential return. Now, volume vs quality? If you have huge TAM + lots of competitors + many low-ACV leads: Don’t ignore them while you romance your top 50; time passes, intent cools, a competitor wins. Tiny TAM: Do the deep work on every account - you don’t have the luxury to burn them. Rule #3: Structure lists for campaigns (not the other way around) Group by buying signal/source for relevance at scale, by ICP lane (Sales Teams vs Agencies) for tailored value props, by (warm vs cold) for easy personalization hooks, and by role (champion vs DM) for outcome-specific copy. Good list segmentation, easy campaign creation. Rule #4: Build the ladder: low-hanging → warm → cold Re-engage trials/churned with intent, then warm engagers (events, followers, visitors), then cold ICP with triggers. Sequence the work so you earn quick wins and learn fast. Rule #5: Triggers beat calendars Replace “Day 3 follow-up” with “Signal happened → Play A.” Rule #6: AI assists, humans approve Let AI do the research and draft the openers (1–2 factual lines). You tighten the hypothesis and CTA. Personalization/relevance is proof, not poetry - don't spend hours crafting it. Rule #7: Deliverability and automation Great copy is useless if it never lands. Use Smartlead or Instantly.ai for emails, and take deliverability seriously. Automate the followups on all channels - no, you will not remember to followup with that LinkedIn convo. Don't lie to yourself. (this should also be a rule) Use HeyReach.io to get that LinkedIn game under control and track it. Rule #8: Experiment like an adult One variable at a time. Weekly loops. Measure reply% → positive% → meetings → cost/meeting by segment/source. Scale winners, retire losers fast. Rule #9: Ops-first instrumentation Every LI + email touch writes to CRM. Dashboards by segment × source × channel × ACV. Keep tools in sync (no stale lists). Rule #10: Document EVERYTHING. And that’s a wrap. Next post: our first low-hanging fruit campaign setup. I’ll share the build in public, follow along. Now, execution mode. 😵💫

21 high-intent leads in 90 days for a client who had never done outbound in the US before! Here’s how we helped a manufacturing client go from 0 leads to a repeatable system that now drives consistent conversations across the US. 📍Client:  A manufacturing Operations Management platform targeting manufacturing firms in the US. 📍Challenges: * Entering the USA without a prior outbound motion. * Low early traction on senior personas (C-level, VP) and minimal engagement via email; only two early positives from cold calls. * We had to quickly figure out: → What roles respond? → What industries engage? → Which channels actually work? 📍Our approach: We launched a multi-channel appointment-setting campaign: Targeting: → Manufacturing verticals (Chemical, F&B, Consumer Goods, Construction) → Personas in Operations and Continuous Improvement → Roles: Mid-level managers, directors, and C-levels Channels: → Started with LinkedIn, email, and cold calling → After 30 days, we leaned in on LinkedIn-only; it was the only one working Messaging: → No hard-sell pitches → Focused on exploratory, discovery-first conversations 📍Results: In 90 days: Reached 2,718 prospects Generated 21 high intent leads 📍A few observations: ✅ Industry Fit Matters Chemical and Food & Bev manufacturers responded best. Why? These industries often deal with complex processes and legacy systems, so the idea of streamlining operations or improving shop-floor visibility hits home faster. 14 leads and 3 meetings came from just these verticals. ✅ The Right Personas Make the Difference Continuous Improvement and Ops Managers were most open to conversations. They’re hands-on with daily problems and more likely to engage when messaging speaks to solving inefficiencies or removing manual overhead. Senior execs, by contrast, were harder to engage cold, likely due to bandwidth, gatekeeping, and lack of immediate context. ✅ Message Framing Matters When we led with “Can we explore how your team is approaching [X]?” instead of “Let me show you our platform,” …response rates significantly improved. Outbound can work, even in complex, traditional industries. But it has to be channel-aware, persona-specific, and discovery-led. Every market looks tough until you find what clicks. If you’re figuring out outbound for your US GTM, let’s talk - we’ve run this play before.

Everyone says outbound is dead. Wrong - your playbook is. "We've tried everything" "Outbound just doesn't work anymore." A CRO told me this on a call last week. I asked three questions: → How are you building lists? → What triggers your outreach? → How did you decide who to contact? The answers:  - static ICP filters - time-based cadences - activity quotas I told him - you haven't tried everything. You've tried the same thing 10 different ways. Outbound didn't stop working.  The way you're doing it did. I mapped out the 5 stages of outbound ↓ Stage 1: Spray & pray - Static lists  - Cold calls  - Hit activity numbers and hope Reps flipped through directories and dialed 200+ times a day. No data, no targeting - just volume. If you called enough people, someone would eventually say yes. It worked - until it didn't. Stage 2: Predictable Revenue - SDR/AE split - Email sequences  - Human supervises cadences Aaron Ross changed the game in 2011 with specialized roles, Cold Calling 2.0, and email at scale. But teams took the framework and turned it into a spam machine. Activity metrics replaced actual selling. Even Collin Stewart from Predictable Revenue admitted it was never meant to become that. Stage 3: Intent-driven targeting - 3rd party intent data - Account-level scoring Bombora, 6sense, and Demandbase introduced a new concept: know who's researching your category before you reach out. For the first time, teams could prioritize accounts showing buying behavior. The problem?  Signals were account-level, not contact-level. You knew the company was interested... But not WHO to call. Stage 4: Signal-based workflows - Real-time buying signals  - AI enrichment - Human in the loop This is where everything changed. Clay, UserGems 💎, and Common Room made it possible to track job changes, website visits, tech stack shifts, and champion movements in real time. Enrichment waterfalls replaced manual research. AI wrote the first draft.  The GTM Engineer role was born. You stopped guessing and started knowing exactly who to reach, when, and why. Stage 5: Autonomous agents - AI runs full outbound - Self-directed execution - Human sets strategy We're entering the era where AI agents handle prospecting, research, personalization, and outreach end-to-end. Tools like Airtop, Unify, and Claude Code are making it possible to build custom agentic systems where humans focus purely on strategy and closing. This isn't hype, it's the next operating model. Teams winning in '26 build smarter systems. Where's your team at right now?

Job titles are lying to you about who actually does the work. If you're selling something without a clean buyer title, your targeting is probably broken. Here's how we fixed ours: Outbound breaks down when your product is ambiguous. Say you sell financial forecasting software. Who owns forecasting depends on the company (Finance, FP&A, Operations, Strategy, or even founders, etc.). A "Finance Manager" could handle AR, AP, Treasury, or actually build forecasts. You can't tell from the title. So we stopped guessing titles and started targeting the actual work. Layer 1: Department filtering Start with departments where your problem sits. For forecasting: Finance, FP&A, Operations, Strategy. Layer 2: LinkedIn description keywords Every user writes a description under their title: - "Own the quarterly forecast" - "Build headcount forecasts" - "Drive variance analysis" - "Maintain the revenue model" These keywords self-identify who does the work. Instead of targeting "Finance Manager" and hoping, target "Finance Manager who mentions 'forecast' and 'financial model' in their description." The process: 1. Pick 1-2 relevant departments 2. Extract 8-20 keywords tied to your product 3. Filter people mentioning those keywords in descriptions 4. Hit people who self-identify as doing the work Example query: Department: Finance/FP&A/Operations Description contains: "forecast" OR "financial model" OR "budget" This surfaces only people who explicitly manage forecasts. We've been running this across ambiguous products and have seen both higher reply rates and better conversations.

Most outbound problems start in the same place: You’re talking to the wrong people. I see teams rewriting copy 10 times, testing 4 versions of the offer, arguing about subject lines… and the reply rate is still stuck at 1–2%. This is not because the email is bad. It's because the list is. Here’s the simple way I look at outbound: → Targeting: who you’re reaching → Messaging: what you’re saying → Offer: what you’re proposing (+ Deliverability and Infra: whether your email even lands) If the audience is off, nothing else matters. You can’t “out-copywrite” a bad list. The only soft KPI I obsess over is positive replies. (Not replies, POSITIVE replies). If those aren’t moving, you’re hitting the wrong segment, full stop. We learned this building campaigns for both early-stage teams and big brands. - More volume won’t fix it. - Personalization won’t fix it. - A clever opener won’t fix it. Here’s what actually works: → Pull real data from your CRM before you guess anything → Build a list around pain, not job titles → Use Clay to enrich and filter, don’t just scrape everything that moves → Test in small batches (50–100) before scaling → Watch for buying signals, not vanity signals → Protect your domains When you get the audience right, everything downstream gets easier. Your message lands. Your offer makes sense. Deliverability improves because people actually respond. Curious: what’s the targeting mistake you see most often? #targeting #leadgen #deliverability #gtm #outbound