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Strategy GuideMarch 28, 20267 min read
Cold Outreach Isn't Dead - Your Approach Might Be
Dead vs alive.
approachdeadaliveWhat's Dying
Blast to bought list, no filtering
Wrong people. High bounce. Spam flags.
Same template to everyone
No relevance. One line of personalization beats 10 generic paragraphs.
One email, give up
Most replies come from follow-ups. You're leaving money on the table.
Hype-heavy, pitch-first
People smell sales from line one. Lead with value or curiosity.
What's Working
Targeted list by signal
Right people. Higher reply. Lower volume, better ROI.
Merge fields + one specific observation
Feels human. Stands out.
3-5 touch sequence
Catches them when they have 2 minutes.
Problem-first, ask-second
They see themselves. Then you ask.
Targeting: target no-website businesses. Personalization: personalize at scale. Secrets: nobody tells you this.
FAQ
Is cold email really not dead?
Depends on how you do it. Sending 1000 generic emails to a random list - that's struggling. Targeted, relevant, persistent outreach still works in many industries. See why reply rates vary by industry.
What's the biggest mistake?
Wrong list. You can have great copy and perfect sequence, but if you're emailing people who don't need what you sell, you'll get nothing. Fix the list first.
How do I know if my approach is the problem?
Test. Change one thing - list, subject, or first line. Compare reply rates. If a different segment performs 3x better, your approach is fine, your targeting wasn't. See how to measure cold outreach success.