The Art of Cold Outreach via LinkedIn & Email Combination: 7 Approaches That are Still Working

LinkedIn as a Cold Outreach Channel

The world of social media is evolving rapidly. Where once the focus was on establishing your profile, posting photos, and sharing articles, things are moving in a much more business-oriented direction. 

So how can you use LinkedIn to connect with professionals you wouldn’t usually be able to reach? 

Create and Maintain a Professional Presence

One of the most important things when using any social media channel is having a professional presence. This is especially important on LinkedIn, as most people consider it to be a business-oriented platform. Make sure your profile information is clear and concise. Make sure it highlights your skills but also the value you can bring to other professionals. 

Find Potential Contacts Through Search

If you’re looking to find new contacts on LinkedIn, you can use the search function to find people who you share something in common with. For example, if you’re a real estate agent, you might want to find people who are interested in moving to a new home. 

You can use search terms like “house hunting,” “moving,” and “new homeowners.” You can then sort the results to find people who might be interested in connecting with you.

The Good, Bad & the Ugly

There are plenty of good reasons to use LinkedIn as your main channel for reaching out to new contacts. However, it’s also worth noting that social media networks are not one-size-fits-all. There are certain drawbacks to using LinkedIn that you need to be aware of before diving in. 

Let’s take a look at the good, the bad, and the ugly of using LinkedIn for cold outreach: 

• The good – You have access to verified professionals who work in your niche. LinkedIn is used by people at all stages of their careers, so there’s a good chance you’ll be able to find the right person for your campaign. 

• The bad & the ugly – Most people are extremely cautious when they’re on LinkedIn. They’re used to receiving marketing pitches, so you need to be careful about what you say. It’s very easy to come across as spammy or untrustworthy if you don’t follow the guidelines. If your message reads like you have nothing to offer, you’re unlikely to get a response.

Overall, cold email outreach and LinkedIn can be scary at first if you’re not sure where to start. Research and plan. Make sure you’re sending personalised messages and asking questions that show you’ve done your research.

Combining Email and LinkedIn for Cold Outreach

Reaching out to new customers is a never-ending cycle. While some strategies become less effective over time, others can convert more people into customers depending on the landscape.

What does this mean for your B2B outreach strategy? You need to be even more intentional about finding new contacts and pipelines with all the resources at your disposal. That’s because there are always ways to improve your cold email outreach and still find new opportunities with social media.

Here’s how you can combine email and LinkedIn cold outreach to meet your business objectives:

1. Create a Calendar of Events

There are many conferences, summits, and events in your industry every year. Perhaps you’re already taking advantage of this. If not, you should be – getting to these events, both as an attendee and presenter, is a great way to meet people. If possible, launch your events, share your knowledge and build your reputation in your field.

1. Measure Your Results

Marketers have always tested their ads and marketing materials. They continue to do so as they test which LinkedIn and cold email outreach campaigns work and which ones don’t. There is no right or wrong way to start – you might want to get started with creating different cold outreach email templates and measuring the conversions.

1. Use Your Current Network to Find New Connections

Your current network may know other people who might be interested in your business. You can use these connections to find more people to outreach to. This can be as simple as asking your friends and family to let you know if they know anyone who would benefit from your products and services. You can also ask your network if they know anyone who would benefit from your products and services.

1. Write a Blog Post and Invite People to Read It

If you don’t have the time or resources to create a full-blown outreach campaign, don’t fret. You can write a blog post and invite people to read it through email or LinkedIn. Once you have a blog post written and published, you can spread the word further through social media.

1. Diversify Your Channels

One of the best ways to expand your outreach program is to diversify your channels. You may be only reaching out to people via cold email outreach and need to expand beyond that. Take a look at your list and find people who prefer to be contacted via different channels — for instance, direct mail, text messages, or calls. 

1. Personalise Your Message

Once you’ve identified a perfect potential client for your business, send them a personalised email or LinkedIn cold outreach message. Include the person’s name on your message, greet them, and introduce your business. Don’t just copy and paste text in other LinkedIn message templates. You want it to feel like you’re speaking to that person and that you know them.

1. Follow-Up

Once you’ve sent a few messages on LinkedIn or email, it’s time to move on to the next step. You don’t want to pounce on these people and hope they don’t notice. But you also don’t want to sit around hoping these people reach out to you. 

Instead, consider following up with your potential customers after a week. Send a simple follow-up message to the person you’ve been in touch with. Follow up with another email a week later if you don’t hear back. However, don’t breathe down their neck if they don’t respond. 

As long as you’re following up professionally, you shouldn’t be too worried about offending this person. At the very least, you’ll make an impression on them and show them how much you would want to hear from them.

Why Outreachly for Your Next Cold Outreach Campaign

With Outreachly’s cutting-edge technology, you too can leverage the power of artificial intelligence (AI) technology in your Linkedin lead generation strategy. Our tool scans potential prospect profiles and helps you find the most qualified decision-makers to drive them straight into your sales pipeline. 

Our AI can boost your connection rates by 30%, which translates to more engagement, improved leads, and optimum outbound sales.

More features of Outreachly combined Linkedin and email leads include:

• Expert copywriters to craft compelling sales copy for your business
• 24/7 instant notifications and reporting when someone reads your outreach messages
• A personal campaign manager that will always be on hand to help optimise your campaigns
• Expert help to move leads further into your sales funnel and help you close deals.

So, whether you are new to email & LinkedIn cold outreach or have tried it before but wanted something more, Outreachly has everything you need.

Ready to find out how it works? Book a demo today!

Final Thoughts

Email and Linkedin cold outreach remain two of the most reliable ways to reach out to an audience unaware of your existence. If you still can’t figure out how to increase direct outreach cold email results, don’t fret. Talk to an expert today!