7 Warm outbound targets that won't see your email as spam

Before Google and Yahoo's anti-spam annoucements cold OB performance was already at an all-time low and continuing to trend downwards. The big difference now is that it can f*** email reputation for your entire company if you continue blasting an unwilling audience from the main domain. To some extent, this holds true even if you master the message.

The role of outbound has changed to capture and cultivate warmth. Here are 7 warm audiences you can target who wont flag you as spam, and examples of how to reach them (plus bonus tips on building warmth).

1. Former buyers and product users

This audience has championed once before, they will consider championing you again if it makes sense for your business. This is especially true if your customers love your product and your team. We've got a bunch of playbooks here to help you craft the right message.

2. Website + Review visitors

Think of this as an abandoned cart email. There is some intent here, but it could be curiosity vs. readiness to buy. You can use tools like Clearbit, 6Sense, Koala, ServiceBell and Warmly to see what companies are browsing your site. Unlike an abanonded cart email, you probably won't know the exact person who visited your site. The key here is to keep your messaging light and use an interest-based CTA (don't launch into a mega sequence).

Here's a great example from a website view from Thena

And a review site follow up from Vitally.io

3. Closed-Lost Contacts

Closed Lost Contacts (especially contacts attached to opps that were in late pipeline stages) are a goldmine. Frequently timing was just off. Do nothing is the biggest killer of deals. However, if they got that far in the sales process they are likely still experiencing pain. It's always great to check in. The key here is to communicate what's changed, the value you offer, and why they were considering you in the first place.

4. Abandoned Hand-raisers (free trials, ghosted demos)

There was intent at some point. Assuming they didn't have a terrible experience, this audience likely experienced a real time shift in priorities. Who knows, it maybe time to revisit your solution.

5. Exec and Team connections

There are multiple flavors here to tap into networks. For example - playing on college connections or engaging your exec team’s network.

Here's an example that helped tap into an alumni network (alumni customers aren't the only valuable contacts).

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6. Customers who will give you referrals

Customer referrals are a great source of new meetings. Step 1: Make sure your customer is getting value. Step 2: Do the work for them. Write the intros, find the people who you wanted to be connected to. You can get the whole playbook here.

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7. Contacts who have reached a threshold of engagement with Marketing + Product actions

There are tons of signals between site visits, product usage, event attendees that combined show someone. This is not saying that if someone shows up to a webinar you should hit them with a 7 step cadence. One or two light touches offering value and with CTAs that let the prospect opt in to a bigger sales conversation without jumping to a meeting.

I guarantee - if you are emailing someone, they know you want a meeting.

Keyplay absolutely crushed this - and this prompt led to follow up questions and eventually a purchase.

Have no warmth? Here's one way to improvise

Hit up less senior folks on LinkedIn to get intel/context. By the time you email the right person it will stand out. It's easy to start a conversation when the goal is learning.

How it starts:

How it ends:

As always messaging and your approach matters! Keep things specific and relevant to your audience. Be concise (Lavender helps) and use Intent Based CTAs!

Happy prospecting! Let us know if you want to chat about outbound strategy.