Subscribe to Inframail today and get a 100% Free Cold Email Toolkit!
Subscribe to Inframail today and
get a 100% Free Cold Email Toolkit!
Subscribe to Inframail today and get a 100% Free Cold Email Toolkit!
15 Outreach Methods That Build Real Relationships (Not Just Clicks)
15 Outreach Methods That Build Real Relationships (Not Just Clicks)
15 Outreach Methods That Build Real Relationships (Not Just Clicks)
Outreach Methods
Outreach Methods
Outreach Methods
Jun 11, 2025
The idea of reaching out to prospects can be intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start, who to connect with, deciding on email closing lines, and what to say to get their attention. But once you finally break the ice, the pressure lifts, and you can get to the real conversations that lead to sales opportunities. This is why understanding the different types of outreach methods is essential. Some will get you the responses you need faster, like email and social media outreach, while others, like phone calls or in-person meetings, take longer and will require some level of trust to get prospects to engage. In this article, we’ll explore various outreach methods to help you start meaningful conversations that lead to real sales opportunities, not just clicks, opens, or empty engagement.
Email infrastructure can also help. With a solid email infrastructure like Inframail’s, you can build trust with your prospects, so they’re more likely to engage with your outreach. With Inframail, you can improve your email deliverability and reputation so you can reach your prospects and build rapport with them.
Table of Contents
15 Outreach Methods That Build Real Relationships (Not Just Clicks)
Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today
What is a Sales Outreach Strategy
A sales outreach strategy is a planned approach that businesses use to connect with potential customers and generate leads. It typically involves researching and identifying target prospects, developing tailored messaging, and choosing the most effective communication channels. Every step in a sales outreach strategy should be well-calculated so that your teams can achieve the following goals: identify and engage with potential customers. Informing leads about what makes your offerings unique and valuable. Building trust to establish credibility with your target audience. Making new business relationships to expand your network. Closing deals to drive revenue.
Types of Sales Outreach: Inbound vs. Outbound
Now that you know what a sales outreach strategy is, you should also get familiar with the types of sales outreach.
Inbound Sales Outreach: In this, your team reaches out to prospects or warm leads who have already shown interest in your business through your inbound lead generation efforts (content marketing, social media, referral programs, etc).
Outbound Sales Outreach: Rather than waiting for leads to reach out to your business, it will be your sales and marketing team who will proactively connect with the prospects. Your team will create a lead list and utilize methods to reach out, such as:
Cold calling
Cold emailing
LinkedIn outreach
Which Sales Outreach Strategy Should You Choose?
So, which strategy is suitable for your business? Well, it depends on what your goals and requirements are. With that being said, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to creating an effective outreach strategy. Your strategy depends on your outreach goals, whether it be initiating new relationships with clients, informing leads about your offerings, or simply making contact with potential customers for the first time. Combining both options would be the best choice. That’s because both of these techniques address the flaws of one another, while also benefiting from the qualities of one another.
Key Outreach Statistics You Should Know
57% of C-level and VP buyers prefer to be contacted by phone.
82% of buyers research providers on LinkedIn before responding to outreach attempts.
80% of buyers prefer cold emails to cold calls.
62% of buyers want to hear from sellers when they’re actively seeking a solution to a problem.
Over 40% of sales professionals said that the phone is the most effective sales tool at their disposal.
51% of businesses communicate with clients over at least eight channels.
82% of consumers seek referrals from others before making a purchase.
Personalized subject lines boost response rate by 30.5%.
Related Reading
• Cold Sale
• Cold Prospecting
• How to Re-engage Lost Customers
• Professional Email Example
• Targeted Lead Generation
• Collaboration Email Template
• Email Closing Lines
• Cold Email Personalization
• Email Audit
• How to Get an Email Address From a Facebook Url
15 Outreach Methods That Build Real Relationships (Not Just Clicks)
Sales teams need effective outreach methods to boost engagement and drive conversions. Here are 15 strategies that can help you connect with your target audience and move them through the sales funnel.
1. Cold Emailing
Of all the sales outreach strategies I have mentioned here, cold emailing is one of the most effective. A successful email campaign can have an ROI of up to 4400% more than any other channel! This is one of the practical and scalable options for sales outreach. You need to have the right tools and techniques to execute your strategy. Here are some tips that will help you:
Subject Lines: As the saying goes, “First impression is the best impression.” Your cold email subject lines are your make-or-break moment. Use something that will interest the prospect to open the email. Think of what matters most to your prospects and how you can write that in a few words.
Personalization: Personalisation is a big trend in cold emailing now, and it’s rightfully so. You will receive better reply rates and can even establish stronger connections through personalization. In your email content, ensure that you provide prospects with value, such as how your solution can help address their problems or meet their requirements.
Follow-ups: After sending your first email, if you don’t receive a reply, it’s not a 'tata' or 'bye-bye'. Sometimes, they can miss your mail, or that mail might not have made an impact on them to reply to you. A successful cold email campaign typically consists of a sequence of emails following the initial one. Our study has shown that having at least three follow-up emails can increase your chances of getting a response by up to 28%.
Use AI: Choose the tools that come with built-in AI features. These will help you save time and increase the efficiency of your email campaigns, like:
AI Email Variables
Reply Categorization & Outcome Analysis
Bounce Detection & Auto-Pausing
Spam Word Detection, etc.
Automation: By letting automation handle many manual tasks, such as follow-ups and tracking campaign performance, you can save your sales team time, which can be used to focus on sales.
Scaling Outreach Without the Technical Overhead: How Inframail Empowers Agencies, Recruiters, and SDRs
At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We provide Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup to help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently. Main benefits of using our service:
Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup
Dedicated email servers for each user
16-hour priority support daily
Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup, allowing you to focus on reaching more prospects. Whether you're an agency looking to scale outreach, a recruiter connecting with candidates, or an SDR driving sales, Inframail provides the robust email infrastructure you need without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs. Start buying domains now and set up your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.
2. Cold Calling
While cold calling has lost its prime, it remains an excellent sales outreach method. With cold calling, you will be able to proactively approach your prospects directly, understand their requirements better, and share how your product or service can be the right solution. It’s one of the few strategies where you have the chance to interact with your client directly. You need to be well prepared, make fewer manual mistakes, and, most importantly, keep them comfortable talking to you.
Human-Centric Cold Calling: How to Build Real Rapport in a Scalable Sales Workflow
Here are some tips for your cold-calling campaigns:
Establish a Conversation: Avoid being overly salesy. Your goal should be to establish a connection with your prospects. Provide them with the value to build the trust to consider your solution.
Scripting: Prepare a flexible script that allows room for improvisation. Avoid sounding robotic or overly rehearsed.
Listen More Than You Talk: Give it a try. Make it comfortable for your users to share, vent, or express their thoughts freely. This will help to know more about them. Thus making it easy to offer your product or service like the perfect piece of a puzzle.
Timing: Call during hours when prospects are most likely to be available and receptive. When done right, you can turn a potentially skeptical listener into an interested prospect.
Scaling cold calling requires a significant amount of resources. Unfortunately, AI and automation do not do much, apart from helping with scripting and lead management.
3. LinkedIn Outreach (Social selling)
Almost everyone is online. So, why not use social selling for your sales outreach? Create content that addresses your audience’s pain points, and you will be able to attract leads through inbound marketing. You can also directly reach out to the decision-makers via outbound efforts. For B2B brands, I recommend utilizing LinkedIn to:
Identify prospects
Conduct research
Foster relationships
You can either use LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator to streamline lead discovery and outreach or use a LinkedIn lead finder to get more information about them. As for B2C, platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook are more effective. Although LinkedIn can still be used for connecting with decision-makers.
Social Selling That Converts: Building Trust and Authority Without Burning Out Your Budget
Social media is also a great platform for building your brand and community, both of which can enhance trust and ultimately lead to increased conversions and sales. Here are some tips that will come in handy:
Optimize Your Profile: Ensure your profile reflects your expertise and credibility. A strong profile fosters trust among prospects, leading to more leads and connections.
Engage Authentically: Comment on posts, share relevant content, and participate in discussions to build rapport before pitching.
Focus on Establishing Trust: People need to trust you before they can invest their hard-earned money in your business.
So, earn trust by offering value and building connections. When done correctly, social selling can yield strong results, including high engagement and conversion rates. But, social media trends can change every 2-3 months, and it’s also hard to predict. You also need a dedicated team to produce content consistently, which can be challenging for brands with limited budgets.
4. Expos and Conferences
This is the best way to meet your prospects directly and showcase your offerings. And, I always believe: Direct interaction to Indirect interaction. You can attend or host expos, conferences, or even workshops. This will enable users to explore your solutions and make more informed decisions on their own.
Deliver Value: Let your prospects know how effective your offering is. For that, share case studies, product demos, and even share how your solution aligns with the industry trends.
Engage Actively: During expos, ask questions and listen to understand prospect needs. In webinars, use polls, Q&A sessions, and chat features to keep attendees engaged.
Follow Up Strategically: After the event, segment leads based on interest levels and send personalized follow-ups. For example, offer a free trial to hot leads or share recorded webinar content to nurture colder prospects.
While the initial cost to set up an expo, conference, or workshop is high, based on the ROI, I would say it’s worth it.
5. Community
Hosting community events, whether virtual or in-person, is an excellent way to engage your audience. Events offer a platform for face-to-face interaction, facilitating deeper connections and more meaningful conversations.
Popular Types of Community Events
Workshops or seminars on topics relevant to your community. Fundraising events for local causes. Volunteer-driven clean-up or service days. Here are some tips to create an effective strategy:
Identify the Right Communities: Check where your prospects are most active and start engaging with that community.
Provide Value Before Promoting: Yes, You Need Sales. But people will only buy from those they trust. Therefore, focus on building trust within the community. Share value by interacting with posts, sharing case studies, and other posts that offer value to the members.
Soft Selling Through Conversations: Once you establish trust with your prospects, you can subtly start introducing your offerings during relevant discussions. Don’t be overly salesy. By providing value and building trust, you can use the community as your source for sales.
6. Social Media Campaigns
Social media is an undeniably effective outreach channel. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest allow you to increase exposure to your brand in both written and visual media. If you plan and execute your outreach strategy carefully, you can gather the necessary information about your target audience. This will allow you to connect with them on a personal level. Remember to address negative criticism and feedback. How you handle negative reviews says a lot about how you do business and how much you care about your customers. So, use it as a learning opportunity and try to make things right with the poster. Also, remember that the content you share on social media must have valuable information for your audience to make your outreach meaningful.
Key Tactics for Social Media Outreach
Use hashtags relevant to your community.
Post visually appealing content like infographics and videos.
Engage in conversations with followers by responding to comments and messages.
Run polls and surveys to gather feedback.
Example:
An environmental organization could use social media to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle by sharing tips and success stories from local community members.
7. Email Newsletters
Email newsletters remain a powerful outreach strategy for reaching specific audience segments. By curating relevant content and sharing updates, you can keep your community informed and engaged.
How to Optimize Email Newsletters for Outreach
Personalize emails by addressing recipients by name.
Provide valuable content, such as:
Upcoming events
Community news
Volunteer opportunities
Include clear calls to action (CTAs).
Example:
A nonprofit focused on education might send out a monthly newsletter featuring success stories, fundraising opportunities, and upcoming community projects.
8. Surveys and Feedback Forms
Collecting feedback through surveys and forms is a great way to engage your community while gaining valuable insights into their needs and preferences. This enables organizations to tailor their strategies more effectively to meet the needs of their audience.
How to Use Surveys for Outreach
Keep surveys short and to the point.
Offer incentives, such as discounts or complimentary services, for participation.
Share the results and explain how the feedback will be used.
Example:
A community organization might use surveys to gather feedback about the most pressing local issues and then plan future outreach efforts accordingly.
9. Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract and engage your audience. Blogging, videos, podcasts, and infographics can all serve as tools to educate your community while highlighting your expertise.
Key Elements of Content Marketing for Outreach
Focus on topics that address your community’s needs and interests.
Use SEO strategies to make your content more discoverable online.
Regularly update your content to keep it relevant.
Example:
A mental health nonprofit could create a blog series on coping strategies for stress, offering resources for individuals seeking support.
10. Webinars and Virtual Workshops
With the rise of remote communication, webinars and virtual workshops have become powerful tools for outreach and engagement. They enable organizations to engage a global audience and share knowledge or expertise in a convenient and accessible format.
How to Run Effective Webinars
Promote the event in advance through email and social media.
Invite guest speakers or experts to add credibility.
Provide participants with downloadable resources or recordings.
Example:
A technology company could host a virtual workshop to demonstrate the use of its latest software, helping users better understand the product’s value.
11. Community-Based Advertising
Using targeted advertising in local media, such as newspapers, radio stations, or community websites, can help you reach a specific audience. It is especially effective for campaigns that aim to raise awareness within a particular region.
Tips for Effective Community Advertising
Choose media outlets with a strong local presence.
Use clear, compelling messages tailored to your community’s values.
Regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of your ads.
Example:
A local charity might run ads on community radio stations to promote a fundraising event and invite people to participate.
12. Podcasts
Podcasts provide a unique platform for sharing in-depth conversations, stories, and educational content. Hosting a podcast can help you engage with your audience on a personal level, offering insights into your organization’s values and mission.
How to Start a Podcast for Outreach
Choose topics that align with your community’s interests.
Invite guest speakers to share their expertise.
Promote your podcast episodes on social media and through email newsletters.
Example:
A nonprofit focused on youth development might create a podcast series featuring interviews with young community leaders, highlighting their success stories.
13. Referral Programs
This is like asking your friends to introduce you to other cool people. Provide incentives for current customers or contacts to refer you to others. Think of it as planting seeds that grow into a network.
Misstep:
Poor reward structures
Tips:
Offer something valuable in return, like a discount or a free service trial.
14. Handwritten Notes
If you did a double-take when you read this heading, you are probably not alone. It might seem obsolete to write handwritten letters when you can type something and have it in front of the recipient within seconds. Digital communication still lacks a personal touch. Handwritten notes for prospective customers can have a significant impact on whether they become buyers. Why not write notes to your most loyal customers, wishing them a happy birthday or offering congratulations on a new venture? In short, do anything you need to humanize your outreach strategy.
15. Automation
When you leverage automations for social media and other online communications, you can reach far more people. Automation tools allow you to reach people interested in your products and automatically trigger messages and communications based on factors such as their:
Behavior
Location
Interests
Shopping habits
Related Reading
• Nudge Email
• Nurture Email Sequence
• Omnichannel Lead Generation
• Email Outsourcing
• How to Change Email Signature in Outreach
• Email Management Tips
• Find the Email of the Twitter Account
• Unprofessional Email Address Examples
• Partnership Email Template
• Sales Funnel Email Sequence
10 Best Practices for Successful Outreach
1. Create an ICP and Buyer Personas
Regardless of the outreach strategy you choose, understanding your potential customers is crucial if you want to achieve significant sales numbers. This is where you can see the importance of the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and Buyer Persona. Your ICP is a hypothetical description of the company that would get the most value from your offering. This includes:
Industry
Company size
Specific challenges they face
Using Buyer Personas to Craft Outreach That Speaks Directly to Decision-Makers
A buyer persona takes you inside the company to see who the individuals are who are making the buying decisions within the organization. This document has details that include:
Job roles
Pain points
Goals
Personal preferences
Knowing these two will give you a crystal clear picture of your prospects and the decision-makers in the companies you want to approach. Ensure that these are as detailed as possible. This will help you plan your outreach strategies accordingly. Thus, you will be able to craft messages that feel like they were made for them. It impacts your prospects’ minds that you’re not just another salesperson but someone who has a potential solution to their problems.
2. Segment Your Audience (Based on Common Pain Points)
After gathering the data about your customers, it’s time to categorize them. This will help find your target audience. Start categorizing based on their characteristics, such as industry, job role, or challenges. Since manually doing it will take a lot of time, you can let AI take over the sorting process. Be sure to double-check for any errors.
Sales Prospecting in Action: How Customer Segmentation Sharpens Your Outreach Strategy
Let’s consider that you are selling an email marketing tool. So, after segmenting your customers, you noticed that group A is struggling with low open rates, and group B has issues with crafting compelling content. In this case, your tool is best suited for group A, so you can begin working on your sales outreach strategy. Continue researching and then initiate your outreach process. Consider sending a personalized email explaining how your email marketing tool can help improve open rates. This is a short summary of sales prospecting.
3. Find the Right Communication Channel
Finding the right place to spread your message is the first, and arguably most important, of our outreach strategy examples. It's essential to determine which communication channel will work best for your business. This will help you focus your energy and budget on television, newspapers, social media, email, or any other outreach strategy that produces the desired results. When you know your goal, it's easy to choose the right communication channel. For example, if you wish to increase impressions for your real estate brokerage, direct mail provides a personal touch and gives customers something tangible to see and feel.
4. Always Use Personalization
As of 2020, approximately 78% of marketers reported using personalization in email marketing. When you can relate to your target audience on a personal level, you're likely to convert them or at least keep their interest. Customers don't typically respond well to insincere or obvious appeals to their emotions. The best way to avoid this trap is to provide content that your readers need and that emphasizes the value of your products or services.
5. Select Your Sales Outreach Tool
With the right tool, your productivity will only have one way to go: UP. Things will even get better if you just let automation handle all the repetitive and easy tasks. With numerous sales outreach tools available on the market, it can become quite confusing. So, to make things easier, I’ll tell you the familiar places where you can make the best out of it with a sales tool. These include:
Lead Management Outreach & Engagement
Meeting Coordination
Pipeline Oversight
6. Use a CTA (Call-to-action)
A good CTA makes it clear what kind of action you want a customer to take. The content leads your reader to the pinnacle of the blog or email. With a great call-to-action, you can tip the balance in your favor and convince your customers to click on the button to buy your product or contact your company for more information. When you include more than one CTA, it can be even more powerful. The first pitch can come at the beginning of the content, and the second pitch can come at the end of the content, but that’s only one way to do it.
7. Follow Up with the Customer
Even if you don't hear back from recipients, it's essential to follow up within a few days. Your potential client may not see the first email or may forget to respond. Therefore, following up allows them to hear the original pitch with added urgency. That doesn’t mean you should annoy them! You can stop doing follow-ups if:
You closed the deal
The user asked not to be contacted again
You sent my 7th follow-up after taking the necessary intervals
Studies show that 80% of sales require at least five follow-ups. If you don’t do it, your competitors will. Convert those leads. Here are some things to keep in mind when writing follow-up emails:
Timing Matters: Space out your emails strategically. Let’s say 3 or 7 days before you send your next one. You can use the help of tools like SalesHandy to automate reminders and schedule follow-ups based on recipient behavior.
Provide Value in Every Touchpoint: Since the past emails didn’t work, don’t send them the same thing again. With each mail, try to increase the value provided or try to address the prospect’s problems better.
Share a Relevant Case Study or Testimonial: If you have worked with similar clients, you can show their case study or show how the solutions you offered have helped others.
Smart Follow-Ups: Balancing Persistence and Respect in Your Outreach Strategy
You can increase the reply chance by offering some great discounts or longer free trials. Also, please avoid generic terms like ‘Just checking in.’ In that case, you will hear another generic reply: ‘Not interested.’ If you are not receiving a reply from one source, I can try reaching out to them through other channels, but please ensure that you do not come across as creepy (that’s one way to give them a lasting impression of your brand). Make sure to know when to stop. Don’t cross into annoyance territory. Also, ensure that all your emails have a one-click ‘Unsubscribe’ button.
8. Set SMART Goals
Setting proper goals will make it easier to manage your resources and achieve growth more quickly. That’s why in this smart age, your goals should also be smart. No, quite literally! I’m talking about this.
SMART
Specific: Be specific about what you want to achieve.
Measurable: Always track your progress. If you are using AI and automated tools in your workflow, it will be easy to get data.
Achievable: Set practical goals based on your resources.
Relevant: Ensure the goals you set align with the broader business objectives.
Time-Bound: Set realistic deadlines to increase motivation and keep the momentum on.
For example, if you have an email marketing tool, you can set your SMART goal as increasing demo sign-ups from startup companies by 30% within the next quarter. This sets the direction toward where your sales team should concentrate its efforts for the next quarter. This focus ensures that every action they take is a step toward achieving these well-defined objectives.
9. Improve Customer Relationships, Reviews, and Referrals
While sales outreach strategies are often viewed as a means to attract new customers, they should also focus on nurturing existing ones. You can drive more sales by delivering excellent support, providing consistent after-sales service, and rewarding customer loyalty. For example, offering early access to new features or exclusive discounts can encourage customers to upgrade their plans or renew their subscriptions.
Turning Customers into Advocates: How to Build a Referral Engine That Actually Works
Satisfied customers can also become advocates. You can invite them to refer others in exchange for rewards like:
Discounts
Coupons
Referral bonuses
A simple shoutout on their channels can help expand your organic reach. Referral marketing isn’t without its challenges. Many customers won’t engage unless the offer is genuinely compelling.
10. Track the Campaign and See Where You Can Improve
Even the most brilliant outreach strategy won't deliver results if it's not tracked. Understanding when and why prospects say no helps you refine your approach and create more effective campaigns that drive conversions. Remember, choosing a strategy is just the beginning. Ongoing tracking is essential. Outreach trends evolve, and your plan must evolve with them. Use analytics to monitor progress, and if you’re leveraging AI and automation tools, take advantage of the insights they offer at every stage of your outreach.
Continuous Optimization: The Key to Staying Ahead in Sales Outreach
To keep improving, make it a habit to:
Monitor performance metrics
Stay updated on industry trends
Encourage team feedback
Test, iterate, and optimise
Listen to customer feedback
Adapt based on what you learn. If you don’t, your competitors will and they’ll claim the market you’re trying to reach.
Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today
At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently with Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup.
Here’s a closer look at what we offer:
Reliable Email Deliverability
Email deliverability is the rate at which emails reach their intended recipients. When you send cold emails, you want as many of them as possible to reach the prospects' inboxes, not their spam folders. Inframail offers Microsoft-backed deliverability to ensure your outreach efforts are successful.
Automated Technical Setup
Setting up a cold email infrastructure can be a complex process. To optimize deliverability, you need to configure technical settings, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Inframail automates this process, allowing you to start reaching prospects sooner.
Unlimited Inboxes
Most cold email providers charge per inbox. This is problematic for businesses that want to scale their outreach because it forces them to keep their operations small to avoid steep costs. Inframail takes a different approach by offering unlimited inboxes for a single flat rate.
Dedicated Email Servers
Inframail provides dedicated email servers for each user. This way, your outreach efforts won’t be affected by the operations of other businesses. It helps optimize deliverability, allowing your cold emails to reach a broader range of prospects.
Priority Support
When you’re trying to set up your cold email infrastructure and get started with outreach, you don’t want to wait days for support to respond to your questions. Inframails offers 16-hour priority support daily to help you get the assistance you need as quickly as possible.
Focus on Outreach
With Inframail, you can focus on your outreach without getting bogged down by technical configurations. We streamline the entire process, enabling you to reach more prospects and grow your business.
Related Reading
• Lead Nurturing Tools
• Podcast Email Examples
• How to Cold Email for an Internship
• How to Sign an Email Professionally
• How to See if Someone Read Your Email on Outlook
• How Many Emails Can Be Sent at Once in Gmail
• Best Sales Acceleration Tools
• How Long Should a Newsletter Be
• Sales Accepted Lead vs Sales Qualified Lead
• Email Quote Template
• How to Cold Email for Research
• PR Pitch Email Example
The idea of reaching out to prospects can be intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start, who to connect with, deciding on email closing lines, and what to say to get their attention. But once you finally break the ice, the pressure lifts, and you can get to the real conversations that lead to sales opportunities. This is why understanding the different types of outreach methods is essential. Some will get you the responses you need faster, like email and social media outreach, while others, like phone calls or in-person meetings, take longer and will require some level of trust to get prospects to engage. In this article, we’ll explore various outreach methods to help you start meaningful conversations that lead to real sales opportunities, not just clicks, opens, or empty engagement.
Email infrastructure can also help. With a solid email infrastructure like Inframail’s, you can build trust with your prospects, so they’re more likely to engage with your outreach. With Inframail, you can improve your email deliverability and reputation so you can reach your prospects and build rapport with them.
Table of Contents
15 Outreach Methods That Build Real Relationships (Not Just Clicks)
Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today
What is a Sales Outreach Strategy
A sales outreach strategy is a planned approach that businesses use to connect with potential customers and generate leads. It typically involves researching and identifying target prospects, developing tailored messaging, and choosing the most effective communication channels. Every step in a sales outreach strategy should be well-calculated so that your teams can achieve the following goals: identify and engage with potential customers. Informing leads about what makes your offerings unique and valuable. Building trust to establish credibility with your target audience. Making new business relationships to expand your network. Closing deals to drive revenue.
Types of Sales Outreach: Inbound vs. Outbound
Now that you know what a sales outreach strategy is, you should also get familiar with the types of sales outreach.
Inbound Sales Outreach: In this, your team reaches out to prospects or warm leads who have already shown interest in your business through your inbound lead generation efforts (content marketing, social media, referral programs, etc).
Outbound Sales Outreach: Rather than waiting for leads to reach out to your business, it will be your sales and marketing team who will proactively connect with the prospects. Your team will create a lead list and utilize methods to reach out, such as:
Cold calling
Cold emailing
LinkedIn outreach
Which Sales Outreach Strategy Should You Choose?
So, which strategy is suitable for your business? Well, it depends on what your goals and requirements are. With that being said, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to creating an effective outreach strategy. Your strategy depends on your outreach goals, whether it be initiating new relationships with clients, informing leads about your offerings, or simply making contact with potential customers for the first time. Combining both options would be the best choice. That’s because both of these techniques address the flaws of one another, while also benefiting from the qualities of one another.
Key Outreach Statistics You Should Know
57% of C-level and VP buyers prefer to be contacted by phone.
82% of buyers research providers on LinkedIn before responding to outreach attempts.
80% of buyers prefer cold emails to cold calls.
62% of buyers want to hear from sellers when they’re actively seeking a solution to a problem.
Over 40% of sales professionals said that the phone is the most effective sales tool at their disposal.
51% of businesses communicate with clients over at least eight channels.
82% of consumers seek referrals from others before making a purchase.
Personalized subject lines boost response rate by 30.5%.
Related Reading
• Cold Sale
• Cold Prospecting
• How to Re-engage Lost Customers
• Professional Email Example
• Targeted Lead Generation
• Collaboration Email Template
• Email Closing Lines
• Cold Email Personalization
• Email Audit
• How to Get an Email Address From a Facebook Url
15 Outreach Methods That Build Real Relationships (Not Just Clicks)
Sales teams need effective outreach methods to boost engagement and drive conversions. Here are 15 strategies that can help you connect with your target audience and move them through the sales funnel.
1. Cold Emailing
Of all the sales outreach strategies I have mentioned here, cold emailing is one of the most effective. A successful email campaign can have an ROI of up to 4400% more than any other channel! This is one of the practical and scalable options for sales outreach. You need to have the right tools and techniques to execute your strategy. Here are some tips that will help you:
Subject Lines: As the saying goes, “First impression is the best impression.” Your cold email subject lines are your make-or-break moment. Use something that will interest the prospect to open the email. Think of what matters most to your prospects and how you can write that in a few words.
Personalization: Personalisation is a big trend in cold emailing now, and it’s rightfully so. You will receive better reply rates and can even establish stronger connections through personalization. In your email content, ensure that you provide prospects with value, such as how your solution can help address their problems or meet their requirements.
Follow-ups: After sending your first email, if you don’t receive a reply, it’s not a 'tata' or 'bye-bye'. Sometimes, they can miss your mail, or that mail might not have made an impact on them to reply to you. A successful cold email campaign typically consists of a sequence of emails following the initial one. Our study has shown that having at least three follow-up emails can increase your chances of getting a response by up to 28%.
Use AI: Choose the tools that come with built-in AI features. These will help you save time and increase the efficiency of your email campaigns, like:
AI Email Variables
Reply Categorization & Outcome Analysis
Bounce Detection & Auto-Pausing
Spam Word Detection, etc.
Automation: By letting automation handle many manual tasks, such as follow-ups and tracking campaign performance, you can save your sales team time, which can be used to focus on sales.
Scaling Outreach Without the Technical Overhead: How Inframail Empowers Agencies, Recruiters, and SDRs
At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We provide Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup to help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently. Main benefits of using our service:
Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup
Dedicated email servers for each user
16-hour priority support daily
Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup, allowing you to focus on reaching more prospects. Whether you're an agency looking to scale outreach, a recruiter connecting with candidates, or an SDR driving sales, Inframail provides the robust email infrastructure you need without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs. Start buying domains now and set up your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.
2. Cold Calling
While cold calling has lost its prime, it remains an excellent sales outreach method. With cold calling, you will be able to proactively approach your prospects directly, understand their requirements better, and share how your product or service can be the right solution. It’s one of the few strategies where you have the chance to interact with your client directly. You need to be well prepared, make fewer manual mistakes, and, most importantly, keep them comfortable talking to you.
Human-Centric Cold Calling: How to Build Real Rapport in a Scalable Sales Workflow
Here are some tips for your cold-calling campaigns:
Establish a Conversation: Avoid being overly salesy. Your goal should be to establish a connection with your prospects. Provide them with the value to build the trust to consider your solution.
Scripting: Prepare a flexible script that allows room for improvisation. Avoid sounding robotic or overly rehearsed.
Listen More Than You Talk: Give it a try. Make it comfortable for your users to share, vent, or express their thoughts freely. This will help to know more about them. Thus making it easy to offer your product or service like the perfect piece of a puzzle.
Timing: Call during hours when prospects are most likely to be available and receptive. When done right, you can turn a potentially skeptical listener into an interested prospect.
Scaling cold calling requires a significant amount of resources. Unfortunately, AI and automation do not do much, apart from helping with scripting and lead management.
3. LinkedIn Outreach (Social selling)
Almost everyone is online. So, why not use social selling for your sales outreach? Create content that addresses your audience’s pain points, and you will be able to attract leads through inbound marketing. You can also directly reach out to the decision-makers via outbound efforts. For B2B brands, I recommend utilizing LinkedIn to:
Identify prospects
Conduct research
Foster relationships
You can either use LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator to streamline lead discovery and outreach or use a LinkedIn lead finder to get more information about them. As for B2C, platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook are more effective. Although LinkedIn can still be used for connecting with decision-makers.
Social Selling That Converts: Building Trust and Authority Without Burning Out Your Budget
Social media is also a great platform for building your brand and community, both of which can enhance trust and ultimately lead to increased conversions and sales. Here are some tips that will come in handy:
Optimize Your Profile: Ensure your profile reflects your expertise and credibility. A strong profile fosters trust among prospects, leading to more leads and connections.
Engage Authentically: Comment on posts, share relevant content, and participate in discussions to build rapport before pitching.
Focus on Establishing Trust: People need to trust you before they can invest their hard-earned money in your business.
So, earn trust by offering value and building connections. When done correctly, social selling can yield strong results, including high engagement and conversion rates. But, social media trends can change every 2-3 months, and it’s also hard to predict. You also need a dedicated team to produce content consistently, which can be challenging for brands with limited budgets.
4. Expos and Conferences
This is the best way to meet your prospects directly and showcase your offerings. And, I always believe: Direct interaction to Indirect interaction. You can attend or host expos, conferences, or even workshops. This will enable users to explore your solutions and make more informed decisions on their own.
Deliver Value: Let your prospects know how effective your offering is. For that, share case studies, product demos, and even share how your solution aligns with the industry trends.
Engage Actively: During expos, ask questions and listen to understand prospect needs. In webinars, use polls, Q&A sessions, and chat features to keep attendees engaged.
Follow Up Strategically: After the event, segment leads based on interest levels and send personalized follow-ups. For example, offer a free trial to hot leads or share recorded webinar content to nurture colder prospects.
While the initial cost to set up an expo, conference, or workshop is high, based on the ROI, I would say it’s worth it.
5. Community
Hosting community events, whether virtual or in-person, is an excellent way to engage your audience. Events offer a platform for face-to-face interaction, facilitating deeper connections and more meaningful conversations.
Popular Types of Community Events
Workshops or seminars on topics relevant to your community. Fundraising events for local causes. Volunteer-driven clean-up or service days. Here are some tips to create an effective strategy:
Identify the Right Communities: Check where your prospects are most active and start engaging with that community.
Provide Value Before Promoting: Yes, You Need Sales. But people will only buy from those they trust. Therefore, focus on building trust within the community. Share value by interacting with posts, sharing case studies, and other posts that offer value to the members.
Soft Selling Through Conversations: Once you establish trust with your prospects, you can subtly start introducing your offerings during relevant discussions. Don’t be overly salesy. By providing value and building trust, you can use the community as your source for sales.
6. Social Media Campaigns
Social media is an undeniably effective outreach channel. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest allow you to increase exposure to your brand in both written and visual media. If you plan and execute your outreach strategy carefully, you can gather the necessary information about your target audience. This will allow you to connect with them on a personal level. Remember to address negative criticism and feedback. How you handle negative reviews says a lot about how you do business and how much you care about your customers. So, use it as a learning opportunity and try to make things right with the poster. Also, remember that the content you share on social media must have valuable information for your audience to make your outreach meaningful.
Key Tactics for Social Media Outreach
Use hashtags relevant to your community.
Post visually appealing content like infographics and videos.
Engage in conversations with followers by responding to comments and messages.
Run polls and surveys to gather feedback.
Example:
An environmental organization could use social media to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle by sharing tips and success stories from local community members.
7. Email Newsletters
Email newsletters remain a powerful outreach strategy for reaching specific audience segments. By curating relevant content and sharing updates, you can keep your community informed and engaged.
How to Optimize Email Newsletters for Outreach
Personalize emails by addressing recipients by name.
Provide valuable content, such as:
Upcoming events
Community news
Volunteer opportunities
Include clear calls to action (CTAs).
Example:
A nonprofit focused on education might send out a monthly newsletter featuring success stories, fundraising opportunities, and upcoming community projects.
8. Surveys and Feedback Forms
Collecting feedback through surveys and forms is a great way to engage your community while gaining valuable insights into their needs and preferences. This enables organizations to tailor their strategies more effectively to meet the needs of their audience.
How to Use Surveys for Outreach
Keep surveys short and to the point.
Offer incentives, such as discounts or complimentary services, for participation.
Share the results and explain how the feedback will be used.
Example:
A community organization might use surveys to gather feedback about the most pressing local issues and then plan future outreach efforts accordingly.
9. Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract and engage your audience. Blogging, videos, podcasts, and infographics can all serve as tools to educate your community while highlighting your expertise.
Key Elements of Content Marketing for Outreach
Focus on topics that address your community’s needs and interests.
Use SEO strategies to make your content more discoverable online.
Regularly update your content to keep it relevant.
Example:
A mental health nonprofit could create a blog series on coping strategies for stress, offering resources for individuals seeking support.
10. Webinars and Virtual Workshops
With the rise of remote communication, webinars and virtual workshops have become powerful tools for outreach and engagement. They enable organizations to engage a global audience and share knowledge or expertise in a convenient and accessible format.
How to Run Effective Webinars
Promote the event in advance through email and social media.
Invite guest speakers or experts to add credibility.
Provide participants with downloadable resources or recordings.
Example:
A technology company could host a virtual workshop to demonstrate the use of its latest software, helping users better understand the product’s value.
11. Community-Based Advertising
Using targeted advertising in local media, such as newspapers, radio stations, or community websites, can help you reach a specific audience. It is especially effective for campaigns that aim to raise awareness within a particular region.
Tips for Effective Community Advertising
Choose media outlets with a strong local presence.
Use clear, compelling messages tailored to your community’s values.
Regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of your ads.
Example:
A local charity might run ads on community radio stations to promote a fundraising event and invite people to participate.
12. Podcasts
Podcasts provide a unique platform for sharing in-depth conversations, stories, and educational content. Hosting a podcast can help you engage with your audience on a personal level, offering insights into your organization’s values and mission.
How to Start a Podcast for Outreach
Choose topics that align with your community’s interests.
Invite guest speakers to share their expertise.
Promote your podcast episodes on social media and through email newsletters.
Example:
A nonprofit focused on youth development might create a podcast series featuring interviews with young community leaders, highlighting their success stories.
13. Referral Programs
This is like asking your friends to introduce you to other cool people. Provide incentives for current customers or contacts to refer you to others. Think of it as planting seeds that grow into a network.
Misstep:
Poor reward structures
Tips:
Offer something valuable in return, like a discount or a free service trial.
14. Handwritten Notes
If you did a double-take when you read this heading, you are probably not alone. It might seem obsolete to write handwritten letters when you can type something and have it in front of the recipient within seconds. Digital communication still lacks a personal touch. Handwritten notes for prospective customers can have a significant impact on whether they become buyers. Why not write notes to your most loyal customers, wishing them a happy birthday or offering congratulations on a new venture? In short, do anything you need to humanize your outreach strategy.
15. Automation
When you leverage automations for social media and other online communications, you can reach far more people. Automation tools allow you to reach people interested in your products and automatically trigger messages and communications based on factors such as their:
Behavior
Location
Interests
Shopping habits
Related Reading
• Nudge Email
• Nurture Email Sequence
• Omnichannel Lead Generation
• Email Outsourcing
• How to Change Email Signature in Outreach
• Email Management Tips
• Find the Email of the Twitter Account
• Unprofessional Email Address Examples
• Partnership Email Template
• Sales Funnel Email Sequence
10 Best Practices for Successful Outreach
1. Create an ICP and Buyer Personas
Regardless of the outreach strategy you choose, understanding your potential customers is crucial if you want to achieve significant sales numbers. This is where you can see the importance of the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and Buyer Persona. Your ICP is a hypothetical description of the company that would get the most value from your offering. This includes:
Industry
Company size
Specific challenges they face
Using Buyer Personas to Craft Outreach That Speaks Directly to Decision-Makers
A buyer persona takes you inside the company to see who the individuals are who are making the buying decisions within the organization. This document has details that include:
Job roles
Pain points
Goals
Personal preferences
Knowing these two will give you a crystal clear picture of your prospects and the decision-makers in the companies you want to approach. Ensure that these are as detailed as possible. This will help you plan your outreach strategies accordingly. Thus, you will be able to craft messages that feel like they were made for them. It impacts your prospects’ minds that you’re not just another salesperson but someone who has a potential solution to their problems.
2. Segment Your Audience (Based on Common Pain Points)
After gathering the data about your customers, it’s time to categorize them. This will help find your target audience. Start categorizing based on their characteristics, such as industry, job role, or challenges. Since manually doing it will take a lot of time, you can let AI take over the sorting process. Be sure to double-check for any errors.
Sales Prospecting in Action: How Customer Segmentation Sharpens Your Outreach Strategy
Let’s consider that you are selling an email marketing tool. So, after segmenting your customers, you noticed that group A is struggling with low open rates, and group B has issues with crafting compelling content. In this case, your tool is best suited for group A, so you can begin working on your sales outreach strategy. Continue researching and then initiate your outreach process. Consider sending a personalized email explaining how your email marketing tool can help improve open rates. This is a short summary of sales prospecting.
3. Find the Right Communication Channel
Finding the right place to spread your message is the first, and arguably most important, of our outreach strategy examples. It's essential to determine which communication channel will work best for your business. This will help you focus your energy and budget on television, newspapers, social media, email, or any other outreach strategy that produces the desired results. When you know your goal, it's easy to choose the right communication channel. For example, if you wish to increase impressions for your real estate brokerage, direct mail provides a personal touch and gives customers something tangible to see and feel.
4. Always Use Personalization
As of 2020, approximately 78% of marketers reported using personalization in email marketing. When you can relate to your target audience on a personal level, you're likely to convert them or at least keep their interest. Customers don't typically respond well to insincere or obvious appeals to their emotions. The best way to avoid this trap is to provide content that your readers need and that emphasizes the value of your products or services.
5. Select Your Sales Outreach Tool
With the right tool, your productivity will only have one way to go: UP. Things will even get better if you just let automation handle all the repetitive and easy tasks. With numerous sales outreach tools available on the market, it can become quite confusing. So, to make things easier, I’ll tell you the familiar places where you can make the best out of it with a sales tool. These include:
Lead Management Outreach & Engagement
Meeting Coordination
Pipeline Oversight
6. Use a CTA (Call-to-action)
A good CTA makes it clear what kind of action you want a customer to take. The content leads your reader to the pinnacle of the blog or email. With a great call-to-action, you can tip the balance in your favor and convince your customers to click on the button to buy your product or contact your company for more information. When you include more than one CTA, it can be even more powerful. The first pitch can come at the beginning of the content, and the second pitch can come at the end of the content, but that’s only one way to do it.
7. Follow Up with the Customer
Even if you don't hear back from recipients, it's essential to follow up within a few days. Your potential client may not see the first email or may forget to respond. Therefore, following up allows them to hear the original pitch with added urgency. That doesn’t mean you should annoy them! You can stop doing follow-ups if:
You closed the deal
The user asked not to be contacted again
You sent my 7th follow-up after taking the necessary intervals
Studies show that 80% of sales require at least five follow-ups. If you don’t do it, your competitors will. Convert those leads. Here are some things to keep in mind when writing follow-up emails:
Timing Matters: Space out your emails strategically. Let’s say 3 or 7 days before you send your next one. You can use the help of tools like SalesHandy to automate reminders and schedule follow-ups based on recipient behavior.
Provide Value in Every Touchpoint: Since the past emails didn’t work, don’t send them the same thing again. With each mail, try to increase the value provided or try to address the prospect’s problems better.
Share a Relevant Case Study or Testimonial: If you have worked with similar clients, you can show their case study or show how the solutions you offered have helped others.
Smart Follow-Ups: Balancing Persistence and Respect in Your Outreach Strategy
You can increase the reply chance by offering some great discounts or longer free trials. Also, please avoid generic terms like ‘Just checking in.’ In that case, you will hear another generic reply: ‘Not interested.’ If you are not receiving a reply from one source, I can try reaching out to them through other channels, but please ensure that you do not come across as creepy (that’s one way to give them a lasting impression of your brand). Make sure to know when to stop. Don’t cross into annoyance territory. Also, ensure that all your emails have a one-click ‘Unsubscribe’ button.
8. Set SMART Goals
Setting proper goals will make it easier to manage your resources and achieve growth more quickly. That’s why in this smart age, your goals should also be smart. No, quite literally! I’m talking about this.
SMART
Specific: Be specific about what you want to achieve.
Measurable: Always track your progress. If you are using AI and automated tools in your workflow, it will be easy to get data.
Achievable: Set practical goals based on your resources.
Relevant: Ensure the goals you set align with the broader business objectives.
Time-Bound: Set realistic deadlines to increase motivation and keep the momentum on.
For example, if you have an email marketing tool, you can set your SMART goal as increasing demo sign-ups from startup companies by 30% within the next quarter. This sets the direction toward where your sales team should concentrate its efforts for the next quarter. This focus ensures that every action they take is a step toward achieving these well-defined objectives.
9. Improve Customer Relationships, Reviews, and Referrals
While sales outreach strategies are often viewed as a means to attract new customers, they should also focus on nurturing existing ones. You can drive more sales by delivering excellent support, providing consistent after-sales service, and rewarding customer loyalty. For example, offering early access to new features or exclusive discounts can encourage customers to upgrade their plans or renew their subscriptions.
Turning Customers into Advocates: How to Build a Referral Engine That Actually Works
Satisfied customers can also become advocates. You can invite them to refer others in exchange for rewards like:
Discounts
Coupons
Referral bonuses
A simple shoutout on their channels can help expand your organic reach. Referral marketing isn’t without its challenges. Many customers won’t engage unless the offer is genuinely compelling.
10. Track the Campaign and See Where You Can Improve
Even the most brilliant outreach strategy won't deliver results if it's not tracked. Understanding when and why prospects say no helps you refine your approach and create more effective campaigns that drive conversions. Remember, choosing a strategy is just the beginning. Ongoing tracking is essential. Outreach trends evolve, and your plan must evolve with them. Use analytics to monitor progress, and if you’re leveraging AI and automation tools, take advantage of the insights they offer at every stage of your outreach.
Continuous Optimization: The Key to Staying Ahead in Sales Outreach
To keep improving, make it a habit to:
Monitor performance metrics
Stay updated on industry trends
Encourage team feedback
Test, iterate, and optimise
Listen to customer feedback
Adapt based on what you learn. If you don’t, your competitors will and they’ll claim the market you’re trying to reach.
Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today
At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently with Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup.
Here’s a closer look at what we offer:
Reliable Email Deliverability
Email deliverability is the rate at which emails reach their intended recipients. When you send cold emails, you want as many of them as possible to reach the prospects' inboxes, not their spam folders. Inframail offers Microsoft-backed deliverability to ensure your outreach efforts are successful.
Automated Technical Setup
Setting up a cold email infrastructure can be a complex process. To optimize deliverability, you need to configure technical settings, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Inframail automates this process, allowing you to start reaching prospects sooner.
Unlimited Inboxes
Most cold email providers charge per inbox. This is problematic for businesses that want to scale their outreach because it forces them to keep their operations small to avoid steep costs. Inframail takes a different approach by offering unlimited inboxes for a single flat rate.
Dedicated Email Servers
Inframail provides dedicated email servers for each user. This way, your outreach efforts won’t be affected by the operations of other businesses. It helps optimize deliverability, allowing your cold emails to reach a broader range of prospects.
Priority Support
When you’re trying to set up your cold email infrastructure and get started with outreach, you don’t want to wait days for support to respond to your questions. Inframails offers 16-hour priority support daily to help you get the assistance you need as quickly as possible.
Focus on Outreach
With Inframail, you can focus on your outreach without getting bogged down by technical configurations. We streamline the entire process, enabling you to reach more prospects and grow your business.
Related Reading
• Lead Nurturing Tools
• Podcast Email Examples
• How to Cold Email for an Internship
• How to Sign an Email Professionally
• How to See if Someone Read Your Email on Outlook
• How Many Emails Can Be Sent at Once in Gmail
• Best Sales Acceleration Tools
• How Long Should a Newsletter Be
• Sales Accepted Lead vs Sales Qualified Lead
• Email Quote Template
• How to Cold Email for Research
• PR Pitch Email Example
The idea of reaching out to prospects can be intimidating. It’s hard to know where to start, who to connect with, deciding on email closing lines, and what to say to get their attention. But once you finally break the ice, the pressure lifts, and you can get to the real conversations that lead to sales opportunities. This is why understanding the different types of outreach methods is essential. Some will get you the responses you need faster, like email and social media outreach, while others, like phone calls or in-person meetings, take longer and will require some level of trust to get prospects to engage. In this article, we’ll explore various outreach methods to help you start meaningful conversations that lead to real sales opportunities, not just clicks, opens, or empty engagement.
Email infrastructure can also help. With a solid email infrastructure like Inframail’s, you can build trust with your prospects, so they’re more likely to engage with your outreach. With Inframail, you can improve your email deliverability and reputation so you can reach your prospects and build rapport with them.
Table of Contents
15 Outreach Methods That Build Real Relationships (Not Just Clicks)
Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today
What is a Sales Outreach Strategy
A sales outreach strategy is a planned approach that businesses use to connect with potential customers and generate leads. It typically involves researching and identifying target prospects, developing tailored messaging, and choosing the most effective communication channels. Every step in a sales outreach strategy should be well-calculated so that your teams can achieve the following goals: identify and engage with potential customers. Informing leads about what makes your offerings unique and valuable. Building trust to establish credibility with your target audience. Making new business relationships to expand your network. Closing deals to drive revenue.
Types of Sales Outreach: Inbound vs. Outbound
Now that you know what a sales outreach strategy is, you should also get familiar with the types of sales outreach.
Inbound Sales Outreach: In this, your team reaches out to prospects or warm leads who have already shown interest in your business through your inbound lead generation efforts (content marketing, social media, referral programs, etc).
Outbound Sales Outreach: Rather than waiting for leads to reach out to your business, it will be your sales and marketing team who will proactively connect with the prospects. Your team will create a lead list and utilize methods to reach out, such as:
Cold calling
Cold emailing
LinkedIn outreach
Which Sales Outreach Strategy Should You Choose?
So, which strategy is suitable for your business? Well, it depends on what your goals and requirements are. With that being said, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to creating an effective outreach strategy. Your strategy depends on your outreach goals, whether it be initiating new relationships with clients, informing leads about your offerings, or simply making contact with potential customers for the first time. Combining both options would be the best choice. That’s because both of these techniques address the flaws of one another, while also benefiting from the qualities of one another.
Key Outreach Statistics You Should Know
57% of C-level and VP buyers prefer to be contacted by phone.
82% of buyers research providers on LinkedIn before responding to outreach attempts.
80% of buyers prefer cold emails to cold calls.
62% of buyers want to hear from sellers when they’re actively seeking a solution to a problem.
Over 40% of sales professionals said that the phone is the most effective sales tool at their disposal.
51% of businesses communicate with clients over at least eight channels.
82% of consumers seek referrals from others before making a purchase.
Personalized subject lines boost response rate by 30.5%.
Related Reading
• Cold Sale
• Cold Prospecting
• How to Re-engage Lost Customers
• Professional Email Example
• Targeted Lead Generation
• Collaboration Email Template
• Email Closing Lines
• Cold Email Personalization
• Email Audit
• How to Get an Email Address From a Facebook Url
15 Outreach Methods That Build Real Relationships (Not Just Clicks)
Sales teams need effective outreach methods to boost engagement and drive conversions. Here are 15 strategies that can help you connect with your target audience and move them through the sales funnel.
1. Cold Emailing
Of all the sales outreach strategies I have mentioned here, cold emailing is one of the most effective. A successful email campaign can have an ROI of up to 4400% more than any other channel! This is one of the practical and scalable options for sales outreach. You need to have the right tools and techniques to execute your strategy. Here are some tips that will help you:
Subject Lines: As the saying goes, “First impression is the best impression.” Your cold email subject lines are your make-or-break moment. Use something that will interest the prospect to open the email. Think of what matters most to your prospects and how you can write that in a few words.
Personalization: Personalisation is a big trend in cold emailing now, and it’s rightfully so. You will receive better reply rates and can even establish stronger connections through personalization. In your email content, ensure that you provide prospects with value, such as how your solution can help address their problems or meet their requirements.
Follow-ups: After sending your first email, if you don’t receive a reply, it’s not a 'tata' or 'bye-bye'. Sometimes, they can miss your mail, or that mail might not have made an impact on them to reply to you. A successful cold email campaign typically consists of a sequence of emails following the initial one. Our study has shown that having at least three follow-up emails can increase your chances of getting a response by up to 28%.
Use AI: Choose the tools that come with built-in AI features. These will help you save time and increase the efficiency of your email campaigns, like:
AI Email Variables
Reply Categorization & Outcome Analysis
Bounce Detection & Auto-Pausing
Spam Word Detection, etc.
Automation: By letting automation handle many manual tasks, such as follow-ups and tracking campaign performance, you can save your sales team time, which can be used to focus on sales.
Scaling Outreach Without the Technical Overhead: How Inframail Empowers Agencies, Recruiters, and SDRs
At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We provide Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup to help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently. Main benefits of using our service:
Automated SPF, DKIM, and DMARC setup
Dedicated email servers for each user
16-hour priority support daily
Unlike traditional providers that charge per inbox and leave you wrestling with technical configurations, Inframail streamlines the entire process. We handle the complex infrastructure setup, allowing you to focus on reaching more prospects. Whether you're an agency looking to scale outreach, a recruiter connecting with candidates, or an SDR driving sales, Inframail provides the robust email infrastructure you need without the usual technical headaches and per-inbox costs. Start buying domains now and set up your email infrastructure today with our email infrastructure tool.
2. Cold Calling
While cold calling has lost its prime, it remains an excellent sales outreach method. With cold calling, you will be able to proactively approach your prospects directly, understand their requirements better, and share how your product or service can be the right solution. It’s one of the few strategies where you have the chance to interact with your client directly. You need to be well prepared, make fewer manual mistakes, and, most importantly, keep them comfortable talking to you.
Human-Centric Cold Calling: How to Build Real Rapport in a Scalable Sales Workflow
Here are some tips for your cold-calling campaigns:
Establish a Conversation: Avoid being overly salesy. Your goal should be to establish a connection with your prospects. Provide them with the value to build the trust to consider your solution.
Scripting: Prepare a flexible script that allows room for improvisation. Avoid sounding robotic or overly rehearsed.
Listen More Than You Talk: Give it a try. Make it comfortable for your users to share, vent, or express their thoughts freely. This will help to know more about them. Thus making it easy to offer your product or service like the perfect piece of a puzzle.
Timing: Call during hours when prospects are most likely to be available and receptive. When done right, you can turn a potentially skeptical listener into an interested prospect.
Scaling cold calling requires a significant amount of resources. Unfortunately, AI and automation do not do much, apart from helping with scripting and lead management.
3. LinkedIn Outreach (Social selling)
Almost everyone is online. So, why not use social selling for your sales outreach? Create content that addresses your audience’s pain points, and you will be able to attract leads through inbound marketing. You can also directly reach out to the decision-makers via outbound efforts. For B2B brands, I recommend utilizing LinkedIn to:
Identify prospects
Conduct research
Foster relationships
You can either use LinkedIn’s Sales Navigator to streamline lead discovery and outreach or use a LinkedIn lead finder to get more information about them. As for B2C, platforms like X (formerly Twitter), Instagram, and Facebook are more effective. Although LinkedIn can still be used for connecting with decision-makers.
Social Selling That Converts: Building Trust and Authority Without Burning Out Your Budget
Social media is also a great platform for building your brand and community, both of which can enhance trust and ultimately lead to increased conversions and sales. Here are some tips that will come in handy:
Optimize Your Profile: Ensure your profile reflects your expertise and credibility. A strong profile fosters trust among prospects, leading to more leads and connections.
Engage Authentically: Comment on posts, share relevant content, and participate in discussions to build rapport before pitching.
Focus on Establishing Trust: People need to trust you before they can invest their hard-earned money in your business.
So, earn trust by offering value and building connections. When done correctly, social selling can yield strong results, including high engagement and conversion rates. But, social media trends can change every 2-3 months, and it’s also hard to predict. You also need a dedicated team to produce content consistently, which can be challenging for brands with limited budgets.
4. Expos and Conferences
This is the best way to meet your prospects directly and showcase your offerings. And, I always believe: Direct interaction to Indirect interaction. You can attend or host expos, conferences, or even workshops. This will enable users to explore your solutions and make more informed decisions on their own.
Deliver Value: Let your prospects know how effective your offering is. For that, share case studies, product demos, and even share how your solution aligns with the industry trends.
Engage Actively: During expos, ask questions and listen to understand prospect needs. In webinars, use polls, Q&A sessions, and chat features to keep attendees engaged.
Follow Up Strategically: After the event, segment leads based on interest levels and send personalized follow-ups. For example, offer a free trial to hot leads or share recorded webinar content to nurture colder prospects.
While the initial cost to set up an expo, conference, or workshop is high, based on the ROI, I would say it’s worth it.
5. Community
Hosting community events, whether virtual or in-person, is an excellent way to engage your audience. Events offer a platform for face-to-face interaction, facilitating deeper connections and more meaningful conversations.
Popular Types of Community Events
Workshops or seminars on topics relevant to your community. Fundraising events for local causes. Volunteer-driven clean-up or service days. Here are some tips to create an effective strategy:
Identify the Right Communities: Check where your prospects are most active and start engaging with that community.
Provide Value Before Promoting: Yes, You Need Sales. But people will only buy from those they trust. Therefore, focus on building trust within the community. Share value by interacting with posts, sharing case studies, and other posts that offer value to the members.
Soft Selling Through Conversations: Once you establish trust with your prospects, you can subtly start introducing your offerings during relevant discussions. Don’t be overly salesy. By providing value and building trust, you can use the community as your source for sales.
6. Social Media Campaigns
Social media is an undeniably effective outreach channel. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Pinterest allow you to increase exposure to your brand in both written and visual media. If you plan and execute your outreach strategy carefully, you can gather the necessary information about your target audience. This will allow you to connect with them on a personal level. Remember to address negative criticism and feedback. How you handle negative reviews says a lot about how you do business and how much you care about your customers. So, use it as a learning opportunity and try to make things right with the poster. Also, remember that the content you share on social media must have valuable information for your audience to make your outreach meaningful.
Key Tactics for Social Media Outreach
Use hashtags relevant to your community.
Post visually appealing content like infographics and videos.
Engage in conversations with followers by responding to comments and messages.
Run polls and surveys to gather feedback.
Example:
An environmental organization could use social media to promote an eco-friendly lifestyle by sharing tips and success stories from local community members.
7. Email Newsletters
Email newsletters remain a powerful outreach strategy for reaching specific audience segments. By curating relevant content and sharing updates, you can keep your community informed and engaged.
How to Optimize Email Newsletters for Outreach
Personalize emails by addressing recipients by name.
Provide valuable content, such as:
Upcoming events
Community news
Volunteer opportunities
Include clear calls to action (CTAs).
Example:
A nonprofit focused on education might send out a monthly newsletter featuring success stories, fundraising opportunities, and upcoming community projects.
8. Surveys and Feedback Forms
Collecting feedback through surveys and forms is a great way to engage your community while gaining valuable insights into their needs and preferences. This enables organizations to tailor their strategies more effectively to meet the needs of their audience.
How to Use Surveys for Outreach
Keep surveys short and to the point.
Offer incentives, such as discounts or complimentary services, for participation.
Share the results and explain how the feedback will be used.
Example:
A community organization might use surveys to gather feedback about the most pressing local issues and then plan future outreach efforts accordingly.
9. Content Marketing
Content marketing involves creating and sharing valuable content to attract and engage your audience. Blogging, videos, podcasts, and infographics can all serve as tools to educate your community while highlighting your expertise.
Key Elements of Content Marketing for Outreach
Focus on topics that address your community’s needs and interests.
Use SEO strategies to make your content more discoverable online.
Regularly update your content to keep it relevant.
Example:
A mental health nonprofit could create a blog series on coping strategies for stress, offering resources for individuals seeking support.
10. Webinars and Virtual Workshops
With the rise of remote communication, webinars and virtual workshops have become powerful tools for outreach and engagement. They enable organizations to engage a global audience and share knowledge or expertise in a convenient and accessible format.
How to Run Effective Webinars
Promote the event in advance through email and social media.
Invite guest speakers or experts to add credibility.
Provide participants with downloadable resources or recordings.
Example:
A technology company could host a virtual workshop to demonstrate the use of its latest software, helping users better understand the product’s value.
11. Community-Based Advertising
Using targeted advertising in local media, such as newspapers, radio stations, or community websites, can help you reach a specific audience. It is especially effective for campaigns that aim to raise awareness within a particular region.
Tips for Effective Community Advertising
Choose media outlets with a strong local presence.
Use clear, compelling messages tailored to your community’s values.
Regularly monitor and evaluate the impact of your ads.
Example:
A local charity might run ads on community radio stations to promote a fundraising event and invite people to participate.
12. Podcasts
Podcasts provide a unique platform for sharing in-depth conversations, stories, and educational content. Hosting a podcast can help you engage with your audience on a personal level, offering insights into your organization’s values and mission.
How to Start a Podcast for Outreach
Choose topics that align with your community’s interests.
Invite guest speakers to share their expertise.
Promote your podcast episodes on social media and through email newsletters.
Example:
A nonprofit focused on youth development might create a podcast series featuring interviews with young community leaders, highlighting their success stories.
13. Referral Programs
This is like asking your friends to introduce you to other cool people. Provide incentives for current customers or contacts to refer you to others. Think of it as planting seeds that grow into a network.
Misstep:
Poor reward structures
Tips:
Offer something valuable in return, like a discount or a free service trial.
14. Handwritten Notes
If you did a double-take when you read this heading, you are probably not alone. It might seem obsolete to write handwritten letters when you can type something and have it in front of the recipient within seconds. Digital communication still lacks a personal touch. Handwritten notes for prospective customers can have a significant impact on whether they become buyers. Why not write notes to your most loyal customers, wishing them a happy birthday or offering congratulations on a new venture? In short, do anything you need to humanize your outreach strategy.
15. Automation
When you leverage automations for social media and other online communications, you can reach far more people. Automation tools allow you to reach people interested in your products and automatically trigger messages and communications based on factors such as their:
Behavior
Location
Interests
Shopping habits
Related Reading
• Nudge Email
• Nurture Email Sequence
• Omnichannel Lead Generation
• Email Outsourcing
• How to Change Email Signature in Outreach
• Email Management Tips
• Find the Email of the Twitter Account
• Unprofessional Email Address Examples
• Partnership Email Template
• Sales Funnel Email Sequence
10 Best Practices for Successful Outreach
1. Create an ICP and Buyer Personas
Regardless of the outreach strategy you choose, understanding your potential customers is crucial if you want to achieve significant sales numbers. This is where you can see the importance of the Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) and Buyer Persona. Your ICP is a hypothetical description of the company that would get the most value from your offering. This includes:
Industry
Company size
Specific challenges they face
Using Buyer Personas to Craft Outreach That Speaks Directly to Decision-Makers
A buyer persona takes you inside the company to see who the individuals are who are making the buying decisions within the organization. This document has details that include:
Job roles
Pain points
Goals
Personal preferences
Knowing these two will give you a crystal clear picture of your prospects and the decision-makers in the companies you want to approach. Ensure that these are as detailed as possible. This will help you plan your outreach strategies accordingly. Thus, you will be able to craft messages that feel like they were made for them. It impacts your prospects’ minds that you’re not just another salesperson but someone who has a potential solution to their problems.
2. Segment Your Audience (Based on Common Pain Points)
After gathering the data about your customers, it’s time to categorize them. This will help find your target audience. Start categorizing based on their characteristics, such as industry, job role, or challenges. Since manually doing it will take a lot of time, you can let AI take over the sorting process. Be sure to double-check for any errors.
Sales Prospecting in Action: How Customer Segmentation Sharpens Your Outreach Strategy
Let’s consider that you are selling an email marketing tool. So, after segmenting your customers, you noticed that group A is struggling with low open rates, and group B has issues with crafting compelling content. In this case, your tool is best suited for group A, so you can begin working on your sales outreach strategy. Continue researching and then initiate your outreach process. Consider sending a personalized email explaining how your email marketing tool can help improve open rates. This is a short summary of sales prospecting.
3. Find the Right Communication Channel
Finding the right place to spread your message is the first, and arguably most important, of our outreach strategy examples. It's essential to determine which communication channel will work best for your business. This will help you focus your energy and budget on television, newspapers, social media, email, or any other outreach strategy that produces the desired results. When you know your goal, it's easy to choose the right communication channel. For example, if you wish to increase impressions for your real estate brokerage, direct mail provides a personal touch and gives customers something tangible to see and feel.
4. Always Use Personalization
As of 2020, approximately 78% of marketers reported using personalization in email marketing. When you can relate to your target audience on a personal level, you're likely to convert them or at least keep their interest. Customers don't typically respond well to insincere or obvious appeals to their emotions. The best way to avoid this trap is to provide content that your readers need and that emphasizes the value of your products or services.
5. Select Your Sales Outreach Tool
With the right tool, your productivity will only have one way to go: UP. Things will even get better if you just let automation handle all the repetitive and easy tasks. With numerous sales outreach tools available on the market, it can become quite confusing. So, to make things easier, I’ll tell you the familiar places where you can make the best out of it with a sales tool. These include:
Lead Management Outreach & Engagement
Meeting Coordination
Pipeline Oversight
6. Use a CTA (Call-to-action)
A good CTA makes it clear what kind of action you want a customer to take. The content leads your reader to the pinnacle of the blog or email. With a great call-to-action, you can tip the balance in your favor and convince your customers to click on the button to buy your product or contact your company for more information. When you include more than one CTA, it can be even more powerful. The first pitch can come at the beginning of the content, and the second pitch can come at the end of the content, but that’s only one way to do it.
7. Follow Up with the Customer
Even if you don't hear back from recipients, it's essential to follow up within a few days. Your potential client may not see the first email or may forget to respond. Therefore, following up allows them to hear the original pitch with added urgency. That doesn’t mean you should annoy them! You can stop doing follow-ups if:
You closed the deal
The user asked not to be contacted again
You sent my 7th follow-up after taking the necessary intervals
Studies show that 80% of sales require at least five follow-ups. If you don’t do it, your competitors will. Convert those leads. Here are some things to keep in mind when writing follow-up emails:
Timing Matters: Space out your emails strategically. Let’s say 3 or 7 days before you send your next one. You can use the help of tools like SalesHandy to automate reminders and schedule follow-ups based on recipient behavior.
Provide Value in Every Touchpoint: Since the past emails didn’t work, don’t send them the same thing again. With each mail, try to increase the value provided or try to address the prospect’s problems better.
Share a Relevant Case Study or Testimonial: If you have worked with similar clients, you can show their case study or show how the solutions you offered have helped others.
Smart Follow-Ups: Balancing Persistence and Respect in Your Outreach Strategy
You can increase the reply chance by offering some great discounts or longer free trials. Also, please avoid generic terms like ‘Just checking in.’ In that case, you will hear another generic reply: ‘Not interested.’ If you are not receiving a reply from one source, I can try reaching out to them through other channels, but please ensure that you do not come across as creepy (that’s one way to give them a lasting impression of your brand). Make sure to know when to stop. Don’t cross into annoyance territory. Also, ensure that all your emails have a one-click ‘Unsubscribe’ button.
8. Set SMART Goals
Setting proper goals will make it easier to manage your resources and achieve growth more quickly. That’s why in this smart age, your goals should also be smart. No, quite literally! I’m talking about this.
SMART
Specific: Be specific about what you want to achieve.
Measurable: Always track your progress. If you are using AI and automated tools in your workflow, it will be easy to get data.
Achievable: Set practical goals based on your resources.
Relevant: Ensure the goals you set align with the broader business objectives.
Time-Bound: Set realistic deadlines to increase motivation and keep the momentum on.
For example, if you have an email marketing tool, you can set your SMART goal as increasing demo sign-ups from startup companies by 30% within the next quarter. This sets the direction toward where your sales team should concentrate its efforts for the next quarter. This focus ensures that every action they take is a step toward achieving these well-defined objectives.
9. Improve Customer Relationships, Reviews, and Referrals
While sales outreach strategies are often viewed as a means to attract new customers, they should also focus on nurturing existing ones. You can drive more sales by delivering excellent support, providing consistent after-sales service, and rewarding customer loyalty. For example, offering early access to new features or exclusive discounts can encourage customers to upgrade their plans or renew their subscriptions.
Turning Customers into Advocates: How to Build a Referral Engine That Actually Works
Satisfied customers can also become advocates. You can invite them to refer others in exchange for rewards like:
Discounts
Coupons
Referral bonuses
A simple shoutout on their channels can help expand your organic reach. Referral marketing isn’t without its challenges. Many customers won’t engage unless the offer is genuinely compelling.
10. Track the Campaign and See Where You Can Improve
Even the most brilliant outreach strategy won't deliver results if it's not tracked. Understanding when and why prospects say no helps you refine your approach and create more effective campaigns that drive conversions. Remember, choosing a strategy is just the beginning. Ongoing tracking is essential. Outreach trends evolve, and your plan must evolve with them. Use analytics to monitor progress, and if you’re leveraging AI and automation tools, take advantage of the insights they offer at every stage of your outreach.
Continuous Optimization: The Key to Staying Ahead in Sales Outreach
To keep improving, make it a habit to:
Monitor performance metrics
Stay updated on industry trends
Encourage team feedback
Test, iterate, and optimise
Listen to customer feedback
Adapt based on what you learn. If you don’t, your competitors will and they’ll claim the market you’re trying to reach.
Start Buying Domains Now and Set Up Your Email Infrastructure Today
At Inframail, we are revolutionizing cold email infrastructure with unlimited inboxes at a single flat rate. We help agencies, recruiters, and SDRs scale their outreach efforts efficiently with Microsoft-backed deliverability, dedicated IP addresses, and automated technical setup.
Here’s a closer look at what we offer:
Reliable Email Deliverability
Email deliverability is the rate at which emails reach their intended recipients. When you send cold emails, you want as many of them as possible to reach the prospects' inboxes, not their spam folders. Inframail offers Microsoft-backed deliverability to ensure your outreach efforts are successful.
Automated Technical Setup
Setting up a cold email infrastructure can be a complex process. To optimize deliverability, you need to configure technical settings, such as SPF, DKIM, and DMARC records. Inframail automates this process, allowing you to start reaching prospects sooner.
Unlimited Inboxes
Most cold email providers charge per inbox. This is problematic for businesses that want to scale their outreach because it forces them to keep their operations small to avoid steep costs. Inframail takes a different approach by offering unlimited inboxes for a single flat rate.
Dedicated Email Servers
Inframail provides dedicated email servers for each user. This way, your outreach efforts won’t be affected by the operations of other businesses. It helps optimize deliverability, allowing your cold emails to reach a broader range of prospects.
Priority Support
When you’re trying to set up your cold email infrastructure and get started with outreach, you don’t want to wait days for support to respond to your questions. Inframails offers 16-hour priority support daily to help you get the assistance you need as quickly as possible.
Focus on Outreach
With Inframail, you can focus on your outreach without getting bogged down by technical configurations. We streamline the entire process, enabling you to reach more prospects and grow your business.
Related Reading
• Lead Nurturing Tools
• Podcast Email Examples
• How to Cold Email for an Internship
• How to Sign an Email Professionally
• How to See if Someone Read Your Email on Outlook
• How Many Emails Can Be Sent at Once in Gmail
• Best Sales Acceleration Tools
• How Long Should a Newsletter Be
• Sales Accepted Lead vs Sales Qualified Lead
• Email Quote Template
• How to Cold Email for Research
• PR Pitch Email Example
Table of Content
Address
© Inframail LLC. 2023
228 Park Ave S.
PMB 166934
New York, New York 10003-1502
© Inframail LLC. 2023
228 Park Ave S. PMB 166934
New York, New York 10003-1502
Social
Compliance
Compare
Compare
© 2023 Inframail. All Rights Reserved.