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Stage 2 of 9 · Most outbound fails here, not in the copy. Wrong person, wrong problem, no reply.
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There are only two ways to get customers. Before you build a list, you have to know which one you are doing, because they need completely different offers.
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Someone already knows they have the problem and is actively looking for a solution. Your job is just to be in front of them at that moment.
They are searching "web design agency". They are comparing vendors. They asked for referrals. The demand already exists. You are catching it.
This is warm. The offer can be simple, because you are not convincing anyone that they need this. They already decided.
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Nobody is looking for you. They are doing their job, the problem exists, but it is not top of mind and they are not shopping.
Your job is to create the demand: interrupt them, make the problem visible, and give them a reason to care today.
This needs a real front-end offer. You are asking someone to want something they were not thinking about five seconds ago.
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This is the sentence to remember.
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Outbound is a demand generation method, by definition. You are emailing people who did not ask to hear from you and were not looking for you.
This is why outbound copy that sounds like a landing page fails. Landing page copy is written for capture demand, for someone already searching. Sending it cold, to someone with no intent, gets ignored.
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| Capture demand | Demand generation | |
|---|---|---|
| Their state | Actively looking | Not thinking about it |
| Temperature | Warm | Cold |
| Channels | SEO, ads, referrals, inbound | Outbound, cold email, cold outreach |
| What you need | To be present and credible | A front-end offer that creates the want |
| Message | "We do this, here is why us" | "Here is a problem you have, and something useful about it" |
| Competition | Everyone they are comparing you to | Their inbox and their attention |
Most people run outbound as pure demand generation and stop there. There is a second play that turns outbound into a demand-capture channel.
<aside> 1️⃣
Run your outbound campaigns.
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<aside> 2️⃣
Send them to a specific landing page.
Not your homepage. A page built for that campaign, that offer, that audience.
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<aside> 3️⃣
Install a visitor identification tool like RB2B.
It shows you who visited that page, even when they never filled in anything.
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Almost nobody replies to a cold email cold. Before they reply, they check you out. They open the website. They look at your LinkedIn. They read the pricing page. Then they decide whether to answer.
That research happens whether they reply or not. Most of the time, they research you and then do nothing, and you never learn it happened.