Outbound Lead Generation: Top 6 Strategies from Experts

Outbound lead generation is a necessary part of any B2B sales strategy for a simple reason:

It allows you to get your product in front of prospects who might not even be aware yet that they could benefit from it.

This means that a well-crafted outbound lead generation strategy could significantly expand your lead pool and result in more conversions & higher ROI - something all businesses strive for.

In this article, we’ll share the top 6 tested and tried outbound lead generation strategies to help you figure out how to build your own successful outbound lead generation funnel.

We’ll begin by answering the quintessential question 👇

What is outbound lead generation?

The simplest definition of outbound lead generation would be that it is a strategic marketing approach in which businesses actively reach out to potential prospects, aiming to convert them into leads and paying customers.

To achieve that, outbound lead generation strategies usually rely on several common tactics:

Cold calling
Cold email campaigns
Direct mail
TV and radio advertisements
Social selling
Networking events

So, as can be seen from this, unlike inbound lead generation campaigns, which attract leads through content and by driving organic interest, the outbound lead generation process involves direct outreach methods.

To make sure there’s no room left for misconceptions, let’s quickly list the key differences between inbound and outbound lead generation:

Approach - Outbound lead generation involves a proactive and outreach-based approach, that entails reaching out to potential leads to generate interest. Inbound is more passive, focusing on drawing leads to your brand through more subtle strategies (content, SEO, etc.).
Main focus - Outbound lead generation emphasizes direct product promotion, leveraging persuasion to close more sales quickly, regardless of potential leads’ interest levels. Inbound, on the other hand, relies on quality content to raise brand awareness and attract leads who are already aware of their needs and are actively searching for a solution.
Target audience - Outbound marketing targets a much broader audience, including leads at the awareness or consideration stage and prospects who might not know they could use your product. Inbound marketing is focused solely on leads who have already expressed a certain level of interest in your product.
Personalization - Outbound strategies are usually more generic and widely set due to their wider audience and product focus. Conversely, Inbound is all about personalization and appealing to leads’ specific needs and interests.
Cost - Outbound can be more expensive per lead, as you have to invest in large-scale marketing campaigns and risk generating very few leads. Inbound, on the other hand, is typically more cost-efficient, as highly targeted, personalized campaigns usually yield better results in terms of the number of generated leads and successful conversions.
ROI - Outbound is faster to yield ROI due to its focus on generating quick, short-term results (e.g., one-off sales). Inbound tends to nurture long-term relationships, meaning you typically have to wait longer to get ROI.

Seeing these differences—especially ones regarding cost, ROI, and the general approach—might make you wonder why businesses still leverage outbound lead generation strategies in the digital age, which is all about personalization and highly targeted efforts.

There are a few very good reasons why outbound marketing still has an important place in effective B2B sales strategies, including:

Immediate results—Since outbound directly reaches out to prospects, pushing your message across channels to generate more leads and conversion, it can often deliver results much faster than inbound, which focuses on nurturing lasting relationships.
More control - Relying on outbound methods gives businesses more control over the entire outreach process, as they are in charge of everything from messaging to where and how potential customers come into contact with their brand.
Direct engagement - Engaging potential prospects directly and persuading them to buy your solution can get them to convert into leads and customers faster than inbound methods, which rely exclusively on self-driven interest.
Expanding on new markets more easily - Outbound tactics can help enter new markets where brand or problem awareness is very low, making inbound strategies pointless or too slow to generate results.

The importance of outbound lead generation in today's market

Today’s market is oversaturated with everything - information, content, special offers, etc. - as everyone is competing to attract leads’ attention and position their brand as the best among many others.

So, in an age where consumers have more choices and information at their fingertips than ever, outbound lead generation continues to play a vital role in marketing strategies, helping you beat your competition to the punch.

Namely, relying on inbound alone means waiting for leads to notice and come to you, which can result in many lost opportunities. Outbound, on the other hand, lets you take control of your growth by proactively reaching out to potential customers and helping them understand why your solution is the best for them.

Moreover, outbound can be especially beneficial in B2B sales, as decision-makers are often too busy to be actively looking for new solutions.

By initiating contact through various outbound methods (e.g., cold emails, calls, etc.), companies can introduce their offering to businesses fitting their ICP that might not have found them otherwise.

Finally, in addition to its direct impact on sales, outbound lead generation supports broader business goals by expanding market reach, ensuring that your message is heard even by prospects who may not yet be familiar with your solution.

This makes it perfect for filling in the gaps in audience engagement left by inbound, which focuses only on leads who already know they might benefit from your solution.

Therefore, combining outbound and inbound methods, depending on specific goals and the type of product you sell, might be the best choice for most companies, enabling you to maximize your reach and conversions.

Top 6 outbound lead generation strategies from experts

When aiming to build a high-converting outbound lead generation funnel, it’s best to stick to tested tactics backed by industry experts.

Below, we’ll explore some of the best outbound lead-generation strategies, helping you design a winning outbound approach for your product and specific audience.

1. Cold calling

Cold calls are one of the oldest outbound lead generation tactics that entail calling potential customers via phone to introduce your product or service and determine their interest levels.

However, despite being one of the oldest tricks in the marketing book, cold calling remains a powerful tool in today’s digital landscape - provided it’s done right.

To minimize the chances of potential prospects hanging up on you before you’ve even had the chance to make a pitch, there are several best practices you can apply, including:

Start with thorough preparation - Before picking up the phone, you should research the prospect (visit their website, LinkedIn profile, or use lead enrichment tools to find the necessary information), identify key decision-makers within companies to ensure you’re speaking with the right person, and define the goal of the call (book a meeting, gather information, introduce your product, etc.).
Personalize your approach - Avoid generic, one-size-fits-all pitches at all costs. Tailor your calls by referencing specific pain points, industry trends, or relevant news, making them more engaging and relevant to prospects.
Mind the timing - Research suggests that certain times of day and days of the week yield better results for cold calling. However, as this is not strict science, it’s best to experiment with different times to identify when your target audience is most responsive.
Don’t forget to follow up - If your first call doesn’t result in a conversion, don’t give up, as a well-timed follow-up call or message can make all the difference. Just remember - persistence is key in marketing.
Draft good call scripts—Improvisation can only get you so far regarding cold calling. To ensure better results, it’s best to design good call scripts your reps can use when reaching out.

When it comes to the last point - creating call scripts - you must be wondering how to do that, especially if you’ve never dabbled in the art of cold calling.

To ensure that your calls will be as effective in generating leads as possible, focus on the following elements:

Opening statement - How you begin your call is crucial for how it will end. Try to hook your prospect straight away by mentioning something relevant and compelling that grabs attention from the get-go (e.g., industry trend, their recent achievement, major pain points for their industry, etc.).
Value proposition - You should communicate the value your product or service offers clearly and concisely, without much fluff. Highlight how you can solve a specific problem or improve the prospect’s current situation.
Engagement questions - Ask open-ended questions to engage the prospect and uncover their needs or pain points. This helps to create a two-way conversation rather than a monologue, increasing the chance that the call will last long enough for you to score.
Close with a CTA - End the call with a clear CTA, whether it’s setting up a meeting, sending more information, or another specific next step. Be polite but assertive in steering the conversation towards this goal.

However, there’s a catch with cold calling.

Regardless of how well-prepared you are, you’ll often face objections and point-blank rejections.

To handle them, you should:

Prepare responses for the most common objections you can anticipate (e.g., lack of resources, satisfaction with a current solution, etc.).
Pay close attention to objections, as they can often provide insight into prospects’ deeper concerns, which you can turn to your advantage.
Stay positive and persistent when faced with rejection, and try to use it as an opportunity to refine your strategy by politely asking for feedback.

2. Cold email outreach

Cold email outreach is one of the most effective outbound lead-generation strategies to date, especially now when most businesses rely on emails as their primary communication tool.

However, to stand out in a crowded inbox and generate high open and response rates, it’s essential to craft emails that are:

Attention-grabbing
Personalized
Strategically timed

Here are some tips to help you master cold email outreach in no time:

Craft compelling subject lines - Most prospects will take one glance at an email and shoot it down unless it has something that stands out. To increase the chance of having your email opened, you should pique their curiosity by hinting at some unique value or opportunity while staying clear and concise.
Create engaging opening statements - This is the second most important thing in cold emailing, as it can encourage prospects to actually read through the email and consider it. Make the opening sentence personalized and highlight the value as soon as possible.
Focus on personalization throughout the copy - Everything from the first to the final sentence in your email should be tailored to the leads you’re reaching out to. This will help build trust and credibility and increase open, response, and, hopefully, conversion rates.
Pay attention to the timing and frequency of follow-up emails - Some prospects need an extra nudge in the form of follow-up emails. However, try to strike the right balance between being politely persistent and downright pushy. Limit the number of follow-ups to no more than 3-5, send them after 2-3 days for the first and 4-7 days for subsequent follow-ups, and aim to provide a new angle or extra value with each to avoid being repetitive.

Bonus resource: We’ll share some customizable cold email templates that have proven their efficiency below.

Template 1: Problem-Solution Approach

Subject: {Prospect’s Name}, Solving {Specific Problem} at {Company Name}

Hi {Prospect’s Name},

I noticed that {Company} is focused on {industry-specific goal}. Many businesses in your space struggle with {specific problem}, leading to {negative consequence}.

At {Your Company Name}, we specialize in {solution} that helps companies like yours {positive outcome}. For instance, {brief success story of a similar company}.

Would you be open to a brief call to discuss how we can help {Company} achieve {specific benefit}?

Looking forward to your thoughts!

Best regards,

[Your Name]

Template 2: Curiosity and Value

Subject: {Prospect’s Name} Here’s a Quick Idea to Boost {Specific Outcome}

Hi {Prospect’s Name},

I’ve been following {Company Name} and am impressed with your work in {specific area}. I wanted to share a quick idea that could potentially boost {specific outcome} by {percentage or specific metric}.

We recently helped {similar company} achieve {specific result} using {brief description of solution}. I think it could be a great fit for {Company} as well.

Could we set up a quick call next week to explore this further?

Thanks for your time,

{Your Name}

Template 3: Follow-Up After No Response

Subject: {Prospect’s Name}, Did You Get a Chance to Look at My Previous Email?

Hi {Prospect’s Name},

I wanted to follow up on my last email regarding {specific solution} that could help {Company Name} with {specific problem}.

I understand you’re busy, so if this isn’t the right time, just let me know. However, I’d love to discuss how we can assist with {specific benefit} at your convenience.

Would {specific date/time} work for a quick chat?

Best regards,

{Your Name}

3. Social selling

Social selling is another powerful outbound lead generation strategy that has transformed how businesses engage with prospects.

Namely, social selling is all about leveraging social media presence to build strong personal brands and meaningful engagement with prospects.

LinkedIn is the first social media platform that comes to mind regarding prospecting and outbound lead gen, as B2B businesses in particular rely on it.

If you’d like to make the most of social selling on LinkedIn, you should focus on several things:

Optimize your profile - Your LinkedIn profile is often the first impression prospects will have of you. Ensure it’s professional, complete, and aligned with your brand.
Use advanced search - LinkedIn’s advanced search features enable you to find and connect with prospects based on specific criteria, such as industry, job title, company size, and location. You can use these filters to create a targeted list of potential leads.
Buy LinkedIn Sales Navigator - LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers additional tools for more sophisticated prospecting, such as lead recommendations, real-time insights, and enhanced search capabilities.
Share valuable content that resonates with your target audience - This can include anything from industry insights and case studies to your own thought leadership articles. Regularly engaging with your network through content helps establish your authority and keeps you top-of-mind with prospects.

Personalize connection requests - Instead of just sending an empty connection request, you can mention something specific about the prospect’s profile, such as a recent post they shared or a mutual connection. This shows that you’re genuinely interested in them, helping you lay the foundation for a relationship early on.

Regardless of whether you rely on LinkedIn and/or other social media, some outbound lead generation principles apply to each platform, such as:

Maintaining consistent messaging across all platforms you use for social selling.
Positioning yourself as an industry expert by regularly sharing valuable insights and articles.
Engaging with your network in a genuine and helpful way by commenting on posts, participating in relevant discussions, joining industry groups, etc.

4. Paid advertising

Paid advertising, or PPC, can also help generate more outbound leads, pushing your brand and product on all the platforms where your target audience resides.

To ensure optimal efficiency, there are several steps to follow:

Choose the right platforms - Consider where your potential customers are most active and focus on those platforms to avoid wasting your budget.
Create compelling ad copy and visuals - Regardless of the type of ad and platform you display it on, ensure your ad is visually appealing, concise, and includes a clear and compelling CTA.
Optimize corresponding landing pages - Ensure that the landing page linked to your ad is optimized for conversions. It should be relevant to the ad content, easy to navigate, and feature a clear CTA.

Finally, although precise targeting isn’t as important in outbound as in inbound campaigns, you should still ensure that you’re reaching the audience that’s most likely to convert into leads and paying customers to maximize your campaigns’ efficiency.

5. Networking events

Networking events - conferences, expos, tradeshows, workshops, seminars, etc. - provide opportunities to build personal relationships, establish trust, and create meaningful connections with potential leads.

Although in today’s digital world, the value of face-to-face interaction is often underestimated, networking events remain one of the more effective ways of generating high-quality leads.

Of course, just showing up at random events won’t do you much good, meaning you have to think this strategy through from top to bottom. To ensure success, you need to:

Pick the right events based on your industry, product, and target audience.
Prepare your pitch beforehand and bring the right materials, such as business cards, brochures, or other marketing materials, to hand out to prospects.
Engage in meaningful conversations to make as many valuable connections as possible.
Follow up after events by connecting with prospects on LinkedIn or sending personalized emails referencing a chat you had at the event and offering additional value (e.g., a relevant case study, article, or introduction to another important contact).

Pro note: Webinars and online workshops also count as networking events, enabling you to reach audiences who are not geographically close.

You can use these just as successfully to build meaningful relationships and establish your brand as an industry leader.

6. Automating sales outreach

Finally, no marketing strategy is complete without automation.

Automation has revolutionized sales and marketing, enabling marketers and sales reps to streamline various processes and boost efficiency and productivity across levels.

Namely, sales automation tools, such as HubSpot, Salesforce, Outreach, etc., can help with various outbound lead generation processes, such as:

Lead scoring - Automation tools can automatically score and prioritize leads based on predefined criteria, ensuring that your outbound sales team focuses on the most promising leads, improving efficiency and conversion rates.
Email sequencing - This enables you to put cold email campaigns on autopilot while ensuring that each email is personalized and sent at the right time.

Task assignment - Sales automation tools can create and assign tasks to team members based on specific triggers, such as a lead reaching a certain stage in the sales funnel. This reduces the manual workload and ensures no step in the sales process is missed.
Data collection and analysis - Most automation tools gather and analyze data from various touchpoints, providing valuable insights into what strategies are working and where adjustments are needed.

Finally, you should integrate your sales automation tools with your CRM systems to ensure that all the necessary data is stored in a single place for better management.

This way, you’ll be able to streamline relevant processes better, especially lead nurturing. Namely, leads can be automatically segmented and placed into targeted campaigns based on their behavior, data, and previous interactions with your sales and marketing, ensuring a personalized approach across levels.

How to build an outbound lead generation funnel (Step-by-step guide)

All that’s left is to explain how to create your very own high-converting outbound lead generation funnel.

Let’s go!

Step 1: Identify and target your ICP

Naturally, the first step to crafting an efficient outbound lead generation funnel is knowing who your ICP is.

That way, you can focus your efforts on audiences most likely to respond well to your outreach, getting higher conversion rates and optimizing budget spend across levels.

It’s in your best interest to create very detailed ICPs, which will help your outbound marketing team understand who to target with their campaigns.

To do that, you should:

Collect data on existing customers, including demographic, firmographic, and behavioral data, to determine their common traits and who’s most likely to buy your product.
Incorporate negative personas to contrast your ICP. These are the individuals and companies that are unlikely to convert or deliver very little value, making them better to avoid altogether.
Pinpoint key characteristics shared between your best-performing customers and deals.

Once you’ve done this, you should segment your audience to enable better targeting.

You can do this by applying various filters and criteria, such as:

Demographic factors (age, gender, job role, etc.).
Firmographic (industry, revenue, employee count, etc.).
Technographic (the tool stack a company uses).
Behavioral factors (buying habits, intent, product usage, etc.).

This is where tools like Warmly come in especially handy.

With it, you can identify your website visitors, i.e., existing leads, and enrich them with detailed B2B and intent data, allowing you to detect their common traits.

The platform provides insights into everything from basic contact info and demographics to firmographics and technographics, revealing how they interact with your website and how likely they are to buy.

In turn, identifying your current hottest leads can help create a detailed and accurate ICP, allowing you to generate more leads and conversions across levels.

Step 2: Craft an irresistible value proposition

Once you’ve determined who you’re going to focus on, it’s time to create a value proposition potential leads will find difficult to resist.

A good value proposition clearly communicates your product or service's unique benefits and why it’s the best choice for your target audience.

And the best ones not only grab attention but also resonate deeply with your audience by aligning with their needs and pain points.

To ensure that your value proposition is as compelling as it gets, follow several guidelines:

Identify your unique selling points—Determining what sets you apart from the competition can help create a strong value proposal. This could be anything from price to quality, customer service, innovation, or any other distinctive feature.
Be clear and concise - Your value proposition should answer the question: “Why should I choose your product or service?” Avoid overly complex terms and fluff, and focus on delivering a straightforward and impactful message.
Emphasize the exact benefits prospects will experience - Instead of just listing features, explain how these features translate into tangible benefits for the user. For example, instead of saying “Our software has a user-friendly interface,” say “Save time and reduce frustration with our easy-to-use software that simplifies your daily tasks.”
Use customer-centric language - Focus on your audience’s pain points, needs, and priorities and align your messaging with their expected outcomes.

Here are a few examples of brands that have nailed it with their value proposition to get a better idea of how it should look like:

Spotify: “Music for everyone.” - Simple, to-the-point, and memorable.
Trello: “Trello brings all your tasks, teammates, and tools together.” - The focus is on the convenience of smoother team collaboration anywhere, anytime.

3. Warmly: “Convert website visitors. Instantly.” - No fluff, straight to the point, and focuses on what Warmly delivers.

Step 3: Design and implement your outreach strategy

Next is designing your outreach strategy - placing your messaging in front of potential prospects and getting them to consider it.

To achieve that, you first need to choose the right channel for your outbound campaign, considering factors like:

Target audience and where they’re most likely to be found.
Budget and resources you have at hand.
Pros and cons of each channel (e.g., LinkedIn is great for B2B outreach but can be less efficient for B2C, cold calling provides direct engagement but can be difficult to pull off, etc.).

However, the best approach that ensures you’ll reach as many potential customers as possible is developing a multichannel outreach strategy that involves engaging prospects across multiple channels.

Here’s an example of how you might create a multi-touch approach:

Start by mapping out the typical journey your prospects take from initial contact to conversion - Identify key touchpoints where engagement is most effective, such as initial awareness, consideration, and decision-making stages.
Create a touchpoint sequence accordingly, which could look like this:
Initial email introduction outlining the value proposition.
LinkedIn connection request or message referencing the email.
Personalized direct mail or additional mail with extra resources.
A follow-up call to discuss the prospect’s needs and expectations and book a demo.
Remember to personalize each step of the way—tailor every outreach action to the individual lead’s needs and context.
Find the optimal timing for every touchpoint - Don’t overwhelm prospects with too much contact, but also try not to let too much time pass between steps to keep them engaged and interested.

After that, you just have to constantly monitor and optimize your strategies, as we’ll explain below.

Step 4: Analyze and optimize your funnel

By continuously monitoring the performance of each stage of your funnel, testing different approaches, and making data-driven adjustments, you can enhance conversion rates and drive better results over time.

Namely, regular monitoring and analysis is essential, as it can help you identify potential bottlenecks, adapt to market changes promptly, enhance lead quality, optimize budget spend, and much more.

One of the best ways to check how well your funnel performs and whether there’s room for improvement is to perform A/B testing of various funnel stages.

You can apply A/B testing to virtually any segment and aspect, including:

Email subject lines and copy
Call scripts
Landing pages
Ads
Closing techniques
And more

Finally, once you’ve identified what works well and what can use some adjustments, there are several things you can do to optimize your funnel and boost your conversion rates, such as:

Refine lead qualification criteria to prioritize those that are most likely to convert.
Personalizing outreach and nurturing to improve engagement.
Improve follow-up timing by analyzing historical data to find optimal intervals for sending follow-ups.
Leveraging social proof such as reviews, testimonials, and case studies, especially at critical decision-making points.

Wrapping up

There it is - all you need to know about the nuances of outbound lead generation and how to master it.

So, what next?

Well, one thing is certain. While outbound lead generation is here to stay, as it can help you cut through the noise faster in today’s competitive market, some refinement over time will be necessary for optimal results.

Emphasizing quality over quantity is the only way to ensure sustainability and long-term success. This means leveraging quality data to ensure that you’re targeting the right leads and applying tailored outreach and nurturing strategies across levels.

Therefore, the best approach is to combine both inbound and outbound lead generation strategies for optimal results, ensuring you’ll reach your TAM from top to bottom.

And if you’re looking for an extra hand, Warmly can help optimize both inbound and outbound funnels by uncovering your hottest leads and providing you with all the insights you need to close more deals easily.