{"id":6451,"date":"2021-10-05T07:33:00","date_gmt":"2021-10-05T14:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/?p=6451"},"modified":"2021-10-05T15:48:40","modified_gmt":"2021-10-05T22:48:40","slug":"shoot-your-shot-a-guide-to-effective-cold-outreach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/blog\/shoot-your-shot-a-guide-to-effective-cold-outreach\/","title":{"rendered":"Shoot Your Shot: A Guide to Effective Cold Outreach"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p>\u201cWhat response rate do you get with cold outreach?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In a recent <a href=\"https:\/\/www.crowdcast.io\/sparktoro_official\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SparkToro Office Hours<\/a>, someone asked me this question. It\u2019s at least 80%. Earlier this year, I had a 100% response rate with a batch of messages.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My approach? I invest serious time qualifying my lead list and researching my audience before I send messages. This requires extra energy and effort, but if you\u2019re seeking results, the payoff is worth it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Maybe you\u2019re a team of two, launching on ProductHunt for the first time. Maybe you\u2019re flying solo on media pitches because you don\u2019t have the budget for a PR agency. Or you\u2019re job-hunting, filling out a bunch of \u201cContact Us\u201d forms on the websites of your favorite companies. No matter the size of your outreach team or the tactical outcomes you\u2019re seeking to accomplish, the techniques that I detail below will boost your response rate and ROI.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In this guide, I\u2019ll start with the elements of an <em>ineffective <\/em>cold message, then reveal how to improve moving forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><em>If you prefer this information in video format, check out the presentation-version of this guide from our September 30th SparkToro Office Hours session:<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p align=\"center\"><iframe loading=\"lazy\" align=\"center\" width=\"728\" height=\"410\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/cf1PI7Q9RL4\" title=\"YouTube video player\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Why Cold Outreach Is Often Ineffective<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When cold outreach isn\u2019t working, it\u2019s typically some combination of the following:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>It\u2019s irrelevant to the recipient.<\/strong> You reached the wrong person. Maybe you emailed a CMO when you should have emailed a Director of Brand Partnerships. Or you pitched your DTC beverage company to a test kitchen cook instead of the food editor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There\u2019s no Ooh! Moment.<\/strong> Think beyond clickbait. In this scenario, the recipient opened your email and the first couple lines didn\u2019t resonate. It could be that you tried too hard to lead with value and your message seems spammy. Or you laid out a pain point that isn\u2019t relatable to the recipient. The problem boils down to the recipient not having that moment of, \u201cOoh! What\u2019s this? I need to keep reading.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>There\u2019s no Aha! Moment.<\/strong> This is about value. Maybe the recipient read your message and understood it, but they just didn\u2019t see enough value in what you\u2019re pitching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>The request seems big.<\/strong> It may not sound (to you) like a big deal to \u201cpick someone\u2019s brain.\u201d But, the recipient might wonder what, specifically, you\u2019re curious about, whether you\u2019re asking to exchange emails, hop on a call, join a Zoom meeting, or meet in person. When potential options arise, busy people might feel it\u2019s too much of a cognitive load to reply\u2026 so they don\u2019t.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>People don\u2019t know you.<\/strong> It\u2019s not about being famous; it\u2019s about being clear. Maybe your title is vague, or when the recipient looked you up on LinkedIn, your request didn\u2019t look compatible with your profile. Maybe your company feels too much like a competitor, or too irrelevant, or they\u2019ve had bad outreach from associated parties in the past.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>You\u2019re asking for the wrong thing.<\/strong> This is a big one. Maybe you were bold and asked to deliver a product demo when you should have offered an ebook, a blog post, or a case study. Or, you asked for a retweet before confirming that your contact actually uses Twitter to share stories like yours.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>And maybe, <em>just maybe<\/em>, you\u2019re asking too much of a stranger. But before we dig into frameworks for how to change course, I\u2019d like to ask that you consider my philosophical approach to cold outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Amanda\u2019s 5 Rules of Cold Outreach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Like most marketing tactics, there isn\u2019t a single \u201cright\u201d way to do outreach. These guiding principles have helped me be successful every time I\u2019ve done cold outreach, so they might work for you. Over 10 years and dozens of cold campaigns \u2014 for B2B services, PR pitches, product demos, and job hunting \u2014 I\u2019ve averaged at least an 80% response rate. (Despite that, I carry a chip on my shoulder because I shoot for 100%.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>My five rules are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rule #1: Give a s*** about the other person. <\/strong>Cold outreach has a bad reputation. Too many people see this as a numbers game, and they do very little to qualify their list of leads. But even just taking a couple of minutes to familiarize yourself with the person you\u2019re about to email will help you stand out from the crowd. If the person has an online presence, check out some of their recent social media posts. Read their recent blog posts. Do a quick Google News search.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rule #2: You cannot demand attention from a stranger. <\/strong>This is related to the previous rule. Even when you research the person you\u2019re messaging, it\u2019s helpful to remind yourself that you\u2019re both still strangers, and they don\u2019t owe you anything. Be careful about asking for a favor right off the bat.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rule #3: Talk like a human. <\/strong>If you\u2019re a marketer, you\u2019re trained to lead with value and outcomes. But when it comes to a cold message, be a human before being a marketer. If you write your email like you write marketing copy, your message is likely to go unread or be reported as spam.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rule #4: Be genuine. Smart people have good B.S. radars. <\/strong>Related to the previous rule, smart people will immediately know whether you\u2019re being inauthentic. And you are trying to reach out to smart people, aren\u2019t you?&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For instance, if you were to email Rand Fishkin with, \u201cHey Rand, huge fan of your work. I have a productivity tool that I\u2019m sure you\u2019ll love. Can we schedule a quick 15-minute demo?\u201d He would see how empty that compliment is.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A better message? &#8220;Hey Rand, read your blog post about Chill Work a couple weeks back. 100% with you on outcomes &gt; input. I read in the post that you don&#8217;t use productivity or time-tracking tools yourself, but&#8230; maybe you&#8217;re still up to take a look at what we&#8217;ve built at Acme and share with folks who do?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Core concept: instead of showing you and your team how many hours you spent on a task, our app rewards meaningful outcomes by tracking X and Y. I\u2019d love it if you checked out our 60-second video if you\u2019d like to take a closer look and possibly share with people who use time-tracking tools.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Even though the \u201cbetter\u201d example is longer, it\u2019s written from a place of genuine affinity and connection.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Rule #5: Don\u2019t waste their time or your time. <\/strong>Get to the point. Better yet, spend <em>more<\/em> time upfront qualifying your lead list so that you can spend <em>less<\/em> time sending low-odds messages. We\u2019ll dig deeper into improving your odds of a successful response in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">A 5-Step Guide to Cold Outreach<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">1. Start your list with cluster sources<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Creating an outreach list from scratch is often the hardest part. Start with cluster sources, and you\u2019ll move a lot faster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>What\u2019s a cluster source? It\u2019s an entity with numerous sources of relevant information. Some examples include:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Industry roundups and lists:<\/strong> Think \u201cForbes 40 Under 40\u201d and beyond. If you\u2019re looking for companies that are hiring, you may want to look up Fortune\u2019s or Glassdoor\u2019s \u201cBest Places to Work\u201d lists. Personally, one of my favorite lists is Wealthfront\u2019s \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/blog.wealthfront.com\/career-launching-companies-list\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Career-Launching Companies<\/a>.\u201d It\u2019s a good starting point for finding potential job openings, and teams to pitch software or services to.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Curation sites:<\/strong> Job boards and websites like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.producthunt.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ProductHunt<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.angellist.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">AngelList<\/a> are good examples of these. You\u2019ll find an ever-changing list of information here.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Communities:<\/strong> It\u2019s not just social media. It\u2019s private communities, too. Some marketing communities I like in the marketing\/tech world include <a href=\"https:\/\/forgetthefunnel.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Forget the Funnel<\/a>, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.swipefiles.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Swipe Files<\/a>, and <a href=\"https:\/\/superpath.co\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Superpath<\/a>. No matter the niche, communities like these exist, e.g. <a href=\"https:\/\/www.ravelry.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Ravelry<\/a> in the knitting community, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.reddit.com\/r\/ManyBaggers\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ManyBags<\/a> for folks obsessed with bag collections (yes, that\u2019s a real thing), the surprisingly active and old-school <a href=\"https:\/\/chocolatetalk.proboards.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Chocolate Alchemy forum<\/a> for home chocolate makers. Be sure to review community guidelines first so that you\u2019re staying in compliance and not spamming members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Social media accounts:<\/strong> Think of some of the accounts you like engaging with most. Those can be your starting point for your outreach list. But go a level deeper; pay attention to the other social accounts your favorites also engage with. And if you check a person&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/tools\/sparkscore\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SparkScore<\/a> (which, yes, is one of our free tools!), you can also get a sense of how engaged their followers are, and you\u2019ll also see the nine other accounts they engage with most frequently.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/eVJBt69eArchodKvATBt5v_Qmgw3Fl03jRgzMEpfSmLidIGQqZhNmruxkrNW64enNcWU4Qhw9vAHFSiJpaLqD66_vp4MqPOD_4yNG_5Nr_BiPtew-5zsGP_aolXheGGLUp-GFAZo=s0\" alt=\"\"\/><figcaption>A screenshot of Related Accounts in @amandanat&#8217;s SparkScore<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Search and create a list in SparkToro.<\/strong> This is an incredibly efficient way to start an outreach list. Let\u2019s say you\u2019re about to launch your probiotic beverage company, and you\u2019re wanting to get the word out.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>You\u2019d call up the New York Time<em>s<\/em>, right? Probably not gonna work. A better approach would be to first get earned media coverage in niche, influential media like consumer health trade publications or health review sites. Plus, over time, you can use this niche coverage in a more thorough pitch to the NYT.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I might start by running a SparkToro search for \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/product\/search\/overview?keyword=nutritionist&amp;type=describe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">My audience uses these word(s) in their profile: nutritionist<\/a>.\u201d (By the way, that\u2019s an always-free full query that shows you all the data you\u2019d get in a paid SparkToro plan!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Then I\u2019d click over on the left to see what websites that audience frequents most. I\u2019d start selecting the most relevant websites. In the below screenshot, I would select lifestyle brands and health news sites like Mindbodygreen and Medical News Today. I would <em>not<\/em> include a site like Harvard Health Publishing because they don\u2019t write about DTC food brands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/product\/search\/websites?keyword=nutritionist&amp;type=describe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/2NaiIVdiTppGYwEF1BKrXt7UfJLupmpfhxDNhY6MGOZdeObmujYrgFp8ir1rpyVUb-S03W9H3A_V5FzTxSTcOp0j0fRl_YFI9Siqz9DPaY_zjM717chD0gc_F1-F9gNiRaKKuSOk=s0\" alt=\"\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-left\">Then I\u2019d click on \u201cAdd to List,\u201d and create a new list.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"has-text-align-center\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"624\" height=\"275\" src=\"https:\/\/lh5.googleusercontent.com\/LCSUpNwTlk1MG38THi2rbq0Ta6TseUYw8HySPgX3yYPHkgyeWXkqGHxJtpPMlUPnqc5-NIx-5Ffs_psQviH4ongwMFd9Y5eTI-GSLszNa1zhW2atimWNLj4_ueEIve3q5KHtSP-_=s0\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Looking at my List in SparkToro, I\u2019ll see the given websites\u2019 relevant social media accounts and potentially, their email addresses (assuming these are publicly available). If I wanted to project manage this effectively, I would export this list as a .CSV file.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>To get the most out of this query, I\u2019d also want to go beyond press coverage or earned media. I\u2019d reach out to people who might be interested in sampling or buying my product. I think it\u2019s fair to assume that nutritionists might be interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>So I\u2019ll hop over to the Social tab to find some nutritionists\u2019 social accounts. I would sort by least-to-most amount of social followers because I might be more likely to reach someone with fewer followers than, say, Dr. Oz.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/IU-yINw4yA4y2xmkBUcJ4d6JipAyO94JVLJGyyJkw35hpPR_PCEuanvoALWM69QT6-trj13J8diREZs9-djAUJyguWjV0s2xnO27VtjhGEfkpDuBtt7GAPXIBw4oMlJQlqoG2g72=s0\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Alternatively, I\u2019d consider filtering to a maximum Audience Size. Perhaps I\u2019d just want to see people with no more than 50,000 followers. In this example, that\u2019s still well over 6,000 social accounts to choose from!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh3.googleusercontent.com\/9Ubw9XrMQ2Puzt9vlU_p9oC_RbjSam0Xfkh6jyL9XRGp70OvEXAQ7rXN3iNOJwMYRmwXpcDUCq6jLxiTsI4SHFttdXZosG4fE4Y50usSLwXYEp4O4zyFP2jpe_phYh2hPK1v9l0N=s0\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019d add these people to my outreach list as well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">2. Prioritize and cut down your list.&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Personally, my first step is to prioritize my list in order of people I feel most comfortable to least comfortable reaching out to. For me, that means some combination of whose work I know well and whose industry or niche I know well.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But there are many ways to prioritize and cut down your list. You could use a tool like <a href=\"https:\/\/www.similarweb.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Similarweb<\/a> to prioritize who to contact based on their website traffic, and thus, potential reach. If you\u2019re looking for social media amplification, you could prioritize based on how large or engaged someone\u2019s following is on a given social media platform. (Hint: <a href=\"https:\/\/sparktoro.com\/tools\/sparkscore\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">SparkScore<\/a> is a great way to check engagement of people\u2019s Twitter accounts.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>However you decide, I suggest you look at each website, publication, or social account to familiarize yourself with their content so that you can ensure whether your request matches their editorial goals. (Remember the Harvard Health Publishing example from the previous section? They wouldn\u2019t make my outreach list at all because I know they won\u2019t write about my fictional DTC beverage product. They write about health data, studies, and outcomes.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">3. Check yourself.&nbsp;<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Put on your empathy hat. Google yourself. Look at the top results. Assuming your name isn\u2019t common, there\u2019s a good chance your public social media accounts rank pretty high. (If your name is common, Google yourself plus your company name or the company\/entity on whose behalf you\u2019re doing cold outreach.)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ask yourself these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>Is it clear who and what you are?<\/li><li>Does it align with your outreach?<\/li><li>What, if anything, should you edit?<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>If you have a title like \u201creverse sales engineer,\u201d people won\u2019t instantly know what that means. Be clear instead of clever.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Now, consider making edits to your social media profiles that would best align with the request in your outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">4. Consider the notion that the best cold outreach is actually warm outreach.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>No one likes hearing from complete strangers. (And most of us don\u2019t like initiating conversations with strangers either!)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>An easy way to do this at scale is through social media. Follow relevant accounts in your niche \u2014 whether it\u2019s Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit, etc \u2014 check out their content, and comment on their posts when you have something insightful to say or when you have a thought-provoking question to ask.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Ultimately, this will make it less awkward when you do reach out. \u201cHi Rand, we chatted on Twitter last week about XYZ,\u201d is far more likely to be a successful hook than \u201cHi Rand, we don\u2019t know each other, but I represent CyberCoin crypto NFTs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">5. And finally, go ahead and shoot your shot.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Not every message needs to include a personal introduction. In fact, some of the most effective messages I\u2019ve received have only been one sentence.&nbsp;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>On Twitter, I once asked if anyone was looking for marketing job opportunities because I happened to know of a few available ones. <a href=\"https:\/\/pallet.xyz\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Pallet<\/a>, a job board company, DMed my own tweet to me and offered a demo. One sentence, straight to the point, directly relevant to my content. It was easy to say yes to this.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-image\"><figure class=\"aligncenter is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh4.googleusercontent.com\/zCzeh1h0dpwGZmn-bLaolDxbTo_fEZ8lnsmMY7Q1DVCf45zskehyYcsqjHH5Tz1yc6TjGnlGzEzrrjSp291H6KSXa4G9BUqSGl0ty5mTRgNuqcSGQ09mWyrd9RxvCf1RhoJ680oM=s0\" alt=\"\" width=\"462\" height=\"466\"\/><figcaption>A screenshot of @amandanat&#8217;s Twitter DM with Pallet<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n<p>But if your message isn\u2019t directly aligned with a recipient\u2019s public social media post, that\u2019s ok too. It doesn\u2019t need to be a punchy one-liner either.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019ve found the most effective cold messages are written plainly, and it\u2019s clear that the sender wrote it themself as a single message to a single contact. All that clever messaging focused on value or outcomes? Save it for your landing pages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Also be sure your cold message addresses these questions:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li><strong>What is your product, service, or expertise? <\/strong>The thing you\u2019re pitching. Described with clarity and brevity.<\/li><li><strong>What are you requesting? <\/strong>Whether it\u2019s a request for a phone call, to do a guest post, or co-market together, be specific.<\/li><li><strong>Why <em>you<\/em> and not someone else? <\/strong>Think: the combination of your uniqueness and value.<\/li><li><strong>Why <em>them<\/em> and not someone else? <\/strong>This one\u2019s important. Of all the people in the world that you could have reached out to, tell them why you decided to contact them. If nothing else, this is a helpful thought exercise for yourself as you curate and cull down your outreach list.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>This may sound like a lot of work, but the good news is that there\u2019s still a way to make this effort scalable. Here\u2019s a good example of an impersonal email that was very likely sent en masse:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/BYZ9P0PlZMteChmNOZBEtF2Kz0UI09-1dgYbZ72idQM1teGhpN7VbrsEAvr5CBf040AJ2yn15N0UK1cSJcsudL-pDrrNZ4QxAM6yp-MEankrgB-OngzPl2sn22HlWrbIG84veVGM=s0\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Here, Ishita was clear about who she is, what her company does, the pain point they\u2019re looking to solve, who some of their customers are, and what she\u2019s asking from me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>I\u2019m sure she sent this exact same email to dozens (or hundreds?) of other people, swapping out just the first name. She or someone on her team probably put together a prioritized list, and I imagine that on paper, I fit the profile of their target audience. And all of this is ok \u2014 because she was forthcoming about her request and gave the necessary context.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Though for me, this wasn\u2019t a fit because I wasn\u2019t looking for her solution.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>But that\u2019s the funny thing about cold outreach.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>At the end of the day, you\u2019re shooting your shot. You don\u2019t know how the recipient is going to respond, or whether they\u2019ll respond at all. So the best thing you can do is target your list with care and your messaging with precision. My own results are proof that such effort translates directly into ROI.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u201cWhat response rate do you get with cold outreach?\u201d In a recent SparkToro Office Hours, someone asked me this question. It\u2019s at least 80%. Earlier this year, I had a 100% response rate with a batch of messages.&nbsp; My approach? I invest serious time qualifying my lead list and researching my audience before I send<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,18],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6451","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-marketing","category-tactics"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.3 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Shoot Your Shot: A Guide to Effective Cold Outreach - SparkToro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"\u201cWhat response rate do you get with cold outreach?\u201d In a recent SparkToro Office Hours, someone asked me this question. It\u2019s at least 80%. 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