It’s that time again, when everyone looks back at the last twelve months at the ups and downs of the past year before turning to focus on the new year ahead. We’re happy to say that 2022 had a lot more “ups” than most years and that’s what we want to focus on as we recap what has been a great time here at Woodpecker.
So before we close the book on 2022, let’s go through some of the highlights that have made this a year to remember.
These numbers tell the story
As noted already, we had a lot of “ups” this year and some numbers make it easy to see how much higher we went.
For the first time, we passed $500k MRR ($6m ARR) and crossed the 4,000 client threshold, both huge reasons to celebrate.
The other number that definitely went “up” in 2022 was the size of our staff. This year we crossed the magical “100” figure and are adding more all the time. We can’t wait to see what the number will be this time next year!
We split into three products to better serve different customers
Some time ago, we realized that Woodpecker had grown to the point where it was able to provide services for different groups of customers. This was the year to finally make the decision to create three products out of one and offer specialized services for three similar but distinct segments. We called them Cold Email, Sales Assistant and Agency.
You can guess the main focus of each separate product by their names. This division helps to better match features & benefits with customers with different needs when it comes to using cold emails.
Creating three related but stand-alone products was a major step in Woodpecker’s evolution and has proven to be the right direction. Now, new visitors to our site can more easily identify the combination of functionalities that’s right for them and we are better able to cater to the needs of different customers. A classic win-win situation!
New ways to use Woodpecker
Let’s move on to some of the new improvements, features & functionalities we added to our application over the course of 2022.
- Major updates to our Pipedrive integration, including automatic actions, OAuth and two-way data synchronization
- Native integration with Zoho CRM? Done!
- New endpoints in API 2.0 and new webhooks for even better automation in flows
- Improved Zapier integration
- Enhanced spam check for all campaigns to catch problems early and improve deliverability
- Automatic movement of prospects between campaigns now possible with Workflows
- 12 steps in a campaign instead of 8
- Snippet fallbacks default values added
- Ability to schedule a campaign to start in the future
- X-ray vision. Ok, not really. Just checking to see who made it to the end of the list
Woodpecker Cold Email Camp was kind of a big deal
After much planning and preparation, Woodpecker Cold Email Camp got off the ground in September and quickly proved to be a huge success. We brought teams from five different startups from around the world to Woodpecker HQ to learn all about cold emailing both from us and from industry experts.
We used a week of intensive instruction — and, yes, some not-so-intensive fun activities — to show everyone from very different backgrounds how they could apply the power of cold emailing to their business goals.
We’ll soon be releasing a documentary series based on our Cold Email Camp and focused on uncovering what selling looks like today.
The official trailer for the series has just dropped:
The series won’t just be about the five teams and their cold emailing journeys. We’ve also included interviews with sales pros who’ve shared their knowledge and personal experiences.
Keep an eye out for updates on the docuseries premiere date in early 2023!
New ‘Done & Delivered’ video series debuts
We’ve built up a pretty impressive library of video content but this year we added a special series dedicated to those who are just starting on their cold emailing journeys. It’s focused on the importance of deliverability in cold emailing – we called it Done & Delivered.
There are 10 videos in the series, which explains the basics behind many of the concepts you have to learn as you level up in the world of cold emailing. It’s all taken step-by-step at a chilled pace that gives everyone plenty of time to make sure they follow what’s going on. So it’s perfect for anyone who’s just dipping their toes in the waters of cold emails.
Check out the first episode of the series:
Deliverability is often overlooked as a key factor in the success of any cold email campaign. When you develop the good practices outlined in this series, you’re putting yourself in a better position to generate the kind of solid leads you’re looking for, even before you send your first email.
But Done & Delivered isn’t the only place where you can find tips to step up your cold emailing game…
Woodpecker Academy continues to attract students
Woodpecker Academy is our free everything-you-need-to-know video guide that takes viewers through just about everything you need to know about how to send cold emails in just a few short lessons. Over 2,300 users joined the Academy this year, a fantastic result that we’re all very proud of.
The continuing appeal of Woodpecker Academy has shown us what a useful introduction it is for many who want to accelerate their progress in becoming proficient with cold emails. That’s why we’re happy to announce that in 2023 we will be adding a brand new course to Woodpecker Academy!
So even if you’re a ‘graduate’ of Woodpecker Academy, get ready to go back to class soon!
We’re even more social now
It’s a social media world and we just live in it, that’s why we added two new channels where we can share information and content of all kinds for different audiences. Now you can visit our TikTok page and check out our Instagram.
We’re putting a particular emphasis on Instagram Reels so take a look if you haven’t already. Follow us and be amazed at just how much you can learn in 15 seconds!
Of course, you can still find us on YouTube, and we’re probably the most active on LinkedIn. Any guesses about how many new social media platforms we’ll be on in a year when we look back at 2023?
The Woodpecker blog’s greatest hits
What’s a year-end summary without a nice top-ten list? 2022 saw more traffic on our blog than ever before, with more people looking for advice & inspiration on the topic of cold emails. These were the ten most-visited posts in the past year:
- How to Write a Cold Email that Actually Works in 6 Steps
- What Are the Email Sending Limits of Various Email Service Providers?
- How to Send a Follow-up Email After No Response
- Webinar Follow-up Templates for Your Webinar Email Sequence
- How to Write a Follow-up Email If You Haven’t Heard Back – Tips & Real-life Examples
- How To Deal With 10 Most Common Insurance Sales Objections
- What is DKIM & SPF and How Do You Set It Up?
- GDPR for Cold Sales Email Senders – FAQ
- How & When to Test Email Deliverability — A List of Tools & Alternatives
- How to Warm Up Your Domain Before Email Outreach
We’re looking forward to an amazing 2023!
So that’s how things looked for us here at Woodpecker over the past year. We’re proud and fortunate to say that it was a time of growth, development and successes. By an incredible coincidence, those are exactly the three things that we want to wish you in the coming year, both at home and at work.
Thanks for your support and we hope you will join us as we go through everything that will end up on next year’s “2023 at Woodpecker” post!
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