{"id":5385,"date":"2018-12-13T11:10:10","date_gmt":"2018-12-13T10:10:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/?p=5385"},"modified":"2025-09-22T12:23:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-22T11:23:03","slug":"6-tips-to-shape-outbound-sales-in-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/woodpecker.co\/blog\/6-tips-to-shape-outbound-sales-in-2019\/","title":{"rendered":"These Are 6 Tips to Shape Outbound Sales in 2026"},"content":{"rendered":"

It\u2019s almost time to say goodbye to 2018 and welcome 2019. The end of the year is fast approaching. 2018 has flown by and with year-end closing in, it\u2019s time to start making plans for the future.<\/p>\n

Looking back at the passing year, we can definitely say that there\u2019s been a lot going on; from a worldwide concern about personal data protection, through a data-driven approach to selling, to an all-bound lead generation and \u201csmarketing\u201d.<\/p>\n

Some trends will continue in 2019, so\u00a0I thought it will be a good idea to sum them up in one blog post for a handy reminder.<\/p>\n

#1 Treat Prospect\u2019s Personal Data As Something Borrowed<\/h2>\n

A strong emphasis on personal data safety has been a global tendency for a while.<\/p>\n

Long are the days when you could buy an unverified list of leads. Now you have to be much more careful about how you get, keep and delete personal data.<\/p>\n

The safest way is to treat the data as something you borrowed. Consider this: anytime there’s a personal data leak, public outrage follows. We could observe such an outrage during Cambridge Analytica Scandal.<\/p>\n

The General Data Protection Regulation<\/h3>\n

But even before that, GDPR was enacted to protect the personal data of natural persons who are the citizens of the European Union. It was a reaction of the EU government to a growing public concern regarding personal data use and processing.<\/p>\n

If, as a cold email<\/span> sender, you gather personal data for your cold email<\/span> outreach, including the names, last names, and emails<\/span> of prospects from the EU, you are required to comply with GDPR.<\/p>\n

The EU regulation is not only regulating the ways in which you administer and process personal data of prospects, but also your users, your email list subscribers, or your employees.<\/p>\n

GDPR has been a hot topic this year. We covered it in our blog posts and prepared an ebook that sums up the most important information from the perspective of a cold email sender:<\/p>\n

Read the GDPR compendium >> <\/a>
\nRead a sum up of a GDPR webinar we organized >><\/a>
\nGrab the GDPR ebook >><\/a>
\nCheck out how other countries enforce personal data protection >><\/a><\/p>\n

The California Consumer Privacy Act<\/h3>\n

GDPR wasn’t the sole regulation around the world. The state of California has enacted a new privacy law in June 2018, called The California Consumer Privacy Act. It appears to be regulating the ways Californians\u2019 personal information is being used in a transactional sense, that is when a business<\/span> makes a profit on consumer\u2019s data.<\/p>\n

Read more about the CCPA and how it differs from GDPR >><\/a><\/p>\n

There are similar patterns among legislatures concerning personal data protection around the world. Giving your prospects a way to opt-out from getting your emails<\/span> is one of them. You should also make sure you are easy to identify as a sender, so having a professional email signature that includes your business address is a must in most countries.<\/p>\n\"personal\n

The transparency of intentions, that is clearly stating the reason for contacting an individual and avoiding clickbait email<\/span> titles, is also one of the basic requirements around the world.<\/p>\n

Read the guide to scaling your email outreach without breaking the law >><\/a><\/p>\n

#2 Go beyond email<\/h2>\n

You may create a top-notch email<\/span> sequence, directed at carefully chosen prospects, but first thing they do after opening the email<\/span> is google your company. If they don\u2019t find much information about it, or worse, they find bits and pieces of information that don\u2019t make the sender trustworthy enough to reply to the email<\/span>. In consequence, the outreach is in vain.<\/p>\n

Because of that, it\u2019s important to audit everything our company does online before we hop on cold emailing<\/span>. And that includes analyzing our websites, blogs, social media profiles, various fora and review sites.<\/p>\n

Optimize your website<\/h3>\n

Before you start your cold email<\/span> campaign take care of your overall presence online. Polish up your website, keep it up-to-date and user-friendly.<\/p>\n

Remember that nowadays your website plays the role of a modern business<\/span> card. It\u2019s the first place your prospects visit to learn more about your company. Moreover, it positions your company on the market and makes you visible in the online world.<\/p>\n

Make it easy to move around and find the most important information. Internet users don\u2019t like waiting too long for the website to fully load, so make sure it\u2019s optimized. You can make a website speed test and speed up the loading time if necessary.<\/p>\n

Now that mobile web traffic has officially surpassed desktop, having a responsive website is a must. Nobody likes zooming the text to be able to read anything, horizontal scrolling or trying to successfully tap a teeny-tiny link or button. By increasing the comfort of mobile users exploring your page, you won\u2019t lose potential customers. What is more, Google favors mobile-friendly websites over the non-optimized ones and ranks them higher in search results.<\/p>\n

Read more about how you can improve your website before you start a cold email outreach >><\/a><\/p>\n

Get a grip on social media<\/h3>\n

Social media rule the internet and will continue doing so in 2019. Well-managed social media channels increase the exposure for your business<\/span>, make you more visible in the online world.
\nThe first thing a prospect will do when they read a cold email<\/span> from you is google your company. Surely they will come across your social media channels. It\u2019s important you keep your profiles well-maintained. Ghost social media accounts updated once a year work like a scarecrow.<\/p>\n

Remember that you don\u2019t need to be present in all social media that are out there. Choose the ones that work best for your business<\/span>. Check where your ideal customers are active, whether it\u2019s LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook or Twitter.<\/p>\n

Make sure the image of your brand is consistent throughout all your social media channels. Woodpecker<\/span> has similar backgrounds throughout all its social media channels so that the users know it is the same brand. Take care of the visual side as well as the tone and style of your written content. Make a good impression on your prospects so they will trust you more.<\/p>\n

Get some ideas on how to manage your social media channels >><\/a><\/p>\n

Invest in compelling content<\/h3>\n

Even a well-designed website and all the top social media channels in the online world would have zero value to your prospects without compelling content. It\u2019s worth to invest time and effort in content marketing in 2019 because its importance is growing.<\/p>\n

Although creating content is a marketing domain, there is a lot of room for cooperation between various departments in your company. Inspirations may come from sales<\/a> or client support.<\/p>\n

You can also show the human side of your company, the people behind the product or service.
\nShare customer experience in a form of customer case studies. Perhaps some of your prospects will find it relatable? Blogs, videos, and podcasts are great means to share your knowledge, build authority and trust.<\/p>\n

In order to keep the consistency of what you publish online, it\u2019s crucial to have a content marketing strategy. Content marketing may become a powerful tool for nurturing your leads. You need to learn how to use it in a thoughtful way to create content targeted to the needs of your prospects.<\/p>\n

Find out more about how great content makes you more persuasive >><\/a><\/p>\n

#3 Combine inbound with outbound to get new leads<\/h2>\n

Inbound and outbound strategies for getting leads can be used alongside each other. We\u2019ve tried this approach in Woodpecker with pretty good results.<\/p>\n\"Combine\n

We planned to create a webinar for people interested in outbound sales tactics. We wanted to target the audience, who would benefit from it most. One of our sales reps was a very active Quora user. He shared his knowledge in topics related to cold email outreach. His answers met with significant interest. We identified the people, who upvoted his replies and followed similar threads as our target audience. The prospects we were looking for.
\nThis was the inbound part of generating new leads.<\/p>\n

The outbound part started with the idea to reach out to those people. We invited them to take part in the webinar by sending a personalized email with one follow-up. After the webinar, we contacted them again, checking if they would be interested in our product or similar events in the future.<\/p>\n

Read the whole story of how we found our prospects on Quora >><\/a><\/p>\n

Following our example, you can plan an event on social media, a webinar or a Q&A session targeted to a specific audience. Then scrap the online fora like Reddit, platforms like Quora or Facebook groups in the search for individuals genuinely interested in the area of your business.<\/p>\n

Invite them to attend your webinar or take part in your event. Afterward, follow up on their experience, check if they have additional questions, ask if they would be interested in a trial or a demo.<\/p>\n

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