OutboundReinvented
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Is Outbound really dead?

Is Outbound really dead?

99% of people would say "yes", but we've found the way that only 1% is doing to generate high-quality leads via outbound predictably.

Ilya Azovtsev
July 03, 2025

Heyo 👋

It’s Ilya from GrowthBand 🫰

I’ve been sending cold emails for YEARS. Worked with B2B brands, packed pipelines, and seen outbound lead gen from every angle – tool provider, user, consultant, you name it.

Just to add context: I was a 3d hire at lemlist (Sales Automation) & ex-Head of Growth at Expandi (LinkedIn outreach):

I know a thing or two about Outbound 😅

So here's my take:

Is outbound dead?

The obvious answer looks like “yes.”

(Deliverability unclarity, low reply rates, messy systems, risky LinkedIn…)

But...

here’s the kicker: we found a way that only 0.001% of people do, and the results?

EVEN BETTER (we generate 80-100/m MQLs via outbound).

Let me break it down:

🚨 Cold email deliverability struggles

- Microsoft:

Sending cold emails to leads using Microsoft ESP is like trying to win the lottery. If you’ve got a new domain & mailbox, good luck getting into inboxes.

👉 We use a combination of Azure SMTP Enterprise-level IP + SMTP with private IP + Google/Microsoft for infra

👉 We're rewriting copy to match with Microsoft rules (SCR<5) - unique, non-salesy, professional (even with signature)

99-100% inbox rate = usual results for our clients

- Google:

Gemini in Gmail is a Cold Outbound killer, open tracking is gone, and cold email just got harder.

👉 Bullet-proof infrastructure with constant monitoring & fixes.

👉 The best practices implemented fully (CNAME for links, premium warm-up, AI variables...)

For those who don’t know → we solve this problem for our clients with Fully-managed cold email infrastructure-as-a-service for scaling outbound teams.

We set up, warm up, monitor, rotate, and fix — you just focus on sending

Sending cold emails and need 99% inbox rate?

🚨 LinkedIn is tricky too

You’re limited to 10-30 connection requests/day.

That’s 200-600/month. With a 50% acceptance rate and 5-10% reply rate, you’re lucky to generate 1-5 leads/month.

Is it scalable? Nope.

Also, one mistake, and LinkedIn bans your account – poof, all your connections and posts are gone.

I’ve made a huge webinar on how we solved this problem:

👉 We're tiering contacts by relevancy and use LinkedIn as a Multi-channel step for Tier 1 contacts = 35 MQLs/M

👉 All-bound. Combination of content + engagement + outreach.

Also, I’m walking through each step we’re doing in our 10+ hours LinkedIn growth course:

Wanna get a recording? Reply to this email.

🚨 Cold emailing patterns are outdated

We went from no personalization → mass email scraping → tools like Instantly allowing unlimited mailboxes.

The result? Too many emails, tighter limits from ESPs, and fewer results.

BUT here’s the secret: outbound isn’t dead; it’s EVOLVING.

The future is all-bound (multi-channel) + relevant-focused outreach.

Focus on the 1-2% of people who NEED your solution right now. Work smarter, not harder.

Watch the recording of our OutboundReinvented webinar, where I showed everything that works for us:

👉 Use data enrichment tools like Clay or Apify to find those golden contacts.

👉 Maximize convos with AI video, voice messages, and multi-channel strategies.

Outbound’s been changing - and we at GrowthBand will help even more clients, will do even more outbound for ourselves - we’ll find the ways Outbound works.