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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.

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.
And I’ll share it with you - to help you ❤️
__
With 🫰 to your Growth,
Ilya (let’s connect on LinkedIn)
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