Why Cold-emailing No Longer Works?😱And the Unmeasurable New Paradigm 🚀
It's 2024, and the writing is on the wall -
outbound sales and marketing tactics are inevitably becoming obsolete.
The once-reliable strategies of cold calling, email blasts, and LinkedIn connection spam are no longer cutting it.
Just think of how many are you receiving per day?
Prospects are inundated with an endless barrage of outreach, and their tolerance for these intrusive tactics has reached an all-time low.
As Adam Robinson, the co-founder and CEO of Retention.com and RB2B explains:
“As an entrepreneur who has built three SaaS companies from zero to $1M in ARR, I've seen this shift firsthand. My first venture, Robly, relied heavily on a "boiler room" approach of cold-calling Constant Contact customers. While this strategy helped us reach our initial growth milestones, it was ultimately unsustainable and the product couldn't compete in the real world.”
With his second company, Retention.com, he initially tried a broad Facebook advertising approach to acquire customers. But these ads brought in a flood of low-quality, high-churn users that ultimately stifled growth.
“It wasn't until we pivoted to a more targeted cold email strategy that we were able to find our footing and scale to over $20M in ARR.”
Now, with his latest venture, RB2B, he’s taking an entirely different approach - one that he believe represents the new paradigm for SaaS growth in 2024 and beyond.
The Unmeasurable Becomes Ever More Important
In the past, founders were laser-focused on metrics like customer acquisition cost (CAC), lifetime value (LTV), and other quantifiable growth hacks. But as outbound tactics become less effective, these traditional growth levers are losing their luster.
Instead, the unmeasurable is becoming ever more important. Things like brand awareness, thought leadership, and human-to-human connection are now the keys to sustainable, scalable growth.
Prospects today aren't just looking for a product - they're seeking out companies and individuals they can trust, relate to, and feel a genuine affinity towards.
Building a Personal Brand is the Quickest Path to Growth
The fastest way to build that trust and affinity is by cultivating a strong personal brand. Gone are the days of faceless corporate marketing - today's buyers want to engage with real people, not just logos and taglines.
Adam is a great example, according to him, he’s got zero connections 2 years ago.
But he invested heavily in building his personal brand on LinkedIn over the past year. What started as a reluctant experiment has now blossomed into a following of over 92,000 engaged followers. By consistently sharing his thoughts, experiences, and vulnerabilities, he has been able to forge deep connections with target audience.
And the results speak for themselves. The launch of his latest SaaS venture - RB2B, was supercharged by the awareness and goodwill he had already built up through his personal brand. They were able to onboard thousands of customers in the first few months, simply by leveraging the audience he had cultivated.
Demand is Created Through Human-to-Human Connection
At the heart of this new paradigm is the power of human-to-human connection.
Prospects today aren't just looking for features and benefits - they want to feel understood, empathized with, and genuinely cared for.
According to Adam,
“That's why I've made it a priority to respond to every single comment on my LinkedIn posts. It's a small gesture, but it goes a long way in building trust and rapport. I also make it a point to be as transparent and vulnerable as possible in my content, sharing the ups and downs of my entrepreneurial journey.
This human-centric approach extends beyond just social media. I'm also actively seeking out podcast guest spots, where I can dive deeper into the challenges and lessons I've learned. By sharing my story in a more intimate, conversational setting, I'm able to forge even stronger connections with my audience.”
The New Paradigm: Unmeasurable > Measurable
In the end, the new paradigm for SaaS growth in 2024 and beyond is clear: the unmeasurable has become more important than the measurable. Outbound tactics may still have their place, but they can no longer be the foundation of a successful growth strategy.
Instead, the key is to focus on building a strong personal brand, fostering genuine human-to-human connections, and creating content that resonates with your target audience. It may be harder to quantify the impact of these efforts, but the long-term payoff in terms of trust, loyalty, and sustainable growth is undeniable.
So if you're a founder, entrepreneur, marketer looking to future-proof your business, it's time to shift your mindset and embrace the new paradigm. The days of cold outreach and vanity metrics are quickly coming to an end - the future belongs to those who can build authentic, human-centric brands that truly connect with their customers.
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If you are interested to hear more of what Adam has to say, check out this podcast:
411: Lessons on Bootstrapping Three SaaS Startups to $1M+ ARR - with Adam Robinson