If your cold email campaign feels like it's going nowhere, your first instinct is probably to kill it and move on. But before you do, here are three things worth checking—most marketing teams miss at least one of these.
1. Check if your list is actually relevant (not just accurate)
You probably pulled a list based on company size, industry, maybe location. The emails are valid, the titles look right. But here's the thing: just because someone is a "VP of Operations" at a logistics company doesn't mean they care about what you're selling right now.
Relevance isn't just about demographics. It's about timing, pain points, and whether your offer actually maps to what they're dealing with this quarter.
What to do: Go back through your last 50 non-responders and ask yourself: "Would I actually buy this if I were them, right now?" If the honest answer is "probably not," your list isn't the problem—your targeting is. Tighten your ICP. Maybe you need companies that just raised a round, or ones expanding into new markets, or ones hiring for specific roles. Make it more specific, not broader.
2. Test if your value prop is landing (or just making sense to you)
Most marketing teams write cold emails that sound great internally but fall flat with prospects. You're talking about "streamlining workflows" or "driving efficiency" when what they actually care about is "not having to manually chase down invoices every week."
Your value prop might be technically correct but emotionally irrelevant.
What to do: Pull your last 10 replies (even negative ones) and see what language people used. Did anyone say "we're actually dealing with X right now"? That's your real value prop. Rewrite your first two sentences to speak directly to that specific pain point using their words, not yours. Then test it on the next 100 sends and compare reply rates.
3. Confirm your follow-up sequence isn't just repeating itself
A lot of outbound sequences look like this: Email 1 introduces you. Email 2 says "just following up." Email 3 says "bumping this up in your inbox." Email 4 is a breakup email.
You're not adding new information or value—you're just reminding them you exist. That doesn't always work.
What to do: Rewrite your follow-ups so each one gives a different angle or adds something useful, however small. Email 2 could share a quick case study. Email 3 could address a common objection. Email 4 could offer a free resource even if they're not interested. Make each email worth opening on its own, not just a reminder of the first one they ignored.
Bottom line: Before you declare outbound dead, make sure you've actually tested the variables that matter. Most campaigns fail because of fixable mistakes, not because the channel doesn't work.
We’d love to learn more about your business, email deliverability and outreach goals, and see if we might be able to help.
Whether you have questions about what we do, how Protocol works, or you’d just like to pick our brains on some of our best practices, we’d be happy to chat.
Schedule a call with our Revenue Director, Chrisley Ceme.
If your cold email campaign feels like it's going nowhere, your first instinct is probably to kill it and move on. But before you do, here are three things worth checking—most marketing teams miss at least one of these.
1. Check if your list is actually relevant (not just accurate)
You probably pulled a list based on company size, industry, maybe location. The emails are valid, the titles look right. But here's the thing: just because someone is a "VP of Operations" at a logistics company doesn't mean they care about what you're selling right now.
Relevance isn't just about demographics. It's about timing, pain points, and whether your offer actually maps to what they're dealing with this quarter.
What to do: Go back through your last 50 non-responders and ask yourself: "Would I actually buy this if I were them, right now?" If the honest answer is "probably not," your list isn't the problem—your targeting is. Tighten your ICP. Maybe you need companies that just raised a round, or ones expanding into new markets, or ones hiring for specific roles. Make it more specific, not broader.
2. Test if your value prop is landing (or just making sense to you)
Most marketing teams write cold emails that sound great internally but fall flat with prospects. You're talking about "streamlining workflows" or "driving efficiency" when what they actually care about is "not having to manually chase down invoices every week."
Your value prop might be technically correct but emotionally irrelevant.
What to do: Pull your last 10 replies (even negative ones) and see what language people used. Did anyone say "we're actually dealing with X right now"? That's your real value prop. Rewrite your first two sentences to speak directly to that specific pain point using their words, not yours. Then test it on the next 100 sends and compare reply rates.
3. Confirm your follow-up sequence isn't just repeating itself
A lot of outbound sequences look like this: Email 1 introduces you. Email 2 says "just following up." Email 3 says "bumping this up in your inbox." Email 4 is a breakup email.
You're not adding new information or value—you're just reminding them you exist. That doesn't always work.
What to do: Rewrite your follow-ups so each one gives a different angle or adds something useful, however small. Email 2 could share a quick case study. Email 3 could address a common objection. Email 4 could offer a free resource even if they're not interested. Make each email worth opening on its own, not just a reminder of the first one they ignored.
Bottom line: Before you declare outbound dead, make sure you've actually tested the variables that matter. Most campaigns fail because of fixable mistakes, not because the channel doesn't work.
Our Revenue Director, Chrisley Ceme, is leading the Triggered Outbound program.Chrisley’s gone deep on this strategy and can walk you through:
- How Triggered Outbound fits with your outbound goals
- What triggers are available (and what’s possible within our platform)
- Pricing, onboarding, and getting started
