By The PhantomBuster TeamOutbound lead generation is all about proactively reaching out to potential customers rather than waiting for them to come to you.
It’s a key strategy for businesses looking to drive growth and build a robust pipeline.
In this post, we’ll explore different outbound lead generation strategies, how they work, and the best tools to automate and scale your outbound lead generation efforts.
TL;DR
Outbound lead generation is the process of proactively reaching out to potential customers through tactics like cold calls, email outreach, and targeted social media messages.
Inbound lead generation draws prospects in through content like blogs or social media, while outbound actively reaches out to them.
The main outbound lead gen tactics include cold calling, cold emailing, social selling, and multi-channel outreach.
The outbound sales process involves identifying your ideal customer profile (ICP), generating targeted leads, scraping relevant data for personalization, choosing the right outreach channels, and automating follow-ups to maximize engagement and conversion.
Here's how to make the most of your outbound lead generation:
Source warm leads from LinkedIn based on intent signals: Target people who’ve interacted with posts relevant to your industry.
Automate your social selling: Use tools to automatically engage prospects with likes, comments, and messages.
Use AI to personalize your messages: Let AI craft tailored messages that resonate with each lead’s specific needs.
Automate your outreach efforts: Automate your LinkedIn connection requests, intro messages, and follow-ups to save time.
The best inbound lead generation strategies include creating relevant content for your target audience, sharing it and engaging your potential leads on social media, optimizing your landing pages, and investing in PPC campaigns.
PhantomBuster is the ultimate tool for outbound lead generation, enabling your sales team to scrape leads, automate outreach, and personalize messages at scale. Plans start at $56/month.
What is outbound lead generation?
Outbound lead generation means actively reaching out to potential buyers who might not be aware of your product or service yet.
It’s a proactive approach that can involve different methods, such as cold calling, direct mail outreach, or targeted social media messages.
Both marketing and sales teams play a role here. Outbound marketing focuses on getting the word out through broader campaigns, like email blasts or traditional paid advertising campaigns, while outbound sales involve directly contacting potential leads, like through cold calls.
Together, this can result in either a marketing-qualified lead (MQL) or a sales-qualified lead (SQL), letting you know which leads are ready to move forward.
Inbound vs outbound lead generation
Inbound and outbound lead generation differ primarily in approach.
Inbound is all about creating content and resources that attract leads to you. Prospects find your business on their own terms through SEO, blogs, or social media posts. It’s more of a "pull" strategy—you're letting people come to you when they're ready.
Outbound, on the other hand, is a "push" strategy. It’s proactive and focuses on reaching out to potential customers who might not yet know about your business. This involves tactics like cold calling or cold emailing, where your team directly engages leads.
Both approaches have their place in lead generation.
While inbound lead generation campaigns are great for building long-term relationships and nurturing leads, outbound is ideal for immediately targeting specific prospects, especially when you need fast results.
Combining both gives you a balanced lead generation strategy that works from multiple angles.
Inbound vs outbound lead generation | WishupThe main outbound tactics for generating leads
Multiple tactics can help you generate outbound leads. These methods aim to contact leads who haven't shown any interest in your product or service.
Depending on your audience and goals, each tactic has strengths and weaknesses, so you need to pick the right mix.
Here are some of the most common outbound methods, how they work, and a few tips to get the best results.
Cold calling
Cold calling is when you reach out to a potential lead who hasn’t interacted with your business before. It’s a way to introduce your product or service and gauge their interest.
This outbound lead-generation tactic gets you directly in touch with prospects, allowing you to personalize and adjust your pitch in real time. But, it’s time-consuming, and rejection rates are high since many people aren't receptive to unexpected sales phone calls.
To improve your chances, research who you’re calling, their needs, and how your product can help them. Make your pitch relevant to their situation, and it'll be more likely to work.
Cold emailing
Cold emailing is sending an email to someone who hasn't shown any prior interest in your business. Your goal is to introduce your product or service and see if they're interested.
Cold emailing is less intrusive than cold calling. Your prospects can have direct mail to read and respond to at their convenience, and you can reach many of them quickly. Plus, you can refine and craft your email in advance.
People often ignore unsolicited emails, so you have to choose your wording and approach carefully. If not done right, it can also feel impersonal, leading to low response rates.
Make each email personal based on the prospect's role, company, or pain points. Don't be vague or vaguely worded—keep it brief and to the point, with a clear call to action.
Social selling
Social selling is about building relationships with prospects on platforms like LinkedIn or Twitter. Rather than directly pitching, you engage by sharing valuable content, commenting on their posts, or answering questions to stay on their radar.
The biggest advantage of this outbound lead-generation method is that you meet prospects where they’re already active, building trust over time. It’s less intrusive than tactics like cold calling, but it can take longer to see results, and not all interactions will lead to sales.
To get the most out of social selling, consistently engage with relevant content and conversations. Over time, this helps establish rapport and can lead to future business opportunities.
Multi-channel outreach
Multi-channel outreach involves reaching out to prospects via email, phone calls, social media channels, and even text messaging. Instead of relying on just one method, you spread your efforts across several channels to meet prospects where they're most active.
The advantage is that diversifying touchpoints increases the likelihood of getting a response. But, managing multiple channels can be time-consuming and may overwhelm prospects if not done thoughtfully.
To make multi-channel outreach effective, ensure your messaging is consistent across platforms but tailored to fit each one’s unique tone and format. This keeps your outreach engaging without coming across as repetitive or spammy.
How does the outbound sales process work?
The outbound sales process follows a series of structured steps designed to guide prospects from initial contact to conversion. It’s about identifying your ideal customers, reaching out to them correctly, and following up effectively.
If you break it down into clear stages, you can simplify your efforts and maximize your chances of converting your outbound leads.
Here’s how you can streamline the outbound sales process:
Identify your ICP: Define your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) to target the most relevant leads and save time by focusing on the right audience.
Generate leads: Use LinkedIn research or intent signals (such as liking or commenting on industry-related content) to build outbound lead lists with automation so you can reach prospects who show interest.
Scrape relevant information: Leverage scraping tools to gather insights from LinkedIn profiles, such as job titles or emails, for more personalized outreach.
Choose the right channels: Select the best outreach channels based on where your leads are most active, such as LinkedIn, email, or phone.
Create personalized messages: Use AI tools like the AI LinkedIn Message Writer to tailor messages to your prospects' needs and interests.
Initiate your outreach: Automate connection requests, intros, and follow-ups with the LinkedIn Outreach Phantom to scale your efforts.
Follow up: Automate follow-up sequences to maintain consistent communication, increasing your chances of connecting.
Outbound lead generation strategies for marketing and sales teams
Outbound lead generation helps you reach potential customers who might not know your product yet.
Here are some effective strategies for generating high-quality outbound leads.
Source warm leads from LinkedIn based on intent signals
To find warm leads on LinkedIn, you can use intent signals. These are actions that indicate a person's interest or engagement with a topic related to your product or service.
With PhantomBuster's LinkedIn Company Post Commenter and Liker Scraper, you can gather data from LinkedIn posts. This tool helps you create a list of engaged prospects, like people who liked or commented on HubSpot's posts on LinkedIn.
Just input the company page URL; the tool will extract a list of people who have interacted with their content.
From there, you'll have a lead list ready for your outreach efforts.
Automate your social selling
This is all about building relationships with prospects through social media platforms like LinkedIn as part of the sales process.
Instead of making direct sales pitches, you engage with potential customers by sharing relevant content, commenting on their posts, and nurturing connections over time.
PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn Auto Liker is a great tool for automating part of this process.
It allows you to automatically like posts from people who've engaged with content relevant to your industry, ensuring your brand stays visible while saving time.
You can also use PhantomBuster’s LinkedIn Auto Commenter to take it a step further by automatically commenting on posts to keep the conversation going.
This keeps your engagement consistent without the need for manual effort.
Use AI to personalize your messages
AI transforms outreach by making your messages feel tailored without manual effort.
The AI LinkedIn Message Writer Phantom lets you personalize your messages based on specific criteria or activity—like a prospect commenting on a competitor’s post.
For example, you can directly feed the list of people who liked or commented on HubSpot's posts (the list you extracted earlier) into the tool.
Start by using a custom or predefined prompt like this one to create concise LinkedIn sales messages that reference their specific engagement (e.g., "I saw you commented on HubSpot's post"):
Write a compelling, concise LinkedIn sales connection message based on the LinkedIn profile data fed to you and the below instructions. Act as me - <your name>, <your job title> at <your company name>.
The goal is to establish a connection, showcase my value proposition, and generate interest in potential business collaboration. Please make sure to personalize the message, keep it under 280 characters, and include the following elements:
1. Mention something about their comment on HubSpot's post.
2. Clearly state exactly one purpose of the message, such as exploring potential collaboration, sharing insights, or discussing a specific opportunity.
3. Provide a concise and compelling value proposition for my product: <name of your product>. <value proposition of your product>.
4. Conclude the message by expressing gratitude and adding, “Let’s chat!”
You'll receive specific messages for each lead on your list, which you can use to launch your outreach sequences.
Automate your outreach efforts
Automating your outreach saves time and effort so your sales team can stay on top of their follow-ups without doing it manually.
With the LinkedIn Outreach Phantom, sales representatives can automate the process of sending a connection request, an introduction message, and up to three follow-up messages.
Here’s how it works: Use the personalized message you generated earlier for tailored outreach, and the automation ensures that every lead on your extracted list receives a thoughtful, relevant message at the right time.
Inbound lead generation strategies for marketing and sales teams
Inbound lead generation is about getting people to engage with you on relevant platforms or providing them with useful content.
With these strategies, you're offering value, building trust, and addressing pain points so you can pull leads into the sales funnel.
Create valuable content for your target audience
Producing content that speaks directly to your audience's needs can position your business as a trusted authority.
Whether you're sharing case studies, webinars, or blog posts, the focus should always be on solving a specific problem your target audience faces. The more valuable and relevant your content is, the more likely it is to generate quality leads.
When planning your content marketing move, identify your prospects' common challenges and focus on offering actionable solutions. At each touchpoint, make sure your content is useful.
Engage your potential clients on social media
Social media is an effective tool for attracting potential inbound leads and building relationships with prospects.
By sharing useful, engaging content that aligns with your potential buyers' interests or pain points on platforms like LinkedIn or Instagram, you can establish rapport and stay top-of-mind without being overly salesy.
To engage people effectively, use the right channels and formats, like posts, videos, or stories that attract attention.
Your content can spark curiosity, answer questions, and share industry tips or case studies to show your brand’s expertise. This will encourage followers or viewers to reach out or learn more.
Optimize your landing pages
Landing pages are often the first stop for potential customers visiting your site, so they need to make a strong impression. A well-optimized landing page should be clear, easy to navigate, and designed to convert visitors into leads.
Make sure the messaging is aligned with the ads or content that brought them there, and have a clear call-to-action.
Offering a resource, like a downloadable guide, in exchange for their contact details is a good way to capture leads.
Invest in Pay-Per-Click (PPC) campaigns
PPC (Pay-Per-Click) campaigns are a powerful way to attract qualified leads who are actively looking for solutions your business provides.
By targeting specific keywords, your ads appear at the top of search results, putting you directly in front of potential customers who are already interested in your product or service.
To get the best results, focus on keywords that indicate strong interest and write engaging ads that meet users' needs. Optimize your budget and regularly improve your messages to boost ROI and attract more qualified leads to your sales funnel.
Best outbound lead generation tools
Here’s a breakdown of the best outbound lead gen tools:
PhantomBuster
PhantomBuster is a robust automation tool designed to generate leads, scrape data from various platforms, and automate outreach based on specific triggers.
It's ideal for sales teams looking to automate the outbound lead generation process across multiple channels.
Here's how it helps sales reps with lead generation:
Scrapes based on intent signals: You can extract valuable data from LinkedIn and other platforms based on user engagement.
AI-powered automated outreach: Use the tool to create personalized LinkedIn messages and follow-up sequences.
Multi-channel outreach capabilities: Automates interactions across LinkedIn, Twitter, and other channels for maximum efficiency.
Pricing
PhantomBuster offers a 14-day free trial, and paid plans start at $56/month.
Cognism
Cognism is a lead generation platform focusing on B2B contact data and compliance. It's widely used by sales and marketing teams to generate high-quality inbound and outbound leads.
Here are its lead-gen key features:
B2B data accuracy: Provides up-to-date contact information for decision-makers across industries.
Compliance-first approach: Ensures that all outreach complies with GDPR and other regulations.
Lead enrichment: Enhances your existing lead data with up-to-date information, increasing the chances of conversions.
Pricing
Cognism offers flexible pricing plans depending on your needs. Reach out to their sales team for a custom quote.
Apollo.io
Apollo.io is an all-in-one sales intelligence and engagement platform that finds prospects, tracks engagement, and automates outreach.
Here's what it's good for:
Sales intelligence: Provides access to a large database of verified emails and contact information.
Integrated CRM: Syncs with your CRM to streamline your sales process.
Multi-channel outreach automation: Allows you to manage email sequences, call tasks, and LinkedIn messaging all from one platform.
Pricing
Apollo.io offers a free plan, with paid options starting at $59/month.
Conclusion
Outbound lead generation can be a powerful way to grow your business, but it’s important to use the right strategies and tools.
With cold calling, cold emailing, and multi-channel outreach, sales reps can connect with high-quality leads and move them through the sales pipeline faster.
With tools like PhantomBuster, you can generate leads, automate outreach, and customize your approach.
Try PhantomBuster for free today and boost your outbound lead generation strategy!
