Guide · Updated
How to research an account before outbound outreach
Before writing to anyone, find three things: what the company is doing right now (hiring, launching, expanding, raising), who at the company owns the problem you solve, and one specific reason your offer matters to them this quarter. Open the first message with that reason, keep it to a few lines, and end with one question. Researching an account properly takes a person close to an hour, which is why most outbound collapses into one template; an AI agent can do the same research per contact before every message.
What to look up
- The company's recent news: launches, funding, new locations, hiring
- Open roles, which show what the company is investing in
- The contact's role and what they have posted or been quoted on
- The tools and channels they already use
- Whether they already have a conversation history with you
Turn it into a first message
The research is only useful if it changes the message. Lead with the specific trigger you found, connect it to one outcome you deliver, and ask one question that is easy to answer. Leave the product description for the reply.
Template vs researched outreach
| One template | Researched per contact | |
|---|---|---|
| Opening line | About you | About them |
| Reason to reply | Generic offer | A trigger in their business right now |
| Channel | One blast channel | LinkedIn and email as one conversation |
| Replies | Dropped into a rep's queue | Answered in the thread |
Doing it at volume
The research step is what does not scale for people. An agent can read the same sources for every contact, write each message individually, and keep the thread going on replies, with a person stepping in once there is a real conversation.
Frequently asked questions
- How long should a first outbound message be?
- A few lines: the reason you are writing to them, one outcome, and one question.
- Should outreach use LinkedIn or email?
- Both, treated as one conversation with the same context, rather than two separate campaigns.
In practice
- Outreach written per contact, not per template · Infollion