B2B Marketing with Dave Gerhardt

Cold Email: Lessons from Real Outbound Campaigns in 2025


Listen Later

#249 Cold Email | In this episode, Danielle is joined by four experts in B2B outbound: Zoe Hartsfield (Apollo), Will Allred, (Lavender), Maximus Greenwald (Warmly), and Alex Fine (Understory). Together, they dive into the good, bad, and “please don’t ever send this” of cold email strategy. Each guest brings firsthand insight from scaling outbound at fast-growing B2B companies and helping clients do the same.

Danielle and the crew cover:

  • The biggest reasons cold emails flop and what great ones do differently
  • How to use personalization, targeting, and timing to get replies (not unsubscribes)
  • The right way to blend automation and human touch in your outbound strategy

It’s an inside look at how marketers and founders approach outbound messaging, across strategy, execution, and scale.


Timestamps

  • (00:00) - — Intro and guest lineup
  • (03:38) - — Why most cold emails fall flat
  • (05:38) - — Common copy mistakes: too much “I,” not enough “you”
  • (07:08) - — The automation vs. personalization debate
  • (09:23) - — When *not* to send a cold email
  • (11:38) - — What targeting gets wrong (and how to fix it)
  • (13:38) - — Teardown #1: Robotics email with 0% replies
  • (15:53) - — Subject line issues, tone, and CTA feedback
  • (18:08) - — Teardown #2: CRM campaign with profanity
  • (19:53) - — Why this email screams “marketing,” not “outbound”
  • (23:19) - — Teardown #3: Direct debit email repurposed from a nurture
  • (25:49) - — Why HTML-heavy emails kill deliverability
  • (27:34) - — Teardown #4: Founder-led cold email from Breakout
  • (29:49) - — What worked: relevance, format, and intent
  • (32:19) - — Teardown #5: Cybersecurity email to bank execs
  • (34:19) - — Final takeaways on relevance, timing, and strategy

  • Send guest pitches and ideas to [email protected]
    Join the Exit Five Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletter
    Check out the Exit Five job board: https://jobs.exitfive.com/
    Become an Exit Five member: https://community.exitfive.com/checkout/exit-five-membership

    ***

    Today's episode is brought to you by Knak.

    Email (in my humble opinion) is the still the greatest marketing channel of all-time.

    It’s the only way you can truly “own” your audience.

    But when it comes to building the emails - if you’ve ever tried building an email in an enterprise marketing automation platform, you know how painful it can be. Templates are too rigid, editing code can break things and the whole process just takes forever. 


    That’s why we love Knak here at Exit Five. Knak a no-code email platform that makes it easy to create on-brand, high-performing emails - without the bottlenecks.

    • Frustrated by clunky email builders? You need Knak.
    • Tired of ‘hoping’ the email you sent looks good across all devices? Just test in Knak first.
    • Big team making it hard to collaborate and get approvals? Definitely Knak.

    And the best part? Everything takes a fraction of the time.

    See Knak in action at knak.com/exit-five. Or just let them know you heard about Knak on Exit Five.


    ***

    Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.

    • They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.
    • Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.
    • Visit hatch.fm to learn more
    ...more
    View all episodesView all episodes
    Download on the App Store

    B2B Marketing with Dave GerhardtBy Dave Gerhardt

    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7
    • 4.7

    4.7

    38 ratings


    More shows like B2B Marketing with Dave Gerhardt

    View all
    The Digital Marketing Podcast by Ciaran Rogers, Daniel Rowles and Louise Crossley

    The Digital Marketing Podcast

    116 Listeners

    The Smart Passive Income Online Business and Blogging Podcast by Pat Flynn

    The Smart Passive Income Online Business and Blogging Podcast

    3,439 Listeners

    Social Media Marketing Podcast by Michael Stelzner, Social Media Examiner

    Social Media Marketing Podcast

    1,445 Listeners

    The SaaS Podcast - SaaS, Startups, Growth Hacking & Entrepreneurship by Omer Khan

    The SaaS Podcast - SaaS, Startups, Growth Hacking & Entrepreneurship

    181 Listeners

    The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors by SaaStr

    The Official SaaStr Podcast: SaaS | Founders | Investors

    172 Listeners

    Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips by Eric Siu and Neil Patel

    Marketing School - Digital Marketing and Online Marketing Tips

    1,255 Listeners

    Noah Kagan Presents by Noah Kagan

    Noah Kagan Presents

    907 Listeners

    The CMO Podcast by vYve & Jim Stengel

    The CMO Podcast

    347 Listeners

    Creator Science by Jay Clouse

    Creator Science

    459 Listeners

    GTM Live by Passetto

    GTM Live

    199 Listeners

    The Marketing Millennials by Daniel Murray

    The Marketing Millennials

    147 Listeners

    Marketing Made Simple by Powered by StoryBrand

    Marketing Made Simple

    287 Listeners

    Marketing Against The Grain by Hubspot Media

    Marketing Against The Grain

    352 Listeners

    Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson l Presented By Marigold by GURU Media Hub

    Do This, NOT That: Marketing Tips with Jay Schwedelson l Presented By Marigold

    715 Listeners

    AI Explored by Michael Stelzner, Social Media Examiner—AI marketing

    AI Explored

    79 Listeners