The success of any cold outreach campaign depends on the following three factors:

• 60% Audience. Who we send a message to.
• 30% Offer. What we offer them.
• 10% Messaging. What message we use.

Most beginners put far too much emphasize on messaging. No magic copywriting tricks will help you convince an audience that has zero interest in the kind of thing you’re offering. Gurus want to convince you believe that copywriting it’s some dark art you can use to sell anything to anyone. Well, dear copywriting guru, then please write a sales letter that will convince my blind grandma to buy your overpriced writing course.

Tweaking your messaging will at most result in single-digit percent improvements. If a campaign isn’t working, clever messaging won’t save it.

Similarly, if there’s zero baseline interest among a given audience, it won’t matter much how carefully you prepare your offer.

You might be able to convince a few people through your beautiful packaging but ultimately those won’t be the kind of customers you really want. They will ask tons of questions since they do not really understand the problem you’re solving. They will not be repeat buyers, never refer anyone, and often ask for refunds.

But what you offer is important. Definitely a lot more than how you offer it.

Obviously, the product and service you’re selling is an essential part of the offer. If you’re trying to sell something unsellable, you’re screwed no matter what.

But even an amazing product with proven demand can be a tough sell if you don’t put together the right offer.

A general rule of thumb is that selling any kind of product or service directly through cold messages is incredibly difficult.

So it’s much smarter offer something in your messages that leads to a sale somewhat later down the road. A free trial, free credits, actionable insights and ideas, or, the most popular but arguably worst option, to jump on a call. Trojan horse messages can also work really well: Ask for feedback or ideas.

Here you’re offering an opportunity to be helpful. Most people love being helpful. And in doing so, people become aware of your product and invested in your success. The correct question to ask when putting together an offer for cold outreach messages is not “How can I sell?” but “How can I start a buying conversations?”

However the absolute most important puzzle piece you have to figure out first is who you’re targeting.

Who already understands the problem you’re solving? Who’s already buying what you offer? Who desperately needs or wants your solution?

If you have good answers to these questions, you’ve figured out more than half of of the puzzle.

This was by far the most important factor in all cold outreach campaigns I’ve ever ran. The exact same offer, the exact same messaging, send to different groups of people will produce wildly different results.

Messaging the right people is the difference between no results and some results.

The right kind of offer then puts fuel to the fire, while optimized messaging will allow you to squeeze out the final few percent.