Cold Email vs LinkedIn Outreach: Which Is Right for Your B2B Strategy?

If you're a B2B business owner looking to scale client acquisition, you’ve likely found yourself exploring cold email and LinkedIn outreach. These channels are powerful tools for generating leads, but the decision of which to focus on—or how to use both effectively—can be confusing. Do you dive into cold email for its scalability? Or leverage LinkedIn’s credibility and social proof?

We’ve run hundreds of campaigns across different niches, refining what works (and what doesn’t). By the end of this guide, you’ll know exactly which channel is perfect for your business.

 

Why Cold Email Works

Cold email is a tried-and-true method in the B2B space. It’s all about direct access—getting your message in front of decision-makers who might not be actively searching for solutions but could benefit from what you offer. Here’s why cold email stands out:

• Scalability: One of the biggest strengths of cold email is its ability to scale. You can send thousands of emails using tools like Apollo, Lemlist, Mailin, or Instantly.ai. Sending 100k+ emails a month is critical when you need to generate leads quickly and in volume.
• Cost-Effective: Unlike LinkedIn ads or sponsored messages, cold emails typically have lower costs. The main expenses include software, domain warming, and copywriting, making cold email a highly cost-effective strategy.
• Customization and Personalization: While it’s easy to think of cold email as impersonal, advanced tools allow you to personalize emails at scale. This includes customizing names, roles, industries, or even recent company news.
• Data-Driven Optimization: The effectiveness of cold email campaigns can be measured with precision. You can track open rates, response rates, and click-through rates, allowing for continuous optimization.

 

LinkedIn Outreach: Building Relationships

LinkedIn’s unique value lies in its ability to foster more personal connections. The platform isn’t just a networking site; it’s an ecosystem where decision-makers actively engage, share insights, and connect professionally. Key advantages of LinkedIn outreach include:

1. Higher Response Rates: LinkedIn messages are often seen as more genuine than cold emails, making them more likely to be read and responded to. People are in a professional mindset when they’re on LinkedIn, which translates to higher engagement rates.
2. Credibility through Social Proof: LinkedIn profiles provide instant credibility. When prospects see your profile, endorsements, mutual connections, and content posts, it adds trust. This makes them more likely to engage with your message.
3. Engagement Tools: LinkedIn allows you to engage with prospects before reaching out. You can comment on their posts, share relevant content, and build visibility. This “warm-up” phase can significantly improve response rates once you initiate direct messaging.
4. Focused Targeting with Sales Navigator: LinkedIn Sales Navigator is an essential tool for finding highly targeted leads. It allows you to filter by industry, location, job title, and even recent activities (like job changes), making it easier to reach the right people.

 

Cold Email or LinkedIn? It Depends on Your Goals & Niche

Now that we’ve covered the basics, let’s dive into when to use each channel. Here’s how to decide which approach fits your business goals:

Important note: We are referring to LinkedIn outreach at scale here (investing in multiple accounts). There is absolutely no reason not to do LinkedIn outreach through your own account by connecting it to an automation tool like Heyreach or Expandi.

• Lifetime Gross Profit: This is the gross profit over the lifetime of an average customer. For example, if customers stay on average for 5 months with average retainers being $1,200 and you have 50% margins, then LTGP is $3,000. 
  • Tip: If LTGP < $1,000, start with cold email. Reason being customers on LinkedIn are more expensive to acquire on average.
• The Data (TAM, SAM, SOM): You need to do some research and see what kind of data is available for your TAM (Total Addressable Market), SAM (Serviceable Available Market), and SOM (Serviceable Obtainable Market).
  • Tip: Your TAM < 10,000 and you have a high-ticket offer, use LinkedIn outreach and you can add cold email sequences for higher conversion rates.                                                                                     
  • Tip: Your TAM < 10,000 and you have a low-ticket offer, reevaluate your ICP (Ideal Customer Profile).

• Lead Volume vs. Quality: Cold email is ideal when you need high lead volume quickly, while LinkedIn shines when quality and relationship-building matter more.
• Type of Offering: If you have a low-ticket offer that requires broad outreach, cold email works best. For high-ticket services or products that require more trust-building, LinkedIn is often more effective.
• Budget Considerations: If you’re on a tighter budget, cold email might be the better starting point. You can reach a larger audience with lower upfront costs. LinkedIn, however, can generate higher-quality leads, even if it comes at a higher cost (e.g., LinkedIn Premium or InMail credits).
• Industry-Specific Success: Some industries respond better to one channel than the other. For example, the tech sector often has better response rates on LinkedIn, while more traditional industries (like logistics or manufacturing) may be more responsive to cold emails.

 

Best Practices for Cold Email Campaigns

To make cold email work for you, it’s important to focus on some best practices:

• Craft Compelling Subject Lines: The subject line is your gateway to a higher open rate. Use curiosity, urgency, or relevancy to grab attention. Examples include “Quick question about your sales strategy” or “Can we help with your [specific pain point]?”
• Keep It Short and Sweet: Aim for 3-4 sentences in the main body of your email at the max. Some of our best cold emails have only been one sentence. Focus on addressing a pain point, introducing your solution, and adding a clear call to action (CTA).
• Personalize Beyond the First Name: Mention specific details, like recent news about the company or a mutual connection, to make your outreach feel more genuine. Clay is the best tool on the market right now for enriching leads.
• Follow Up Religiously: Most responses come from follow-ups. Set up sequences to trigger 3-4 follow-ups over a two-week period, and don’t be afraid to try different angles.
  • Tip: Don’t go over 4 follow-ups if they haven’t responded—this will hurt deliverability for future campaigns.
• Optimize for Deliverability: Regularly clean your email lists, set up proper SPF/DKIM/DMARC records, and use warmed-up domains to ensure high deliverability rates. Mailin is the perfect tool for businesses looking to scale cold email affordably and have the highest chances of consistently landing in the inbox folder.

 

Best Practices for LinkedIn Outreach

LinkedIn requires a different approach—one that’s more conversational and slower-paced. Here’s how to succeed:

• Polished Profile: Before sending a single message, make sure your profile is optimized. This means having a professional photo, a clear headline, and a compelling summary.
• Use Connection Requests Strategically: You can only send up to 25 connection requests a day (from our experience, anything more gets flagged). Our biggest tip on LinkedIn is finding some common ground—graduated from the same university, mutuals, clubs, etc.
  • Tip: Unless you have an extremely compelling connection request message, we've seen better results sending without one.
• Engage with Content: Spend time liking, commenting, and sharing relevant content. This builds your credibility and increases your chances of receiving a response when you do initiate outreach. If you're using an automation tool, you can build a sequence for this.
• Leverage Video and Voice Messages: These features stand out in a sea of text-based messages and add a personal touch.
  • Tip: You can send a voice recording initially, but do not send a Loom video until they’ve responded (you risk getting flagged otherwise).
• Use InMail Wisely: InMail has a higher deliverability rate than regular messages, but use it sparingly—save it for high-priority leads or those you couldn’t reach via regular messages.

 

The Ideal Strategy: Combining Both Channels

While cold email and LinkedIn outreach are often seen as separate strategies, they’re actually most powerful when used together. Here’s how to do it:

1. Start with Cold Email: Begin by casting a wide net to identify interested prospects quickly. There’s absolutely no reason not to start here. Cold email gives you volume and lets you test out messaging as well. Cold outreach is linear, meaning if you send 1,000 emails and book 1 meeting, you should book around 10 meetings if you send 10,000.
2. Move to LinkedIn for Warmer Leads: Once a prospect shows interest (opens, clicks, or responds to your email), connect with them on LinkedIn to further nurture the relationship. Implement both at the same time, but don’t use LinkedIn for cold leads yet.
3. Use LinkedIn as a Retargeting Tool: If someone engages with your LinkedIn posts but doesn’t respond to messages, add them to a cold email sequence.
4. Scale LinkedIn Outreach Strategically: Once your cold email campaigns are fully optimized, and your LTGP is over $1,000, it's time to test LinkedIn at a larger scale. Start by using personal accounts to refine messaging and targeting. As you see results, expand to multiple accounts for broader reach or paid ads. Integrate automation tools like Heyreach or Expandi to maintain personalization at scale. Keep a close eye on costs—LinkedIn can be pricey, so ensure your cold email strategy is driving solid results before committing more budget to LinkedIn outreach.

 

Final Thoughts

The debate between cold email and LinkedIn outreach isn’t about which is better—it’s about how to use each effectively based on your business needs. When done right, a combined approach can multiply your lead generation efforts and create a well-rounded sales pipeline.

If you’re still unsure about which approach suits your strategy best, start small and experiment. Test different methods, measure results, and adapt as you go. The path to scaling your B2B business isn’t about choosing one tool over the other; it’s about mastering and learning to integrate both.