4 tier-1 C-level advisors in one month from cold outreach

Here’s a recent case study by Ivan Khotin, Senior Sales Representative at our B2B leadgen agency, Sally AI.

A month ago we were attracting advisors to a crypto-startup. As a result, we managed to attract a strong board in a short period of time (Binance, Bybit, OKX). I'll show emails that worked well and which emails didn't work at all. I will also present funnel conversions that are worth counting on.

The goal was to increase trust to the project for B2C branding and finding expertise in the go-to-market.
Targeted C-level bizdev, marketing, sales at top 50 crypto companies in the US and Europe.

1️⃣ What to write. A/B test showed that a short and specific intro with a demonstration of traction and an offer of financial value, such as tokens, works best. Attempts to “exchange ideas” with C-levels don't work. That's why it's important to get straight to the point.

Example of a successful intro (31 responses with 24.8% conversion rate)

"Hi Alex, I listened to your podcast and wanted to reach out! We're building a *** and launched an Airdrop on **, with over *** badges minted and *** followers gained. We need some help with advisors. Are you open to some kind of collaboration in exchange for allocation?"

Example of a failed intro (2 responses with 1.6% conversion rate)

"Hi , We're building a *** and launched an Airdrop on **, with over *** badges minted and *** followers gained. We'd love to brainstorm some ideas with you on how to maximize our user engagement and community growth. Would you be open to a call sometime soon to discuss potential synergies?"

Conclusions:

Focus on traction in pitching
Personalization for different types of advisors: posts, conferences, company merits
Financial offer: options with tokens and offer to join the board increased interest

2️⃣ Who to write to. Prioritize candidates who have already acted as advisors in other projects. They understand the process better and are more likely to respond to the offer. Also consider those who post twice a month about successes, meetings, share insights on LinkedIn, Twitter - they are ready to join projects that will positively impact their reputation.

3️⃣ Conversions increased almost 3x after signing the first advisor. Once you've signed your first advisor, be sure to mention it when communicating with other candidates - it builds trust and adds value to the offer.

4️⃣ LinkedIn is more effective than email. With LinkedIn we received 24 responses (9.6%) compared to 9 responses via email (3.6%). C-levels were more willing to respond because they could more quickly understand who we were - company page and general connects.

5️⃣ Results

250 C-level candidates from top 50 companies added to the Pipeline
33 interested candidates (13.2%)
13 calls made (39.3%)
4 Advisors from tier-1 companies joined the project