Boost Outbound Reply Rates with Ad Support

Vector Team

Cold emails don’t land the same if your name means nothing.

When Sales is actively doing outreach to a list of contacts, you can increase the chances of connection by running targeted ads at the same time. These ads create awareness, familiarity, and credibility—so when the message hits the inbox, it doesn’t feel cold.

This play helps you sync paid media with active sales motions to drive better engagement and improve conversion.

The Vector Way:

Most teams run ads and outbound in separate silos.

Vector flips that.

With contact-based data, you can match outbound targets directly to your ad platforms and run synchronized campaigns alongside Sales efforts. Instead of blasting cold emails into the void, your reps get a warm audience that already knows who you are and what you do.

Think of it as Sales + Marketing, shoulder to shoulder.

When to use this play:

Use when:

Sales is actively doing outreach to a specific list of contacts
You want to warm up that audience through ads before or during your sequence
You’re focused on improving reply rates and outbound effectiveness
You’re trying to get more ROI out of high-cost outbound campaigns

Goal

Increase reply and conversion rates from outbound by layering in targeted ads during sales outreach.

Objectives

Warm up cold contacts before and during outreach
Improve reply rates and meeting conversion
Support reps with consistent brand touchpoints
Align Sales and Marketing on shared outbound targets

Use case

Your BDR team is targeting 150 contacts from a strategic account list. Vector syncs that same list to LinkedIn Ads. As reps send sequences, those contacts are also seeing branded ads highlighting value prop and social proof. When the rep follows up, the contact already knows who you are—and is more likely to respond.

Play type: Outbound Support | Paid Media | Sales + Marketing Alignment Estimated time to execute: 30–45 minutes to configure sync; runs alongside outbound cadence

How it works:

Step 1: Build your outbound contact list
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Use your CRM, Sales engagement platform (e.g., Outreach, Salesloft), or spreadsheet to define who Sales is targeting this week or month.

Step 2: Create a Vector segment of outbound contacts
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Import or sync that list into Vector and tag it clearly (e.g., “Outbound Q3 Week 2”). Use contact-level filters to ensure it’s clean and up to date.

Step 3: Push the segment to ad platforms
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Use Vector’s LinkedIn Audience Sync or other ad platform integrations to target those exact contacts.

Step 4: Run lightweight, relevant ad creative
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Focus on:

Category value
Social proof
Product differentiators
Keep it high-level—just enough to spark recognition when the email hits.

Step 5: Monitor for reply rate lifts and engagement
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Review campaign-level engagement and look for reply lifts compared to cold-only sequences. Share back wins with Sales to reinforce the value of aligned plays.

Wrap-up: Make cold outreach feel warm

The best sales emails don’t feel like spam—they feel familiar.

This play helps you make every outbound touch more effective by surrounding your prospects with brand signals before the rep even hits send. It’s outbound, but smarter.

Sales example: A rep sends a cold email to a VP who’s already seen their brand in ads all week. The reply rate goes up—and the opener is “Hey, I’ve actually been meaning to learn more.”
Marketing example: Campaign managers sync outbound lists to ads weekly, warming up contacts without adding lift. Reply rates improve, and Sales sees the results.

Example H2