Growth Strategy

Why the Best B2B Teams Are Ditching Cold Outbound for Intent Mining

Sarah Jenkins
Sarah Jenkins
Founder & CEO @ Guffles
Intent mining visualization
TL;DR

The Gist: Cold email is dying (1% reply rates). The new winning motion is "Intent Mining"—identifying buyers who are publicly engaging with relevant content on LinkedIn, extracting them, and reaching out with context. Teams doing this are seeing 15%+ reply rates.

The era of "spray and pray" is over. With email deliverability becoming a nightmare and prospects developing immunity to generic pitches, the smartest B2B teams are looking elsewhere.

They aren't looking for more leads. They're looking for better signals.

Reply Rate
15%
Intent-Based
Reply Rate
< 1%
Cold Email
Velocity
3x
Faster Close

Silence is Expensive

Sending 1,000 emails to get 3 replies isn't just inefficient; it burns through your total addressable market (TAM) and demoralizes your sales team. The issue isn't your copy—it's your timing.

The Reality Check

Most prospects aren't in buying mode. Pitching them now is like proposing on the first date. You need to find the ones who are already shopping for a ring.

The Framework

The Guffles 'Intent Mining' Loop

Instead of guessing who needs your product, look for the people publicly asking for it. LinkedIn is a goldmine of intent—if you know how to mine it.

1. Identify Conversations

Find posts from influencers or competitors. If a competitor posts about a new feature, the commenters are likely users—or unhappy customers.

2. Extract Hand-Raisers

Guffles automatically extracts every commenter and reactor. These aren't cold leads; they are active participants in your niche.

3. Contextual Outreach

Reach out referencing their specific comment. 'Saw your take on [Topic]...' instantly validates you as a peer, not a bot.

Data

What happens when you stop guessing?

We analyzed 50,000 outreach messages sent using this method. The data is clear: Context is king.

18.4%
+340%

Average reply rate for intent-based LinkedIn DMs vs. cold email.

Intent MiningCold Email

Stop Buying Cold Lists. Start Mining Intent.

Try Guffles today and see who's actually looking for what you sell right now.

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