Bad news for Digital Marketers. Despite all your best efforts, Google’s AI Overviews now sit above the blue links marking a structural change in how answers show up for potential buyers (Google, May 14, 2024). Since the rollout, many have observed more “zero‑click” behaviour and traffic reshuffling (SparkToro, 2024) and trade press coverage has echoed that concern (Search Engine Land). Google, for its part, says web traffic remains relatively stable overall (The Verge). If all of that is actually true, distribution is getting noisier.
Truth is, search should be thought of as a channel you rent, not own. Not saying you should stop investing where it clearly works, but hedge by owning more of your distribution: email, phone, communities, events; those tried and true touches to earn trust, not just chase transactions.
Wishful thinking aside, the simple fact is that only about 5% of your ICP is “in-market” at any given time, leaving roughly 95% who are not ready to buy right now (LinkedIn B2B Institute / Ehrenberg‑Bass, “95–5”). If your first touch pushes a demo, appointment, or sales meeting, you’re probably leaving trust (and, in all likelihood, future demand) on the table.
Direct outreach should be used as a chance to deposit value and build memory, so that when those buyers are ready to buy, your brand is the de facto option.
The best outbound effort starts with precise problem identification. The more complex a sale, or higher the TCV, the more effort you should put into knowing what makes your target tick. By gaining this understanding, you can anticipate need, demonstrate your expertise, and build the foundations of a fruitful relationship. Here’s a pragmatic, field tested, stack to help you accomplish this:
Deliverables to store in CRM: pain hierarchy per persona, triggering events, "bad fit" tells, and a living phrase bank with the exact words buyers use. There’s good evidence that shows that GenAI can lift marketing/sales productivity when paired with robust human review (McKinsey, 2025) (State of AI, 2025) so use it, but beware of hallucinations, and always seek first-party validation.
Structure (90–120 words):
Personalization that actually matters: {first_name} and {company} merge fields simply will not suffice. Reference a verified pain or event, preferably something you learned through your research.
Cadence: 5–7 touches over 21–28 days mixing email + phone + LinkedIn. Escalate value each step (e.g., from insight → template → micro‑benchmark). Don't be afraid of mapping a complex engagement path, as different reactions should yield different next steps.
Signals of health: reply rate (NOT open rate, NOT clicks), positive reply rate, new opt‑ins, meetings per 100 contacts, hand‑raiser conversions. Email is still a remarkably high‑ROI, owned channel when it’s value‑dense and permission‑based (DMA Email Benchmarking 2024) (Litmus ROI, 2025).
Nurture forever: beyond the first month, you should still keep in touch with them. Remember to continue adding value, and listen to your target's guidance as to how much is too much, and how much is just right.
30‑second opener: "Calling with a quick idea on {pain related value}, If I’m barking up the wrong tree, I can be out of your hair in 30 seconds, and you get a small nugget of value you can walk away with — sound fair?"
Bridge with context: "Companies in your situation, are seeing {specific pain}… is that on your radar?"
Outcomes to aim for: confirm a pain, book a short working session or audit, learn about the organization’s stakeholders, or get a referral. "Not now" and a explicit permission to follow‑up beats forcing a demo all day.
Direct marketing only compounds if your data, workflows, and handoffs are tight. Design for clarity for ALL stakeholders:
Analytics
Rituals
AI‑led search is great at discovery. Revenue still comes from decisions. In B2B, decisions are built on a foundation of trust. Put your chips on channels that let you show up helpfully and at the right time, and build your operations so each touch compounds the last.