Solved: Cold Outreach Viability for Low-Ticket B2B Software?

Hi there,

Thanks for getting in touch. I've had a look at the situation you described, and I'm happy to give you some initial thoughts and guidance based on my experience. We've worked on quite a few campaigns for B2B software, so your challenges with cold outreach for a low-ticket product sound very familiar.

Honestly, it's a tough spot to be in, but it's definately not an impossible one. The 1% conversion rate on cold email is painful at a $30/mo price point, I get that. But I don't think it's just about the outreach channel or the price. It's usually about the entire approach, from the offer itself to how you're reaching people. Let's break it down a bit.

We'll need to look at your offer and funnel...

First off, let's talk about what you're asking people to do. You're trying to sell a new B2B software subscription, sight unseen, based on a cold email and a video demo. You're right that live demos probably aren't feasible at your price point. I remember one B2B SaaS client we had who sold to law firms, and they used a video demo too because lawyers are just too busy. But your situation is a bit different.

You're targeting self-employed individuals and you're the "digital native" solution against "paper native" competitors. That's a great position, but it also means you're not just competing on features, you're fighting against inertia. Convincing someone to abandon a system they're used to, even if it's just paper, is a massive hurdle. The biggest question in their mind will be: "Is learning and implementing this new thing worth the effort and risk?"

This is why your offer needs to be completely frictionless. Right now, it's not. You're asking for $30 upfront without them ever having touched the product. That's a lot of trust to ask for from a cold prospect.

I'd say you absolutely must introduce a free trial. Not a demo, a proper, no-strings-attached, self-serve free trial. For B2B SaaS, especially at the lower end of the market, a completely free trial is usually the best way to get people in the door. It removes all the risk for the user. They can try it, see the value for themselves, and only then do they need to consider paying. Your entire goal should be to get them to that "aha!" moment inside the product as quickly as possible. Once they've set it up and seen how it solves their problem, the idea of paying $30/mo to keep it becomes a much easier decision. Without that, you're asking them to make a leap of faith that most people just won't make.

Think about you're landing page too. It needs to be incredibly persuasive. You need professional sales copy that hammers home the pain of their current paper-based system and paints a vivid picture of how much easier life will be with your software. The video demo is a great asset, but it should support the main call to action, which should be "Start Your Free Trial".

I'd say you need a more scalable marketing channel...

Cold outreach is incredibly time-consuming and, as you've found, has a low success rate for low-ticket offers. It can work, but you need huge volume and sophisticated personalisation, which is probably not where you want to be spending your time right now. Your concern about exhausting your market is valid, but it's actually more of a risk with manual outreach than with paid ads.

Paid advertising is your most logical next step. It's scalable, testable, and allows you to reach a very specific audience repeatidly with a consistent message. Unlike cold email where you get one shot, with ads you can build familiarity and trust over time through retargeting. This is where you can turn that small, niche market into a real advantage rather than a limitation.

The goal isn't to blast your ads to everyone at once. It's to build a reliable, repeatable system that brings in a steady stream of trial users. I recall one campaign we ran for a software client where we generated 4,622 registrations at a cost of $2.38 each using Meta ads. Once you have a system that brings in trial signups for, say, $3, and you know that a percentage of those convert to paying customers, you suddenly have a predictable growth engine. At that point, a $30/mo subscription becomes very viable indeed.

You probably should focus on the right ad platform...

Okay, so which platform? You mentioned Facebook and LinkedIn. Your choice of platform should be based entirely on where your "niche vertical of largely self-employed individuals" spends their time and how they can be targeted.

LinkedIn Ads: This is the go-to for a lot of B2B, because you can target by job title, company size, industry, etc. It's very precise. However, it's also very expensive. I remember one campaign we ran for a B2B software client targeting decision makers, where we achieved a cost per lead of $22. For a $30/mo product, that CPL is probably too high to be sustainable. If your niche is something like "freelance graphic designers" or "independent financial advisors," then LinkedIn could work, but I'd be very cautious with the budget. It's likely not the best place to start.

Google Search Ads: This can be brilliant if people are actively searching for a solution to the problem your software solves. Are they typing things like "[niche task] management software" or "digital alternative to [paper form]" into Google? If so, you should definately be there. The intent is incredibly high. You'd want to do some keyword research to see what the search volume looks like. This is often a great channel for B2B, but it relies on people being problem-aware.

Meta (Facebook/Instagram) Ads: I think this is probably your best bet to start with. Why? Because you're targeting individuals, even if it's for their business. Self-employed people are still on Facebook and Instagram in their downtime. The targeting is less precise than LinkedIn for job roles, but its far cheaper and often more effective for this kind of audience. You can target people based on interests related to their profession, tools they use, publications they read, or even behaviours like "small business owners" or "Facebook business page admins". For a niche vertical, you can often find very specific interest groups to target that will contain a high concentration of you're ideal customers.

You'll need a proper campaign structure and targeting strategy...

Simply running one ad to a broad audience won't work. You need to think like a funnel. I usually structure accounts this way for Meta ads, and it works for pretty much any niche.

1. Top of Funnel (ToFu) - Prospecting:
This is where you find new people. Your goal here is not to get an immediate sale, but to get a click to your landing page and a trial signup. You'd create ad sets targeting different groups of interests. You have to think creatively about what defines your audience. What magazines do they read? What tools do they already use? What influencers do they follow? What professional bodies are they members of?

For example, if you were targeting freelance writers, your targeting might look something like this:

You'd test these seperate interest groups against each other to see which one brings in trial signups at the lowest cost.

2. Middle/Bottom of Funnel (MoFu/BoFu) - Retargeting:
This is where the real magic happens, especially for a considered purchase like B2B software. Anyone who clicks your ad, visits your landing page, or watches your video demo but doesn't sign up for a trial should be put into a retargeting audience. You then show them a different set of ads. These ads can be more direct, perhaps highlighting a specific feature, showing a customer testimonial, or reminding them their free trial offer is waiting. This process builds trust adn keeps your solution top of mind. For a small niche, a strong retargeting strategy is absolutely vital because you want to convert as many of the interested people as possible.

I've detailed my main recommendations for you below:

This is a lot to take in, I know. So here is a table summarising what I'd suggest as a starting point. This is the main advice I have for you:

Moving from manual outreach to a paid acquisition funnel is a big shift. It's not just about setting up a few ads; it's about building a system. Getting the offer, landing page copy, targeting, creatives, and funnel structure right from the start is what seperates campaigns that work from those that just burn money.

With our experience, particularly with B2B SaaS, we can help implement this entire process, ensuring every pound you spend is working to get you valuable trial users and, ultimately, paying customers. If you'd like to go over this in more detail and have a look at how we could apply this specifically to your software, we'd be happy to book you in for a free consultation to map out a strategy together.

Regards,
Team @ Lukas Holschuh