u/Consistent_Fact_5119

Generic lead lists are dead.

Business name.
Website.
Email.
Phone number.

That’s not enough anymore.

Me and my team started building “ad intelligence reports” because we realized the agencies winning right now are the ones walking into outreach with leverage.

Before reaching out, we’re able to see:

- whether a company is running ads
- what platforms they’re using
- possible bottlenecks in their funnel
- weak areas in their marketing
- businesses that don’t appear to have agency support
- companies in specific niches NOT running ads yet

The difference in outreach is insane when you already understand the business before the first conversation.

Instead of sounding like every other marketer…

…you’re speaking directly to their actual problems.

And honestly, some of the best leads we’ve found are businesses with:

- good reviews
- strong websites
- real demand

…but zero advertising and no visible agency.

Those conversations feel completely different because there’s almost no competition.

Currently putting together these reports for agencies right now while building the full platform.

If you want one done for your niche/location, comment or shoot me a DM.

I little sauce for you guys!
Me and my team recently started putting together what we call “ad intelligence reports” for our outreach process.

Basically instead of going into cold outreach blind, we started using a system that lets us analyze businesses before ever contacting them.

We can see things like:

* whether they’re running ads or not
* what platforms they’re using
* possible bottlenecks in their funnel
* weak points in their marketing
* businesses with no visible agency support
* untapped companies in specific niches/locations

The biggest shift has been the quality of conversations.

Instead of hopping on calls trying to figure out how we can help…

We already have leverage and intent before the first message is even sent.

We already know:

* where they may be losing leads
* where opportunities exist
* how we could potentially improve their marketing

Outreach feels completely different when you can actually speak specifically about someone’s business instead of sending generic pitches.

Honestly feels like this is where prospecting is heading.

One thing that’s massively improved our outreach lately is stopping the generic cold messaging.

Instead of just pulling random lead lists, we started researching each prospect’s marketing before outreach.

Things like:
- are they running ads?
- what platforms are they using?
- do they already have an agency?
- are there obvious marketing gaps?
- are they missing retargeting?
- are they not running ads at all?

What’s interesting is that some of the best leads have actually been businesses with:
- no active ads
- no visible agency
- good reviews
- active websites
- real local demand

Those conversations feel way less competitive because they haven’t already been flooded with marketers.

The outreach also feels way more natural when you can say something specific instead of sending:
“Hey, need marketing help?”

Reply rates have honestly gone up a lot since shifting to this approach.

Curious if anyone else here has been seeing the same thing.

Most lead lists are honestly useless.

You get:
- business names
- websites
- emails

…but no real context before outreach.

So I started building “enhanced” lead lists where I research:
- what ads businesses are running
- what platforms they use
- funnel signals
- possible marketing bottlenecks
- whether they already work with an agency

The interesting part though:

I’ve also been finding businesses in specific niches/locations that AREN’T running ads at all and don’t seem to have agency support.

Those leads honestly seem easier to close because there’s less competition and they haven’t been spammed by marketers yet.

Been testing this with agencies recently and the feedback has been interesting.

I’ve been running into a weird problem lately with outreach.

Most lead lists only tell you:
- company name
- website
- email
- maybe social links

But they don’t tell you the stuff that actually matters before a sales call.

Like:
- are they running ads?
- what platforms are they using?
- do they already have an agency?
- what does their funnel look like?
- where are they weak?

So I end up wasting a ton of time researching every prospect manually before outreach.

Anyone else dealing with this?