B2B Outbound Best Practices: What’s Working Now with Cold Email and Paid Ads (with Alex Fine)

#245: Cold Email | Danielle Messler sits down with Alex Fine, co-founder of Understory, the agency behind some of the most effective outbound and paid strategies in B2B right now. Alex is leading the charge on a smarter approach to outbound called “Allbound”, a tightly integrated blend of outbound, paid media, and LinkedIn tactics that actually convert.If you’re tired of cold emails that go nowhere or ad campaigns that burn cash without ROI, this one’s for you.Danielle and Alex cover:Why most B2B outbound strategies fail and how Allbound fixes the disconnect between ads, email, and LinkedInThe cold email deliverability tactics that actually work in 2025 (including tools like Instantly, Smartlead, and Clay)Real-world examples of hyper-personalized, AI-powered outreach that book meetings with high-ACV prospectsTimestamps(00:00) - – Intro (02:00) - – What Is “Allbound”? (04:00) - – Cold Email Isn’t Dead (But It’s Evolved) (06:30) - – Tools to Improve Deliverability (08:45) - – Personalization That Actually Works (10:15) - – Real Example: Fraud Detection SaaS Cold Email Strategy (12:00) - – How to Keep Messaging Consistent Across Channels (14:00) - – Treating Each Channel Differently (16:00) - – Ads as a “Cheat Code” in B2B (18:30) - – Building Genuinely Personalized Emails at Scale (21:30) - – From Swiffer to SaaS (25:00) - – What Sales Teaches Marketers (33:45) - – Where to Find Alex + Upcoming Exit Five Event Plug Join 50,0000 people who get Dave's Newsletter here: https://www.exitfive.com/newsletterLearn more about Exit Five's private marketing community: https://www.exitfive.com/***Brought to you by:Webflow - A website platform built for the agentic web, helping modern marketing teams build fully custom sites—no developer needed—that perform in AI search. Learn more at webflow.com/for/exitfive.Markup AI - A content quality platform that scans your content against brand voice, preferred terms, messaging standards, and AI-search readiness before it goes live, right inside Google Docs. Learn more at markup.ai.Optimizely - A no-code AI platform where autonomous agents execute marketing work across webpages, email, SEO, and campaigns. Learn how to deploy agents on your marketing team at Agents in the Mix. Learn more at optimizely.com/exitfive. Walker Sands - An integrated B2B marketing and growth services agency that helps marketing leaders turn strategy into measurable business impact through their Outcome-based Marketing model. Learn more at walkersands.com/exitfive.Knak - A no-code, campaign creation platform that lets you go from idea to on-brand email and landing pages in minutes, using AI where it actually matters. Learn more at knak.com/exitfive, or check out the MCP server by clicking this link.***Thanks to my friends at hatch.fm for producing this episode and handling all of the Exit Five podcast production.They give you unlimited podcast editing and strategy for your B2B podcast.Get unlimited podcast editing and on-demand strategy for one low monthly cost. Just upload your episode, and they take care of the rest.Visit hatch.fm to learn more