Running Multiple Singles

Here's what I see constantly: leadership decides to "go multi-channel." They spin up an email sequence. Launch a LinkedIn campaign. Maybe run some ads. Each channel has its own playbook, its own metrics, its own team.

On paper, it looks sophisticated. In reality, it's chaos.

Multi-channel outbound isn't "let's also try LinkedIn." It's one coordinated system where what happens in email changes what happens in DMs.

For a fintech event last year, we built messaging automation across email, LinkedIn DMs, and LinkedIn ads. But the channels weren't separate plays. They were triggered by the same scoring logic.

Opens the email but doesn't reply? Score adjusts. Next step: LinkedIn connection request with context referencing the email topic. Engages on LinkedIn but ignores email? Route them to a different campaign sequence. Hits a tier-one score threshold? Human gets the alert to call this week.

If your engagement in one channel doesn't influence the next step in another channel, you're not running multi-channel. You're running multiple singles.

The advantage isn't more channels. It's orchestration.

The Backward Sequence

Most teams do this backward. They call first,  the most expensive channel, then try to warm up the people who don't convert.

We flip it.

If my SDR could only make 30 calls per quarter, I'd never let them go cold to anyone. Send emails first. Track who engages. Score them by engagement, fit, and problem scale. Show LinkedIn ads to high-scorers to build familiarity. Send connection requests. Then value-driven DMs—not salesy, just helpful. Then send a heads-up email the day before the call.

By the time the SDR calls, prospects are warmed up. They're expecting the call. They haven't opted out. The call starts with context, not interruption.

It's more expensive upfront. But dramatically more efficient overall because those 30 calls convert at rates that make random cold calling look silly.

The Trust Ledger

I think of trust as a weighing scale. Every email, every LinkedIn comment, every follow-up is a trust nugget that goes on the positive or negative side.

Send a generic message that doesn't speak to their problem? Negative nugget. Push when they ask you to call back later? Negative. AI-generated LinkedIn comment that's obviously robotic? Straight up negative.

Most outbound teams treat every touchpoint as isolated. They're not. They're cumulative.

This is why we sequence emails, LinkedIn ads, and value-driven DMs before any call happens. We're trying to accumulate positive trust so that when the SDR finally calls, the prospect isn't starting cold.

By the time the SDR asks about budget, the prospect has seen your name five or six times. They've engaged with your content. They know what you do. The foundation is there.

Think about trust as a dynamic commodity. It goes up and down based on what you do.

Earning Attention

Your prospects are in system-one thinking when they glance through their inbox. Low-touch. Not analytical. Focused on something else entirely.

Most outbound messages are written for system-two readers—people who are engaged, ready to think deeply about value propositions. But they're being read by system-one scanners.

To convert them, you need to grab their attention and shift them from scanning to thinking. That shift is hard. Most messages never earn it.

Here's what works: specificity and relevance in the first line. Not generic "I help companies improve sales."

Instead: "I noticed your SDR job post lists 8 manual steps. That's the exact problem we solve."

Now you've earned the cognitive shift. Pattern interrupt. Relevance. Specificity.

The Foundation Layer

None of this works without the upstream layer: research and scoring.

Your entire system should be designed to get you closer to the 3% of your market who are active buyers before your SDR dials. Look at intent signals. Where are they investing money? What problems are they trying to solve? Use fitment data, engagement patterns, anything you can find.

The goal isn't perfect identification. That's impossible. The goal is getting from zero percent certainty random prospecting to 10%, 30%, 70% certainty before your SDR spends their limited daily calls.

Combine public data signals—job posts, tech stack, funding announcements with behavioral signals like email engagement and ad clicks. Score accounts before human outreach begins.

This is how we built Side Kick. Research, scoring, and orchestrated outreach across channels so human reps spend time where it pays calling people who are probably in-market, not randomly prospecting and hoping.

The system researches accounts, builds and scores lists, watches for triggers, and orchestrates tasks across channels. The human steps in only where judgment is critical: live calls, real objections, complex context.

What Actually Changes

Multi-channel in 2026 isn't about adding platforms. It's about building a system where every touchpoint is informed by what came before it and influences what comes next.

That requires different infrastructure. Different thinking. Different measurement.

If your channels don't talk to each other, you're not multi-channel. You're just loud.