Scaling a business and managing outreach can be daunting, especially when traditional marketing methods begin to show diminishing returns. 

Jeremy Hood, founder of the Restaurant Results Partner and a marketing consultant, experienced this firsthand. He had grown up in the family restaurant business and eventually developed a passion for helping other local eateries with their marketing. But when he sought to expand his services beyond his hometown, he hit a roadblock—his cold email campaigns were failing to make an impact.

Jeremy’s story is not uncommon in the marketing world. Many businesses face challenges when they try to scale their email outreach efforts, from low deliverability rates to inefficient campaign management. This case study dives into Jeremy Hood’s journey, the obstacles he faced before using Smartlead, and how the platform became a game-changer in his email marketing strategy.

About Jeremy Hood and His Business

Jeremy Hood is more than just a restaurant marketing consultant—he’s a seasoned industry professional with a passion for helping independent restaurant owners succeed. Growing up in his father’s restaurant, David’s BBQ, Jeremy learned about the restaurant business and the value of hard work from an early age. 

His background includes a degree in accounting and a CPA license, but after a brief stint in public accounting, he realized that he was more inspired by small business ownership. He returned to the restaurant world, helping his family expand their business by opening a second location and developing a successful catering operation, which now operates near $3 million in annual sales with a valuation of $1.3 million.

Today, Jeremy is the founder of Restaurant Results Partner, a unique consulting business dedicated to helping restaurant owners streamline operations, improve profitability, and reclaim their time. He has created a 6-step framework that enables restaurant owners to achieve double-digit profit margins by implementing systems and hiring the right people. With this approach, Jeremy’s clients gain the freedom to focus on what truly matters—running their restaurants without sacrificing quality of life.

Jeremy’s journey into cold email outreach began when he decided to expand his consulting services beyond his local area. Despite his expertise in systems and operations, he encountered challenges with scaling his marketing efforts to reach new clients. That’s when he discovered Smartlead, which would prove to be instrumental in driving the next phase of growth for his business.

Problems Faced Before Using Smartlead

Before discovering Smartlead, Jeremy struggled with several issues while attempting to scale his email outreach. He had dabbled with cold email marketing in the past, but his lack of experience and improper tools led to minimal success.

Poor Deliverability

One of Jeremy’s major challenges was that his emails weren’t reaching their intended recipients. After a few initial campaigns, his response rates plummeted, and his emails were landing in spam folders. This drop in deliverability severely hampered his ability to engage with potential clients.

“I experimented with cold email at a previous job, probably five or six years ago… used some software that was not built for that. So started sending my first couple of campaigns, and as you can imagine, after about two weeks, the replies went to almost zero.”

Inefficient Campaign Management

Jeremy was using outdated tools that were not designed for cold emailing at scale. He lacked the proper sequence and automation features needed to personalize and manage large-scale campaigns effectively. This led to wasted time and resources, as he had to manually manage follow-ups and track responses.

Limited Insight and Feedback

Without adequate tracking and feedback, Jeremy couldn’t gain insights into what was working and what wasn’t. He needed detailed analytics to understand how his emails were performing and how he could improve his approach. The absence of these insights left him in the dark regarding campaign performance, leaving him unable to optimize for better results.

Inconsistent Outreach Strategy

Jeremy’s outreach strategy was inconsistent due to a lack of advanced features such as Spintax (text variation) and sequence management. This resulted in campaigns that quickly became repetitive, reducing the chances of maintaining recipient engagement over time.

These issues were not only frustrating but also impacted Jeremy’s ability to expand his marketing business beyond his local area. He needed a solution that would streamline his processes, increase deliverability, and provide the tools necessary for scaling his cold email outreach.

How Smartlead Solved the Problem

Jeremy found his solution in Smartlead which is specifically designed to optimize cold email campaigns. After making the switch, he noticed a significant improvement in several key areas.

Improved Deliverability with SmartDelivery

One of Smartlead’s standout features is its focus on deliverability. Jeremy immediately saw a change in the number of emails reaching the inbox rather than the spam folder. Smartlead’s advanced filtering and SmartDelivery tests ensured that his emails had the best chance of getting in front of potential clients. 

According to Jeremy, “The insights on deliverability, especially the SmartDelivery feature, have been pretty cool.”

Efficient Campaign Management

Smartlead provided Jeremy with tools like sub-sequences and Spintax, allowing him to create multiple variations of emails within a single campaign. This increased the personalization and effectiveness of his outreach while saving time. Jeremy could now run up to 30 different variations of an email sequence within a single campaign, a feature he found incredibly useful.

As he put it,  “The ability to test… like within just one campaign and have like 30 different variations running of an email sequence with variables and spin tags and all that, that's been, I think, helpful.”

Advanced Analytics and Insights

Smartlead’s robust reporting features gave Jeremy the insight he needed to optimize his campaigns. He was able to track response rates, deliverability, and other key metrics, helping him refine his approach over time. 

The Slack integration allowed him to receive real-time notifications, keeping him updated on his campaigns' performance.

Scalability and Flexibility

Smartlead’s ability to scale campaigns by adding more mailboxes when needed provided Jeremy with the flexibility to grow his outreach efforts. 

He appreciated the platform’s seamless mailbox management, which ensured that no single email account became overwhelmed, thus reducing the risk of being flagged as spam. 

Jeremy noted, “It’s nice to be able to scale campaigns up or down with different mailboxes depending on their performance.”

Comprehensive Support and Community

Another factor that Jeremy valued was Smartlead’s strong customer support and active community. Anytime he had a question or issue, he found the team responsive and helpful. Additionally, Smartlead’s training resources were crucial in helping him get started quickly and effectively.

Impact and Results

The results of switching to Smartlead were significant for Jeremy Hood. Not only did he improve his email deliverability rates, but he also achieved better engagement with his campaigns. 

By leveraging Smartlead’s automation, testing features, and analytics, he was able to fine-tune his outreach strategy and secure more positive replies from potential clients.

Jeremy’s overall efficiency improved as well. With Smartlead’s automation and campaign management tools, he saved valuable time, allowing him to focus on other aspects of his business. He was able to handle more clients and manage larger email lists without worrying about manual follow-ups or campaign tracking.

Moreover, Jeremy is excited about upcoming Smartlead features, such as the mailbox marketplace, which will allow him to test different email providers (e.g., Gmail, Outlook) and further optimize his email outreach. This flexibility will give him more options for scaling his campaigns in the future.

Conclusion

Jeremy Hood’s journey from struggling with cold email outreach to running efficient, scalable campaigns demonstrates the power of the right tools. Smartlead provided him with the features, flexibility, and insights he needed to transform his marketing business and reach clients beyond his local area.

For anyone facing similar challenges in their cold email outreach, Smartlead offers a comprehensive solution that not only improves deliverability but also enhances campaign management and provides actionable insights. With features like Spintax, SmartDelivery, etc., Smartlead empowers businesses like Jeremy’s to scale effectively while maintaining high levels of engagement.

Jeremy’s experience is a testament to how Smartlead can help marketing professionals overcome the common hurdles of cold email outreach and achieve sustainable growth.

If you want to experience similar results for your cold email outreach, sign up for a free 14-day trial. 

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