Codelii (web design & development agency)

Client: Codelii – Custom Web Design & Development Agency (codelii.com)

Timeline: 3-Month Engagement

Objective: To significantly increase Codelii’s pipeline of qualified leads for their web design, web development, and e-commerce solutions by targeting businesses with clear indicators of needing a new or improved digital presence.

The Challenge: Breaking Through the Noise & Finding Scalable Growth

Codelii, a highly capable web development agency with a strong portfolio, relied primarily on referrals and inbound inquiries. While successful, this approach led to inconsistent lead flow and limited their ability to proactively target specific high-value client segments. They needed a scalable, predictable outbound system to:

1. Identify businesses actively demonstrating a need for website modernization or performance improvement.
2. Reach key decision-makers within these organizations.
3. Book qualified sales appointments for the Codelii team.

Our Solution: A Data-Driven, Multi-Channel Outbound Strategy

1SecondLeads implemented a comprehensive outbound strategy leveraging advanced targeting, deep enrichment, and personalized multi-channel outreach.

Phase 1: Ideal Customer Profile (ICP) Definition & Granular Targeting

We identified several ICP segments likely to benefit most from Codelii’s expertise:

• ICP 1: Companies with Outdated/Underperforming Websites: Businesses whose current websites showed clear signs of needing a technical or aesthetic refresh.
• ICP 2: Growing B2B Service & SaaS Companies: Businesses likely needing a more professional and scalable web presence to support their growth.
• ICP 3: E-commerce Businesses Needing Enhancement: Online stores on platforms Codelii could optimize or those showing poor performance metrics.

Targeting with Apollo.io (Initial List Generation):

We built several core lists in Apollo, focusing on:

• For ICP 1 & 2 (Outdated/Underperforming & B2B/SaaS):
  • Industries: Professional Services (e.g., Consulting, Financial Services, Legal), Manufacturing, Software (B2B SaaS), Healthcare (private clinics, non-hospital services).
  • Employee Count: 20-250.
  • Location: Codelii’s primary service markets (e.g., North America, UK).
  • Keywords (Company Description): “consulting services,” “manufacturing solutions,” “B2B software,” “patient services.”
  • Technologies (Exclusion): Actively excluding companies recently identified as using very modern tech stacks that Codelii might not specialize in replacing (unless the angle is different).
  • Job Titles (People): CEO, Founder, Owner, VP Marketing, Director of Marketing, Head of Marketing, Marketing Manager, VP Sales, Director of Sales, Head of Digital, Digital Marketing Manager, Operations Director/Manager.
• For ICP 3 (E-commerce):
  • Industries: Retail, Consumer Goods, Fashion, Electronics.
  • Keywords: “e-commerce,” “online store,” “retail brand.”
  • Technologies (Positive & Negative):
    • Positive: Using Shopify, WooCommerce, Magento.
    • Opportunity for migration: Wix Stores, Squarespace Commerce.
  • Employee Count: 10-150.
  • Job Titles (People): Same as above, plus “E-commerce Manager,” “Head of E-commerce.”

Phase 2: Deep Enrichment & Signal Identification with Clay.com

This is where we transformed raw lists into highly qualified, actionable leads for Codelii. Each lead from Apollo was processed through a Clay table with the following enrichment waterfall:

1. Data Validation & Cleaning: Standardize names, company names.
2. Find Verified Emails & LinkedIn Profiles: Using a cascade of providers (e.g., Hunter.io, Dropcontact, Prospeo) within Clay.
3. Scrape LinkedIn Company Page: Extract “About Us,” recent posts, company size, industry.
4. Scrape Lead’s LinkedIn Profile: Extract headline, “About” section, recent activity.
5. BuiltWith API Integration:
   • Purpose: Identify current website technology stack.
   • Signal for Codelii (Reason to Reach Out):
     • “Prospects using outdated CMS versions (e.g., older WordPress, Drupal) face significant security vulnerabilities and often suffer from slower performance, directly impacting user trust and conversion rates. Codelii can migrate them to modern, secure versions or entirely new platforms, enhancing both safety and speed.”
     • “Identifying businesses on basic platforms like Wix or Squarespace that are hitting growth limitations presents an opportunity for Codelii to offer a transition to more scalable, custom solutions like WordPress or custom PHP, unlocking greater functionality, design flexibility, and SEO potential critical for growing companies.”
     • “When a prospect uses a technology Codelii excels at (e.g., Shopify, specific WordPress builders), it’s a direct signal to offer specialized optimization or advanced feature development services, leading to demonstrably improved performance and ROI for the client’s existing platform.”
6. Google PageSpeed Insights API Integration:
   • Purpose: Assess current website performance.
   • Signal for Codelii (Reason to Reach Out):
     • “A prospect’s website with a low Google PageSpeed score (e.g., mobile performance below 50, LCP over 2.5-4 seconds) directly translates to poor user experience, higher bounce rates, and negatively impacts SEO rankings. Codelii’s development expertise addresses these core performance issues, leading to better engagement, higher rankings, and ultimately, more conversions.”
     • “Specific PageSpeed recommendations like ‘reduce unused CSS’ or ‘serve images in next-gen formats’ are clear technical debt indicators that degrade user experience. Codelii can action these specific technical fixes, resulting in immediate and measurable site speed improvements that enhance the prospect’s bottom line.”
7. SEMRush API Integration (or similar like Ahrefs):
   • Purpose: Understand organic visibility and keyword footprint.
   • Signal for Codelii (Reason to Reach Out):
     • “Low organic search traffic or ranking for very few relevant keywords (identified via SEMrush) signifies a major missed opportunity for consistent, cost-effective lead generation. Codelii’s approach to web development, which integrates SEO best practices from the ground up, can significantly improve a prospect’s search visibility and attract a steady stream of qualified inbound leads.”
8. Scrape Website Homepage & Key Service Pages (using Clay’s browser):
   • Purpose: Look for specific language, value propositions, lack of clear CTAs, outdated design cues, missing SSL, non-mobile-friendliness.
   • Signal for Codelii (Reason to Reach Out):
     • “Outdated design aesthetics (e.g., styles clearly from pre-2015), poor mobile responsiveness, missing SSL certificates, or unclear calls-to-action on a prospect’s website create immediate credibility issues and lead to lost revenue and customer trust. Codelii’s redesign services directly address these visual and functional shortcomings, resulting in a more trustworthy, professional, and conversion-optimized online presence.”
     • “Websites with copy that lists features rather than articulating clear client benefits and solutions often fail to connect with their target audience or differentiate from competitors. Codelii can guide a content and design refresh that clearly communicates unique value, improving audience engagement and the quality of leads generated.”
9. OpenAI (GPT) Integration for Custom Snippet Generation:
   • Based on all the above enrichments, we used OpenAI prompts in Clay to:
     • Generate personalized opening lines: e.g., “Noticed [Prospect Company]’s site is built on [Older CMS from BuiltWith] and our checks show it’s scoring [X on PageSpeed Mobile]. This often means there’s a significant opportunity to enhance user experience and conversions, a core strength of Codelii.”
     • Identify the most relevant Codelii service.
     • Suggest a pain point.

Phase 3: Multi-Channel Outreach Execution (Email & LinkedIn)

Using the enriched data and personalized snippets from Clay, we launched sequences via Instantly.ai.

Email Sequence Example:

• Subject Lines (A/B Tested):
  • A: Idea for [Prospect Company Name]’s website performance & conversions
  • B: Boosting [Prospect Company Name]’s digital impact
  • C: [Prospect Name], saw [Custom Snippet from Clay about their site’s tech/performance]?
• Email 1 (Personalized Pain Point & Solution):

  Hi [First Name],
  
  [Personalized Opening Line generated by Clay AI - e.g., "Our team noticed that [Prospect Company Name]'s website currently scores around [PageSpeed Score from Clay] on mobile, which, as you likely know, can significantly impact user engagement and how effectively you capture leads."]
  
  At Codelii, we specialize in transforming websites into high-performing, modern digital assets that not only look impressive but also drive tangible business results – whether that's generating more qualified leads, increasing e-commerce sales, or improving overall search visibility.
  
  Many of our clients see [mention specific benefit like "a marked improvement in site speed and conversion rates"] after we've optimized or rebuilt their online presence.
  
  Would you be open to a brief 15-minute chat next week to discuss how Codelii could specifically enhance [Prospect Company Name]'s website, potentially addressing [mention specific metric like site speed, organic traffic, or conversion based on enriched data]?
  
  Best regards,
  
  [Your Name/Sales Rep @ 1SecondLeads on behalf of Codelii]
  [Link to Codelii.com]
  

• Email 2 (Follow-up – Focus on Specific Codelii Service, 3 days later):

  Hi [First Name],
  
  Just following up on my previous email. We also noted you're currently using [Technology from BuiltWith, e.g., "WordPress" or "Shopify"].
  
  Codelii has extensive expertise in [mention relevant Codelii service, e.g., "custom WordPress development focused on security, speed, and scalability" or "enhancing Shopify stores to maximize conversion rates and average order value"]. If your objectives include [mention a benefit related to the tech, e.g., "ensuring your WordPress site is robust against threats while loading lightning-fast" or "integrating advanced custom features into your Shopify experience"], that’s precisely where Codelii delivers exceptional value.
  
  Could exploring this be a worthwhile investment for [Prospect Company Name]'s growth?
  
  Best,
  
  [Your Name/Sales Rep @ 1SecondLeads on behalf of Codelii]
  

• Email 3 (Value Offer – Soft CTA, 4 days later):

  Hi [First Name],
  
  Perhaps the timing isn't ideal for a chat right now.
  
  Many businesses similar to yours find it insightful to see real-world examples of transformation. Codelii has a portfolio showcasing how they've helped companies achieve results like [mention 1-2 key benefits like 'a 30% uplift in qualified leads' or 'doubling mobile conversion rates']. You can explore their work here: [Link to Codelii's Portfolio]
  
  If this sparks any ideas on how Codelii might assist [Prospect Company Name], I'm here to discuss.
  
  Regards,
  
  [Your Name/Sales Rep @ 1SecondLeads on behalf of Codelii]
  

LinkedIn Outreach (Parallel to Email):

1. Day 1: View profile of key contact.
2. Day 2: Send personalized connection request:
   • Hi [First Name], came across [Prospect Company Name]. As Codelii helps businesses like yours maximize their digital impact (e.g., we noticed your site's PageSpeed score is [X], indicating potential for improvement), I thought a connection would be valuable. Best, [Your Name].
3. Post-Connection (Engage or Message):
   • Like/comment on their recent relevant post.
   • OR Send a soft message: Thanks for connecting, [First Name]! If your team at [Prospect Company Name] is ever looking to elevate your website's performance or more effectively convert visitors into customers, Codelii has a strong track record of delivering such results. Happy to share some examples.

The Results (Projected Metrics over 3 Months):

• Leads Processed through Clay: 5,000
• Highly Qualified & Enriched Contacts for Outreach: 3,600
• Emails Sent: ~10,800 (assuming a 3-step core sequence before significant personalization changes or manual follow-ups)
• Average Email Open Rate: 48%
• Average Positive Reply Rate (interested/meeting request): 3.5%
• Sales Qualified Meetings Booked for Codelii: 84
• Estimated Pipeline Value Generated (based on Codelii’s avg. project size): Assuming an average project value of $6,000 for Codelii, this represents $588,000 in new pipeline.

Key Takeaways & Why This Worked (For Agency Founders):

• Targeting Actual Needs, Not Just Demographics: Instead of just guessing who needs a new website, we used tools like BuiltWith, Google PageSpeed, and SEMrush to find companies with provable technical reasons to consider Codelii’s services. This makes your outreach instantly more relevant.
• Data-Driven Reasons to Talk: Approaching a prospect with “Your site is slow and it’s costing you leads” (backed by their PageSpeed score) is far more compelling than a generic “We build websites.” This data provides the perfect, undeniable conversation starter.
• Personalization That Resonates: By using Clay to synthesize these technical signals into personalized messages, each outreach felt like it was specifically for that prospect, addressing problems they likely already know (or should know) they have.
• Systematic Pipeline Filling: This isn’t about sporadic efforts; it’s a consistent, repeatable system for generating qualified meetings, allowing agency owners to focus on closing and delivery, not just hunting for the next project.
• Solving Real Business Problems: The messaging focused on how Codelii’s web development services solve tangible business issues – poor user experience, low conversions, security risks, stagnant organic growth – which are top-of-mind for any business owner.

Client Testimonial (for Codelii):

“Before partnering with 1SecondLeads, our lead flow was too dependent on referrals. Their systematic and data-driven outbound strategy, especially using tools like Clay to identify companies with real technical needs for our services, has been transformative. We now have a predictable stream of qualified sales meetings, allowing us to grow Codelii more strategically than ever before.” - CEO, Codelii