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HOW A MOBILE SDK COMPANY REACHED APP FOUNDERS GLOBALLY WITH INFORMAL, DEMO-FOCUSED OUTREACH

A mobile paywall SDK company used informal, short emails and “Can I show you how it works?” CTAs to generate 276 interested replies from 46,000 cold emails targeting app developers and product leaders worldwide.

SaaS / Developer Tools Mobile Apps Global Market
~46,000
0.60%
276
63

A mobile SDK company offering an all-in-one paywall platform needed to reach app companies who could benefit from better monetization—without requiring engineering resources. Their target audience was highly technical (CTOs, product managers, mobile developers) but the pitch was non-technical (no-code paywalls).

The challenge: convincing busy app founders that a third-party paywall tool could outperform their in-house solution, while reaching them across a truly global market.

Event-specific campaigns targeting mobile conference attendees (MAU, Sub Summit) supplemented a broad TAM approach.

Target Audience

Seniority C-Level, Directors, VPs, Managers
Department Executive, Product, Marketing, Growth
Company Size Small to growth-stage (1–50 employees = 63% of positive replies)
Geography United States (42%), Germany (6%), Canada (5%), plus Sweden, UK, Israel
Industries Computer Software, Internet, E-Learning, Marketing & Advertising, Health & Wellness

Messaging Approach

Five campaigns ran across different angles: a broad TAM Takeover, conference-specific campaigns (MAU Vegas, Sub Summit), conference follow-ups, and a tech-stack-based campaign targeting apps already using specific marketing tools.

Exclusions were strict: no agencies, no advertisers, no gaming companies. This kept targeting focused on app companies that would directly benefit from a paywall SDK.

Informal tone dominated messaging across all campaigns, with demo-focused CTAs designed to let the product speak for itself rather than relying on heavy persuasion copy.

Informal tone crushed formal—12 of top 15 combos were informal

The tech-savvy audience of app founders and product leaders strongly preferred casual, direct messaging. Informal tone generated 101 of 122 tagged positive replies. Formal emails rarely broke through.

Informal = 83% of tagged positive replies
“Can I show you how it works?” was the #1 CTA at 38 replies

Simple demo-offer CTAs outperformed direct calendar link CTAs by ~3x. Soft permission-based asks (38 + 26 + 19 replies) dominated over Calendly-link CTAs (29 combined). The highly personalized app-review CTA only generated 2 replies.

Soft asks > Calendly links by 3x
Question-first and problem-first structures both worked

“Question → Value Prop → CTA” generated 33 tagged positive replies, while “Problem → Value Prop → CTA” generated 36. Both outperformed trust-first approaches. Leading with the prospect’s situation created relevance.

Question + problem structures = top 2
C-Level executives were the #1 responder segment by a massive margin

70 positive replies came from C-level executives, more than all other seniority tiers combined. Product roles (Manager through VP) added 25 more. Founders and CEOs at small app companies make tool decisions fast.

70 C-level vs 25 product roles
Seniority Department Company Size Replies
C-Level Executive 11–50 employees 70
Manager Product 1–10 employees 12
Manager Marketing 51–200 employees 10
Director Product 11–50 employees 6
Director Marketing 1–10 employees 5

Based on enriched contact data. Some replies had incomplete profile information.

Ideal For

  • SaaS companies selling developer tools or SDKs
  • Products targeting mobile app companies and startups
  • Tools with a strong demo or visual experience
  • Companies selling to technical founders and product leaders

Success Factors

  • Informal, direct messaging that matches how founders communicate
  • Demo-focused CTAs that let the product speak for itself
  • Multi-channel approach combining broad TAM with conference-specific targeting
  • Global reach with localized understanding of key markets

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