Multichannel outbound agency: cold email, cold calling, LinkedIn and ads (2026)
Updated October 11, 2026. Vendor sites read October 11, 2026.
Sales.co runs four outbound channels from one account list: email, cold calls, ads and LinkedIn. Of ten GTM engineering agencies whose sites we read on October 11, 2026, six run email for the client, four run LinkedIn outreach, three run ads and one runs calls. None of the ten names all four.
Sales.co publishes this page, so read it with that in mind. The ten are the agencies named most often in the list pages that rank on Google for GTM engineering agency queries (how they were chosen). They sell GTM engineering, and this is not a survey of every outbound agency. A channel counts as run when the agency's own site says it sends, calls or advertises for the client; "builds it" means the agency sets the channel up and the client runs it.
| Agency | Cold calls | Ads | Other channels | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sales.co | Runs it: whole market | Runs it: highest-intent accounts | Runs it: highest-intent accounts | Runs it: highest-intent accounts | None listed |
| ColdIQ | Runs it | Runs it | No, says so | Runs it | LinkedIn content |
| Understory | Runs it | Runs it | Not named | Runs it | LinkedIn content |
| demandDrive | Runs it | Not named | Runs it | Runs it | Outsourced SDR and BDR teams; its SDR page refers to dials and emails sent |
| SalesCaptain | Runs it | Runs it | Not named | Not named | Text campaigns |
| DevCommX | Runs it | Runs it | Not named | Not named | None |
| Growth Engine X | Runs it | Not named | Not named | Not named | None |
| RevPartners | Not named | Not named | Not named | Not named | Channels are not listed on its Clay service or pricing pages |
| The GTM Engineering Company | Builds it; client runs it | Builds it; client runs it | Not named | Not named | None |
| The Kiln | Not named | Builds it; client runs it | Not named | Builds it; client runs it | Lists "Automated, personalized outbound" among its builds; builds paid-ads audiences and does not say it runs the ads |
| Earleads | Not named | Not named | Not named | Not named | No outbound channels; it sells AI search visibility |
ColdIQ rows include frontal.so, the site its agency now uses. "Not named" means the pages we read do not mention the channel; the agency may still offer it.
By channel
| Channel | Run for the client | Built for the client to run |
|---|---|---|
| 6 of 10: SalesCaptain, ColdIQ, Understory, Growth Engine X, DevCommX and demandDrive | The GTM Engineering Company | |
| 4 of 10: SalesCaptain, ColdIQ, Understory and DevCommX | The GTM Engineering Company and The Kiln | |
| Cold calls | 1 of 10: demandDrive | None |
| Ads | 3 of 10: ColdIQ, Understory and demandDrive | The Kiln |
Three of the ten run three of the four channels: ColdIQ, Understory and demandDrive. ColdIQ and Understory run email, LinkedIn and ads, without calls. demandDrive runs calls, email and paid advertising, and its pages do not name LinkedIn outreach. SalesCaptain and DevCommX run email and LinkedIn. Growth Engine X runs email only, at up to 5,000 emails a day.
Cold calling is the rare channel
Only demandDrive runs calls, and it does so by supplying SDR and BDR teams, a different product from an outbound package. ColdIQ's agency site (frontal.so) is direct about it. Asked "Do you do cold calling?", it answers "No, and we would rather be straight about it", and says it builds "the tiered, signal-driven list that makes those calls land" for clients whose own team calls. Sales.co's package includes calls to the highest-intent accounts, with mobile numbers found and checked during list building.
One data point on calls and email together
Sales.co sells its own service by outbound and published the numbers. Between March and August 2026 its own campaign emailed 124,513 contacts and 143 calls were booked. We expected almost every booking to come from someone who had replied to an email. 98 did. Another 42 came from companies whose contact never answered the email, and when asked how they heard about us, 22 of the 42 named cold email and 12 named a cold call. Counting repliers only would have missed 45 of the 143 meetings. This is one campaign for one offer; it shows that bookings arrive through more than the reply, and it does not measure how much each channel adds. Source: cold email conversion rate benchmarks.
Where another agency is the better pick
- Text messages: SalesCaptain runs text campaigns next to email and LinkedIn. Text is not one of Sales.co's four channels.
- Paid media as a full program: Understory runs ads on five platforms with creative and landing pages. Sales.co's ads go to the highest-intent accounts on the outbound list.
- LinkedIn content: ColdIQ and Understory write it for clients. Sales.co's page lists LinkedIn outreach and no content.
- Email volume alone: Growth Engine X states up to 5,000 emails a day per client and a free test campaign for companies that qualify.
- Named SDRs on your account: demandDrive.
Sales.co's GTM engineering package is $5,500 a month, flat, with no setup fees, and it is month-to-month. More: Signal-based outbound agencies · Account-based outbound agencies · Outsourced GTM engineering.
Sources
- Sales.co: sales.co/gtm-engineering, read October 11, 2026.
- Sales.co's own campaign: sales.co/research/cold-email-conversion-rate-benchmarks, published October 6, 2026.
- SalesCaptain: salescaptain.io, salescaptain.io/clay-agency, salescaptain.io/outbound-sales, read October 11, 2026.
- ColdIQ: coldiq.com/implementation, coldiq.com, frontal.so, read October 11, 2026.
- Understory: understoryagency.com, understoryagency.com/gtm-engineering, read October 11, 2026.
- Growth Engine X: growthenginex.com, read October 11, 2026.
- RevPartners: revpartners.io/clay-agency, revpartners.io/pricing, read October 11, 2026.
- DevCommX: devcommx.com/faq, devcommx.com, read October 11, 2026.
- The GTM Engineering Company: gtm-engineering.io, gtm-engineering.io/services, gtm-engineering.io/services/sales, read October 11, 2026.
- demandDrive: demanddrive.com/services/revenue-operations/clay-services, demanddrive.com/services/outsourced-sales-services/outsourced-sales-development, read October 11, 2026.
- The Kiln: thekiln.com, read October 11, 2026.
- Earleads: earleads.com, read October 11, 2026.
Related pages
Best GTM engineering agencies (2026) · GTM engineering agency cost · Best Clay agencies · Sales.co GTM engineering
Sales.co vs SalesCaptain · Sales.co vs ColdIQ · Sales.co vs Understory · Sales.co vs Growth Engine X · SalesCaptain alternatives · ColdIQ alternatives · Understory alternatives · Growth Engine X alternatives
GTM engineering agency for B2B SaaS · GTM engineering agency for startups · Agency vs in-house GTM engineer · Outsourced GTM engineering · Month-to-month GTM engineering agencies · Signal-based outbound agencies · Account-based outbound agencies
FAQ
Which outbound agencies run cold email, cold calling and LinkedIn together?
Of the ten agency sites we read on October 11, 2026, none names all three as channels it runs. SalesCaptain, ColdIQ, Understory and DevCommX run email and LinkedIn. demandDrive runs calls and email through outsourced SDR teams. Sales.co runs email, cold calls, LinkedIn and ads from one account list. Sales.co publishes this page, so read it with that in mind.
Which GTM engineering agencies make cold calls?
One of the ten: demandDrive, through outsourced SDR teams. ColdIQ's agency site answers "Do you do cold calling?" with "No", and says it builds the list that makes a client's own calls land. The other eight do not name calls on the pages we read. Sales.co calls the highest-intent accounts.
Which agencies run ads next to outbound?
ColdIQ, Understory and demandDrive. Understory runs paid media on LinkedIn, Google, Meta, Reddit and X. The Kiln builds paid-ads audiences as a project. Sales.co shows ads to the highest-intent accounts on its list.
Does adding channels produce more meetings?
We have one published data point of our own. In Sales.co's own campaign, 42 of 143 booked calls came from companies whose contact never replied to the email; asked how they heard about us, 22 named cold email and 12 named a cold call. That is one campaign, so treat it as an example.