How we achieved 32% Hot Leads in the HR group - precise segmentation in cold mailing

Client

Challenge 

AI Hero, working with market leaders such as MediaMarkt and Polsat, faced the challenge of scaling outbound sales. The main business obstacle wasn't a lack of interest in AI (which is actually a trend), but rather precisely reaching the person who, within a large organization (over 200 people), was truly experiencing a lack of technological competence.

Instead of a general message, "We're doing AI training," we had to identify specific pain points for different departments. IT was overwhelmed with questions, HR lacked the training expertise, and Sales wasted time on administration. The challenge was to break through the noise and hype surrounding AI with a pragmatic business proposition.

Questions asked

Before we sent the first message, the team asked ourselves key diagnostic questions that defined the campaign:

• Who is the real "owner" of the problem?Should the decision on AI implementation be made by the IT department, which manages the technology, or by HR, which manages employee competencies?
• How to break the barrier of silence?Is the lack of response due to a lack of interest or the fact that the topic of AI is "nobody's business" in the company?
• Is industry personalization enough?Do we need to go deeper, to the level of the daily duties of a specific position (Persona)?

Our Hypotheses

Instead of guessing, we decided to verify 3 hypotheses:

Hypothesis 1

Directing communication to HR with the proposal to "remove the training burden" will yield a higher conversion rate than technical conversations with the IT department.

Hypothesis 2 

Using a "Break-up email" (a message with a deduction of the reason for the lack of response) in the last step of the sequence will significantly increase the Response Rate, forcing the recipient to make a declaration.

Hypothesis 3

Segmenting the message for specific departmental issues (e.g., reporting for Sales vs. IT helpdesk) will build more trust than general "AI benefits."

Solution 

The campaign was designed as a precise process of data engineering and sales psychology.

Solution 1 - Technology

The operational foundation was a technology stack enabling deep personalization:

Solution 2 - Segmentation and Content

We divided the database into 4 hermetic groups (HR, IT, General Management, Sales), creating unique scenarios for each of them:

Solution 3 -Sequence Tactics 

The sequence consisted of three steps. The key element was the final email (step 3), in which we asked for a reason for the lack of contact:

1. Competences are already at a good level.
2. The training has already been completed.
3. There is simply not enough time.

Business Conclusions 

The campaign provided key information about the current state of the AI ​​implementation market in Poland:

• HR is the gateway to implementation:In large organizations (>200 employees), HR departments are most likely to respond to AI training offers. IT departments, while competent in their field, often treat such inquiries as just another task and are less likely to respond.
• The Psychology of "Negative Choice":The most effective element of the sequence was asking for a reason for silence. People were more likely to correct a false assumption ("no, we don't have training yet, I just haven't had time") than to respond to an offer of a meeting.

Financial context: Mentions about the possibility of co-financing training act as a strong catalyst for response