A podcast studio is looking for guests with a budget. 373 wanted to know more.
EM360Tech in London produces podcasts with industry analysts for technology companies. Since August 2025, Akquire has been contacting the heads of marketing at these companies for EM360Tech: 75'257 emails, 538 responses, 373 of them positive.
- 373positive responses
- 17'324decision-makers contacted
- 17Campaigns by company size, topic and market
- 133+Leads in the first 59 days
Michael Lodge, founder and CEO of EM360Tech
«One of the biggest headaches is getting enough meetings booked in your pipeline.»
EM360Tech’s own lead generation was manual. The sales team should sell, not chase meetings. Akquire came on board in July 2025.
Five chapters. Every week since August 2025.
- 01Target groupMarketing decision-makers in technology companies with 50 or more employees, split across 17 campaigns
- 02MachineFrom lookalike to meeting: ten steps in
Clay, 
Smartlead and 
Pipedrive - 03emailsFor each person researched: analysts, praise, three questions for their own episode
- 04Result538 responses, 373 positive, plus the actual analysis of the first phase
- 05DataA dashboard in Pipedrive, daily reports and an analysis of the company’s own sales emails
Audience.
People who decide on marketing budgets at technology companies.
For you A list is not a plan. Each campaign gets its own segment, its own analysts and its own offer.
Three to four weeks of planning. Then the first email.
First, together with EM360Tech, we defined who could buy: VPs of Marketing, marketing leads and demand generation in technology companies with 50 or more employees, in the US, Canada, the UK, the DACH region and the Nordic countries. This resulted in 17 campaigns, each with its own variant.
- By size50 to 200 employees200 or more
- By topicCybersecurityEnterprise InfrastructureEnterprise DataAI
- By similarityCompanies like EM360Tech’s best customers, all countries
- By triggerPrevious contacts, re-approachedCompanies with fresh funding
- By marketUSAEuropeTime zones USA, Europe, Australia
Campaigns in Smartlead.
Machine.
Ten steps between a list and a meeting.
For you Every email that goes out has already passed eight checks and one round of research. That is why the replies are positive.
From lookalike to meeting.
This is how Akquire works for EM360Tech, step by step, with the real columns and figures. Built in Clay, sent with Smartlead, evaluated in Pipedrive.
- 01
Lookalikes
48'422Companies imported
Companies that resemble EM360Tech's customers, from a lookalike database, loaded into a table in Clay.
Final_Domain
DiscoLike Clay - 02
Blocklist
1'268Companies filtered out immediately
Anyone already in conversation, with an open deal or who does not want to be contacted is filtered out before any research begins. The blocklist has 10'701 entries and is kept in sync from Pipedrive.
DNC_List?Clay Pipedrive - 03
Eight AI checks
8'143Companies pass all of them, 16,8 %
AI agents read each company's website and check, in sequence: B2B, enterprise, suitable sector, SaaS, no competitor, revenue, industry fit, exclusions. A check only runs if the previous one was safe.
B2B_ClassificationEnterprise_CheckTarget_Verticals_FitSAAS_Focused?Competitor_CheckRevenue_CheckIndustry Fit ClassificationExclusion AssessmentClay - 04
News and guest
8'250Guests identified, several per company
Current news from each company is assigned to a topic. The AI then looks for the senior person who fits as a guest on the podcast, and the marketing lead who receives the email.
Topic_AnalysisPodcast Guest Role SelectionRelevant LeaderContact_LeadClay - 05
EM360 assigned
6'904Companies with suitable analysts
For the topic, the three analysts from EM360Tech, the matching podcast series and the next quarter.
Recommended AnalystsPodcast_SeriesNext_QuarterClay - 06
Writing copy
6'867Invitations written and ready
One sentence about the company, one sentence about the person, three questions for the episode, one suitable customer case, the subject line. Without real work from the company, there is no email.
Praise_SentencePersonalization BlockQuestion_1Question_2Question_3Tailored_Social_ProofPodcast Subject LinesClay - 07
Address and dispatch
10'761Passing contacts to Smartlead, including multiple per company
The work email address from several sources in sequence, then with around 16 fields to Smartlead. Sent today from 433 warmed-up inboxes on 15 domains, two emails a day each, without links and without tracking pixels.
Work EmailCAMPAIGN?
BetterContact 
Apollo Smartlead - 08
Responses
538Replies, 373 positive
Every reply is categorised by AI, a person checks: interest, materials, price, appointment. Questions about price have their own branch.
Smartlead - 09
Handover and Command centre
24 hrs.until a new lead is processed
Every lead goes to EM360Tech's sales team with the full history, and as a deal in Pipedrive. The Command centre shows the deadline, open steps and a report with a link every day.
Pipedrive - 10
Every Friday
3 to 8new leads per week, autumn 2026
In the weekly meeting, EM360Tech assesses the leads. This leads to new rules for the checks, new segments and better texts for the next round.
Back to Station 03: What EM360Tech assesses on Friday becomes a rule in the next round.
Stations 01 to 07: the main table in Clay, column names as in the original. Station 08: all 17 campaigns in Smartlead. Stations 09 and 10: Command Center and Weekly Sales Reviews.
Emails.
No template with a name in it. An invitation written for this person.
For you The short version with «one spot left» did not generate a single positive reply. Anyone selling content has to show they know the recipient.
Every gap researched. Every version tested.
In the campaign «ROI Focused» for the USA, launched in March 2026, five versions ran from the first email. Four test versions ran with 251 to 257 emails each, version A went to 9'917 recipients. The marked parts are researched and written individually for each person.
{{Subject_Line}}
Hello {{first_name}},
Our EM360Tech analyst partners {{3_recommended_analysts}} are spotlighting {{Suggested_Priority_Topic}} in {{Next_quarter}} of our ROI-focused Podcast, {{Podcast_series}} - a pure demand generation engine guaranteeing 200+ net new MQLs strictly from your ICP.
{{Praise_sentence}}
{{Person_praise}}
We'd look to cover questions like:
1. {{Question_1}}
2. {{Question_2}}
3. {{Question_3}}
Here's what being part of this would mean:
- 200 guaranteed tele-verified MQLs from your ICP - delivering measurable ROI to your pipeline
- Position {{Podcaster_First_Name}} and {{company_name}} as a go-to voice in {{Suggested_Priority_Topic}}, alongside respected industry analysts
- Put your brand in front of EM360Tech's 620k+ community of enterprise technology leaders
Can I send over more details or jump on a quick call?
Regards,
- Three analystsFrom the EM360Tech pool, matched to the topic of the company. Assignment by topic is coordinated with EM360Tech.
- One sentence about the companyWhat it is launching, announcing or building now.
- One sentence about the personWhat this person did themselves, not their title.
- Three questionsFor their own podcast episode, so specific that you can already hear the episode.
Five versions of the first email, USA
- A · long, with three questions9'91788 replies · 61 positive
- E · question after 45 minutes2527 · 3
- B · no questions, brief2574 · 2
- D · «one spot left»2563 · 0
- C · praise first2512 · 1
Emails sent per version, then replies and positive replies. Variant analysis in Smartlead.
Result.
Listen closely. Every bar is a reply.
For you At Akquire, a lead means a positive response from a verified decision-maker in your target customer profile. No opens, no clicks.
538 responses.
Sent in 17 campaigns since August 2025, 75'257 emails to 17'324 decision-makers.
White marks the positive ones: interest, questions about materials, the price, or an appointment.
373 positive. More than two out of three.
The first phase. 133 leads.
This is what the first phase looked like in the analysis: 10'877 emails to 3'027 contacts, 167 replies, 133 of them positive, that is 79,64 %. Only 56 addresses were undeliverable, 1,85 %.
Performance metrics · EM360Tech
These companies replied positively. To a cold email.
A selection of the well-known tech companies among the positive replies: interest, a request for a meeting, a question about materials or price.
Interest or request for a meeting
Asked for materials or price
Companies with a positive reply in the EM360Tech campaigns. The mention does not mean that the companies are EM360Tech customers.
EM360Tech tells its own story. Without a script.
YouTube loads.«What I really liked was the attention to detail. We spent three to four weeks outlining everything.»
«From our very first conversations, I said the only thing I want in a partnership is transparency, honesty, and ethics.»
«Each month, with each batch of leads, it got better and better.»
«You went above and beyond, which was outside the scope of the agreement.»
Michael LodgeFounder & CEO, EM360TechData.
Leads are just the start. After that, the team needs to see what comes of them.
For you We do not just give you answers, we show which e-mails from your own team bring in appointments.
More than outbound prospecting. For the whole sales team.
- Each weekSync and sales review
Since September 2025, a fixed Friday meeting. Plus a weekly review: how many new leads, from which campaign, what they want. In autumn 2026, there were three to eight new leads per week.
«These weekly calls … have been invaluable to us throughout the entire process.»Michael Lodge in conversation, 15 December 2025
- June 2026Command Center in Pipedrive
A dashboard in EM360Tech’s Pipedrive account and daily reports with a link the team can pass on.
«Yes, yes, very happy. I shared the report with everyone today and will share it daily. Very insightful.»Michael Lodge the next day, 3 June 2026
- October 2026Analysis of the team’s own e-mails
We read the first e-mails that EM360Tech’s sales team had sent to 1'105 companies, each one with what happened next. The result: which templates bring in appointments and which do not.
From plan to weekly rhythm.
Getting started with Akquire. Three to four weeks of planning: sectors, topics, job titles, grouped by company size.
Campaign plan with EM360Tech.
The first campaign goes out, six more follow by mid-September, based on size, topic and similarity.
First weekly sync on Friday.
New campaigns for previous contacts and companies with recent funding.
Campaign «ROI Focused» for the USA, from April also for Europe. It brings the most positive replies.
The Command Centre in Pipedrive goes live.
Analysis of the emails from the sales team. Eight new leads this week.
Your guests, sponsors, exhibitors. Addressed like people.
Do you sell podcasts, studies, events or advertising to technology companies? Tell us which marketing managers you want to reach. For the strategy meeting, we will bring an initial target group and a sample email.
- Researched, not generic Each first email mentions what the person and their company are doing right now.
- Tested, then scaled Several versions are tested against each other, the strongest goes to the whole list.
- Show first, pay laterFree sample with 50 decision-makers from your target customer profile, before you pay anything.
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