Campaign Overview

Northstate, a growth capital advisory firm dedicated to helping business owners secure strategic funding, ran a refined cold email campaign in partnership with Lightsaber Solutions. Operating on a performance-based fee model, Northstate targeted small- and mid-sized companies in active need of bridge loans, expansion capital, or refinancing solutions.

Company Background

Northstate leverages a success-based pricing structure, earning only after client funding is successfully secured. This arrangement strongly aligns incentives, minimizes upfront risk, and fosters trust with clients

Overall Campaign Results

These results reveal a campaign characterized by excellent deliverability, high engagement (open and click rates), and a strong conversion of replies to genuine opportunities.

Best Performing Segment Analysis

In a high-performing subset of the campaign:

• Emails Sent: 4,580 (same as overall, indicating consistent performance)

• Reply Rate: 2.08% (95 replies)

• Positive Reply Rate: 13.7% (13 positive replies)

• Opportunities Generated: 13

• Estimated Value: $34,000

• Opportunity Rate: 0.28%

Northstate’s best-performing segment nearly tripled the reply rate and opportunity rate of typical cold outreach benchmarks, underscoring the effectiveness of refined targeting and message relevance.

Key Success Factors

Clean Sending Infrastructure

A very high delivery rate (98.7%) and minimal bounce/spam/unsubscribe rates highlight strong list health and sender practices.

Engaging Subject Lines & Copy

The open rate of 51.3% and click-through rate of 15.6% indicate compelling subject lines, previews, and content that resonated effectively with recipients.

Quality Over Quantity

Despite the modest scale, the campaign achieved a 0.28% opportunity rate—significantly above average—demonstrating that precision outreach can outperform broad blasts.

Strong Conversion Funnel

A 2.08% overall reply rate with 13.7% of those replies being positive reflects alignment between messaging and prospect pain points, culminating in tangible funding conversations.

Return on Investment

From 4,580 emails, Northstate Inc secured 13 qualified opportunities, estimating $34,000 in value. For a consultancy operating on funded-based fees, the campaign offers a strong return on outreach investment and evidences a scalable model for lead acquisition.

Conclusion

Northstate Inc’s cold email campaign proves that a combination of clean sending, tailored targeting, and message-market fit can drive highly efficient and profitable outreach. Exceeding industry benchmarks across deliverability, engagement, and opportunity conversion, this campaign offers a blueprint for other financial advisory firms aiming for proactive client acquisition.