--- title: Great Lakes Food & Beverage Campaign Strategy type: article created: '2026-04-05' updated: '2026-04-05' source_docs: - raw/2025-10-29-sales-standup-97628459.md tags: - food-and-beverage - great-lakes - lead-generation - clay - hubspot - stagnation-score - campaign - outreach layer: 2 client_source: null industry_context: food-beverage transferable: true --- # Great Lakes Food & Beverage Campaign Strategy ## Overview This article documents the targeting strategy and execution plan for Asymmetric's first vertical-specific outbound campaign. The campaign focuses on **Food & Beverage companies experiencing growth stagnation** in the Great Lakes region. The industry was selected in part because of Mark Hope's background as a Coca-Cola division president, which provides inherent credibility when engaging prospects. This campaign is the first application of the broader [[knowledge/sales/targeted-campaign-framework|targeted campaign framework]] being developed to replace generic list-based outreach. --- ## Target Criteria ### Company Filters | Dimension | Value | |---|---| | **Industry** | Food & Beverage | | **Revenue** | $10M – $50M | | **Region** | Great Lakes: MI, IN, IL, IA, WI, MN | | **Max Employees** | ~250 | > Iowa is included to complete the geographic crescent from Illinois to Minnesota, even though it is not technically a Great Lakes state. ### Stagnation Qualification Signals After the initial company list is built in Clay, each company is scored on the following signals. Companies with multiple stagnation indicators are prioritized. | Signal | What to Look For | |---|---| | **Revenue growth (6-month)** | Flat or declining trend | | **Revenue growth (12-month)** | Flat or declining trend | | **Headcount growth** | Low or no growth | | **Job openings** | Few open roles relative to company size | | **Latest funding round** | No new funding in the past 12 months | | **Negative news** | Scraped via Clay AI prompt (modify the built-in "positive news" prompt to search for negative news instead) | --- ## List-Building Workflow ### Step 1 — Build the Company List in Clay 1. Create a new Clay company table. 2. Filter by: Industry = Food & Beverage, Revenue = $10M–$50M, States = MI, IN, IL, IA, WI, MN. 3. **Test first:** Process only the first 10 rows for each new column before running the full list. ### Step 2 — Enrich for Stagnation Signals Add waterfall columns for each signal listed above. Suggested Clay fields: - `Revenue Growth (6mo)` / `Revenue Growth (12mo)` - `Headcount Growth` - `Job Openings Count` - `Latest Funding Date` - `Recent News` (AI prompt — edit to surface negative news) ### Step 3 — Calculate Stagnation Score Assign point values to each signal (e.g., declining 12-month revenue = 15 pts, no funding in 12 months = 10 pts). Scoring is easiest to calculate in Excel or Google Sheets, then imported back as a column. - Add a **Stagnation Score** custom field in HubSpot. - Prioritize outreach starting with the highest-scoring companies. ### Step 4 — Contact Enrichment Once the company list is finalized, run a separate Clay people table to find contacts at those companies. **Target titles:** CEO, President, Founder, Owner, VP of Sales, VP of Marketing (VP-level and above) **Required contact fields:** - Phone number - Email address - LinkedIn profile URL ### Step 5 — Push to HubSpot Use the Clay → HubSpot native integration (already connected) to sync records, or export CSV and import manually as a fallback. --- ## Outreach Sequence A 20-day multi-touch sequence is used to build familiarity and "weaken resistance" before a prospect agrees to a meeting. ### Pre-Call Preparation Before initiating any outreach on a contact, spend **2–3 minutes reviewing their LinkedIn profile**: - Where did they go to school? - What prior companies have they worked at? - What have they posted about recently? This provides personalizers for the call, voicemail, and first email. ### Sequence Structure | Week | Touches | |---|---| | **Week 1** | Call → Voicemail → Email | | **Week 2** | Call → Email → LinkedIn connection request | | **Week 3** | Comment on a LinkedIn post; like/react to recent activity | After the full sequence with no response, move the contact to the **nurturing list**. ### Nurturing - Contacts in nurture receive a drip of 10–15 emails over time. - **Re-entry trigger:** Any engagement (white paper download, website visit, email click) moves the contact back into the active outreach queue. - Contacts who complete the nurture sequence with zero engagement are written off. --- ## Messaging Approach The primary pitch is built around the **stagnation problem**: - Lead with the specific signals observed (revenue trend, headcount, etc.). - If the prospect disputes the data, pivot to a general conversation about growth challenges. - Goal of the first call: qualify interest and set a meeting with Mark. **Fallback offer:** Send a white paper on causes, symptoms, and solutions for growth stagnation in Food & Beverage. Mark is developing the full messaging document, including pain points, offer framing, objection handling, and HubSpot sequence templates. --- ## Ownership & Action Items | Owner | Task | |---|---| | **Jacob** | Build Clay company list (F&B, $10–50M, 6 states) | | **Jacob** | Add stagnation signal columns; test 10 rows first | | **Jacob** | Calculate Stagnation Score; add as custom HubSpot field | | **Jacob** | Run contact enrichment (VP+, phone/email/LinkedIn) | | **Jacob** | Update LinkedIn profile to reflect Asymmetric Applications Group | | **Mark** | Draft messaging doc: pain points, offers, objections | | **Mark** | Build HubSpot sequence templates for multi-touch outreach | | **Both** | Sync at 12:30 PM same day for progress update | | **Both** | Schedule Friday catch-up call | --- ## Related - [[knowledge/sales/targeted-campaign-framework|Targeted Campaign Framework]] - [[knowledge/sales/multi-touch-outreach-sequence|Multi-Touch Outreach Sequence]] - [[knowledge/tools/clay-enrichment-workflow|Clay Enrichment Workflow]] - [[knowledge/tools/hubspot-sequence-setup|HubSpot Sequence Setup]]