Cold email gets a bad reputation because most cold emails are bad. They're generic, irrelevant, and they land in the inbox of people who never asked for help. But what if you only emailed people who publicly said they were looking for exactly what you sell? That's what happens when you combine Buska with Lemlist. Buska finds people expressing buying intent on social media. Lemlist lets you reach them with personalized outreach that references what they actually said. The result is cold email that doesn't feel cold at all.
Why social signals make better outreach triggers
Most outreach campaigns start with a list. You buy a database, filter by industry and company size, and blast a template. The response rate is 1-2% if you're lucky. The reason is simple: you're reaching people at random, hoping some of them have a need right now.
Social signals flip this model. Instead of guessing who might need your product, you find people who are telling the world they need it. Someone posts on Twitter: "Our current tool for X is terrible. Open to suggestions." That person has a problem, they know they have a problem, and they're actively seeking a solution. That's the best possible starting point for outreach.
When you reference their actual words in your email, you're not cold-emailing anymore. You're responding to a request. The psychological difference is massive. Response rates on signal-based outreach typically run 3-5x higher than traditional cold email.
The workflow: from signal to sent email
Here's the end-to-end process for turning a Buska social signal into a Lemlist outreach campaign. I'll break down each step.
Step 1: Identify the right signals in Buska
Set up keywords in Buska that capture buying intent. Focus on phrases that indicate someone is actively searching for a solution, not just talking about the space generally.
- "looking for a [your category]" or "need a tool for [problem]"
- "anyone recommend" or "suggestions for"
- "switching from [competitor]" or "[competitor] alternative"
- "frustrated with" or "hate using" followed by your category or competitor
Buska scores each mention for intent automatically. Focus on mentions scoring above 60. These are the signals worth acting on.
Step 2: Export and enrich leads
When Buska captures a high-intent mention, you need to turn that social profile into a contactable lead. Export the mention data from Buska, either manually or via webhook to a tool like Clay or Clearbit for enrichment.
The enrichment step is where you find the person's work email, company name, job title, and company size. Tools like Clay, Apollo, or Clearbit can take a Twitter handle or LinkedIn URL and return a full professional profile. This is the bridge between "someone posted something interesting" and "here's a lead I can email."
Step 3: Build your Lemlist campaign
In Lemlist, create a new campaign specifically for social signal leads. Don't mix these with your regular cold outreach. The messaging is different, the timing is different, and the results will be different. Keep them separate so you can measure accurately.
Set up a sequence with 3-4 steps. The first email should reference the social post directly. Follow-ups can add more value or context, but the opener needs to make it clear you're responding to something they said, not just blasting a list.
Step 4: Personalize based on the signal
This is where most people get it wrong. They find the signal, but then send a generic email anyway. The whole point of signal-based outreach is that you can be specific. Reference what they said. Address their stated problem. Offer a relevant solution.
Use Lemlist's custom variables to inject signal-specific data into each email. Create variables for the original post text, the platform, and the specific pain point they mentioned. A good opening line looks like this:
That's it. No long pitch, no feature list, no "hope this finds you well." Just a direct reference to their need, matched with your solution. Keep it under 100 words.
Email templates that work for social signals
Here are three templates you can adapt based on the type of signal Buska captured.
Template 1: Recommendation request
Use when someone asks for suggestions or recommendations on social media. Subject: "Re: your [platform] post about [category]". Body: "Hi [name], saw you were asking about [category] tools on [platform]. We built [product] to solve [specific problem]. [One sentence on what makes you different]. Happy to give you a walkthrough if it's relevant. [Your name]"
Template 2: Competitor frustration
Use when someone expresses frustration with a competitor. Subject: "Saw your [competitor] feedback". Body: "Hi [name], noticed your post about [specific frustration with competitor]. We hear that a lot. [Product] handles that differently by [specific approach]. Here's a quick comparison: [link]. Would love to show you. [Your name]"
Template 3: General pain point
Use when someone describes a problem your product solves, even if they're not explicitly asking for a tool. Subject: "A fix for [pain point]". Body: "Hi [name], saw your [platform] thread about [pain point]. That's exactly the problem we solve with [product]. [One specific example or result]. Want me to send over a quick demo? [Your name]"
Timing and follow-up cadence
Speed matters more with social leads than any other type. The person expressed their need publicly, which means competitors can see it too. Aim to send your first email within 24 hours of the social post. After 48 hours, the conversion rate drops significantly.
For follow-ups, use a lighter cadence than you would for cold outreach. Two follow-ups max, spaced 3-4 days apart. If they don't respond after three touches, move on. Signal-based leads either convert quickly or not at all. Don't harass them with a 7-email sequence.
Measuring results
Track these metrics separately from your regular outreach campaigns. Open rate should be 50%+ (the subject line references something they said, so curiosity is high). Reply rate should be 8-15% (compared to 1-3% for traditional cold email). Meeting booked rate should be 3-5% of leads contacted. If your numbers are below these benchmarks, the issue is usually in the personalization, not the signal quality.
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