How an SEO Agency Broke Into the U.S. Market (Targeting Local Businesses)
$100,000+Revenue Generated
33Meetings Booked
Services
SEO strategies to help local businesses (contractors, plumbers, etc.) rank first on Google and book more projects effortlessly
Industry
SEO for Local Businesses
Headquarters
Montreal, Canada (Expanding to U.S.)
Company size
~10 employees
Pre-Engagement Challenges
1. Used referrals, partnerships, content, and paid ads to generate leads.
2. Hired another cold outbound agency before, and got zero results.
3. Skeptical. Burned. Searching for a partner who actually delivers.
4. Needed to learn the U.S. market fast and generate pipeline from scratch.
The Challenge: No Brand in the U.S. + Hard-to-Reach Audience
1. Courimo wanted to break into a completely new market:
- Blue-collar businesses in the U.S. (plumbers, electricians, contractors)
- But these prospects: don't sit at a desk all day, don't check emails often, don't want fluff, just fast, clear value
- And worst of all? Courimo had no U.S.-based case studies to lean on
The Solution: Local, Triggered, Hyper-Personal Outreach
1. Enterprise-Level Deliverability
- Built 2 separate infrastructures
- Launched 140 total inboxes (sending + backend warmers)
- Used Google + Outlook mailboxes
- Ran a 3-week warmup protocol
- Constant inbox rotation to avoid spam filters
- Weekly monitoring by our deliverability lead
- Courimo never saw a deliverability dip - not once
2. Ultra-Local Prospecting with Apify, Clay, and Google Maps
- Lead scraping strategy:
- Used Apify to scrape 100,000+ Google Maps domains
- Ran every domain through Claygent (AI agent) to extract owner names, business type, and ICP confirmation
- Pulled accurate emails using Prospeo, Icypeas, Findymail, LeadMagic, Hunter
- Each list was segmented by industry, company size, and business type
- Target: Owners of U.S.-based local businesses with 11–50 employees
- Daily volume: ~1,000 emails to fresh, under-targeted leads
3. High-Contrast Copywriting
- Copy Variants:
- 5 unique email angles
- Case study matching (e.g., "We helped Joe Plumbing, a similar plumber in Texas…")
- Pain point-focused copy: "Still relying on referrals?"
- All personalization via Clay AI variables - every message felt handwritten
- Creative PS lines: Mentioned a local restaurant by name and asked for their opinion
- Follow-up emails included the business's phone number and asked, "Want me to call instead?" - this copy alone had a 3% reply rate
- No lead magnets. Just value + clear CTAs to book a call
4. Case Study Matching (Canadian Success → U.S. Relevance)
- Recycled successful Montreal case studies
- Positioned wins as transferable to U.S. clients with similar pain points
- Framed every pitch as "We helped [business like yours] get these results. Want similar?"
Results
31,000Total Emails Sent
2.5%Average Reply Rate
90Leads Generated
33Meetings Booked
$100,000+Total Revenue
6X+ROI
2 MonthsTimeframe
Testimonial
Grow Surely is genius! We let them do their magic to book calls consistently via email.
- Elie Wahnoun, CEO, CourimoKey Takeaways
- Local Beats Global: Ultra-targeted prospecting with local business data > generic outreach
- Copy That Converts: High-contrast, personalized messaging with clear CTAs drives replies
- Case Study Recycling: Canadian wins can be positioned as transferable to U.S. markets