Dale Carnegie says that the only way you can win an argument is to avoid it. But I’m going to throw caution to the wind and make a bold statement. To paraphrase Mark Twain “Reports on the death of cold calling are greatly exaggerated.”
You’ve probably seen ads online that make statements like this:
Stop wasting valuable time and effort seeking more cold calling tips
Over 80% of decision makers absolutely will not buy from a cold call
Cold calling destroys your status as a business equal
Cold calling is dead!
What are these ads trying to say? Cold calling is hard and digital marketing provides a simple and viable alternative. It begs the question, why take precious time calling people who are just going to hang up on you? Why not let the magic of marketing find highly qualified, ready-to-buy-now leads that land directly in your lap. This sounds infinitely easier doesn’t it? If only it worked.
I’ve done a lot of digital marketing this year I can say with personal experience, it’s not easy. So let me share eight struggles people commonly find when embracing phone-call free marketing methods:.
- It’s expensive. You often get charged even if a lead doesn’t click or connect.
- Beautifully crafted emails are often deleted by spam filters, never to be seen. Common open rates are 17% as of 2011 *
- Brilliant copy-writing efforts in banner ads only have a .1% at click through rates as of 2010*
- Facebook is constantly changing it’s algorithm and it’s hard to nail down when ads will show up in the news-feed.
- AdWords are no better. Cost per click has dropped year over year down 15% as of 2012*
- Twitter is a noisy media and it’s hard to rise above the chatter
- Not to mention all the other usual suspects: Tumbler, Instagram, and Pinterest
- Lastly there is direct mail and it’s so 19th century
People put a lot of energy into these channels and they’re able to get returns. But it requires a significant amount of time and energy to become an expert in these media. For the novice and those unfamiliar, it is difficult learning how to manage an ad campaign.
So if you don’t have a marketing department and if you have more time than money, using the phone to grow your business could make a lot of sense. You already have a phone, don’t you?
The Upside of Cold Calling
What are the pros of cold calling:
- It only costs you time. Most people already have a phone with unlimited calling rates.
- You have a higher probability of getting through to your prospective client. If they don’t answer you can leave a voice-mail that they WILL listen to it..
- Sometimes they do answer and you have a golden opportunity to personally make your pitch.
Now you may be thinking that people don’t answer the phone and you would be right. But again most everybody has a voice-mail. And if you leave a well scripted voice-mail that’s relevant to their lives, you will be able to connect to them. This is the point of all marketing, to connect.
You want to get your message in front of prospective clients, don’t you? But if an email goes to spam, or if a link never gets clicked, or if your banner is awash by an ocean of display ads, your client will never see your message. But when it comes to a phone call, there is a distinct possibility they may answer and even higher probability they’ll listen to your little voice-mail advertisement. It makes you smile to think about it.
Digital marketing makes lot of sense in many instances. And having an extra market channel to connect with your prospects is always a good thing. But you if you’re tight on a budget but you’ve paid your phone bill, you might want to consider leveraging that little device. You may be surprised by what business it can generate.
* All number published in Jab Jab Right Hook – Gary Vaynerchuk 2013