Have you ever met a lead generation professional who loves cold calling? Probably not. It’s one of the most hated practices in the sales and marketing industry. Consumers aren’t fans of cold calls, especially in the golden age of telemarketing scams.
However, for the last three decades, cold calling has remained a viable sales technique businesses use to find prospects with no existing relationships and entice them into buying their products and services.
Fortunately, a variety of cold-calling alternatives have emerged in recent years. So, you no longer have to dial number after number and deal with hang-ups, dead phone lines, or insults. If you want to elevate or diversify your lead generation strategy, you’re at the right place.
In this post, we’ll share six powerful and cost-effective lead generation methods you can use instead of cold calling.
6 Powerful Lead Generation Methods You Can Use Instead of Cold Calling
Inbound Marketing
If your business relies heavily on phone calls, the first alternative to cold calling you should consider is warm calling. To do this, you’ll need to devise an inbound sales and marketing strategy. This way, you won’t be going after leads. Instead, they’ll come to you, and your new role will be to nurture them.
To make prospects call you, you need to prompt them to engage in the sales process using different types of content. For instance, you can create a modern site or app showcasing your products and services and providing your contact details.
You can also create business accounts on social media and third-party business sites or platforms, such as Yelp, Zillow, Google Business, and Glassdoor.
Social Media
Many businesses and entrepreneurs struggle to connect with their desired audiences and generate high-value leads, especially when cold calling. Let’s face it; no one wants to receive unsolicited calls when they’re busy or in the middle of the night. Even legit businesses risk tarnishing their reputation simply because they don’t have any other way to generate leads.
Fortunately, this is where social media comes into play. Popular platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, Reddit, and others are excellent places to attract different audiences and promote your value offerings. Of course, to seek out your desired audiences, you’ll need to post intriguing content (posts, videos, surveys, etc.) and join relevant groups.
Facebook and Instagram also allow you to create ads and target specific audiences.
Email Marketing
Emails remain the most popular method of business communication in the golden age of digitally-driven social interactions. It’s perhaps the best lead generation alternative to cold calling in terms of return on investment. According to a study by Webx, you can earn up to $44 for every $1 you invest in creating email campaigns.
Of course, to succeed with email marketing, you’ll need a powerful platform. We recommend opting for one with multiple modern features and functions, such as:
A/B testing
Variable text generation
Tracked email replies
Real-time performance analytics, etc.
Moreover, try personalizing your messages with intriguing subject lines, detailed bodies, and catchy CTAs when sending out campaigns.
Referral Marketing
If you’ve been cold-calling prospects for a while and have a database of existing customers, clients, or users, you can use them to generate new leads. Referral marketing is one of the smartest cold-calling alternatives in the market.
It involves enticing existing clients with discounts, freebies, and other offers to recommend your products and services to their peers – family, friends, colleagues, neighbors, etc. This way, they don’t hear about your value offerings from strangers via calls or emails.
Instead, they learn about your business and products/services from people they trust, meaning they’re more likely to engage with you and purchase your offerings.
Offline Networking
Offline networking is another alternative to cold calling, especially for businesses with physical facilities. People believe what they can see. So, if you can show them what you offer, you can entice them to buy your products and services.
For example, if you actively visit different businesses to generate leads, you can provide business cards to the front desk or prospect you meet. Ensure your card includes your name, contact, and social media details so they can contact you if interested.
Moreover, you can collect their information, such as email address and number, and share marketing messages via email and text. You can also ask them for the best time to call. By proactively getting their consent and learning about their availability, you won’t be reaching out to them as a stranger.
Content Marketing
Finally, content marketing is the last lead-generation alternative to cold calling on our list. In the digital-first economy, businesses are leveraging different types of digital content, including blogs, articles, videos, live streams, newsletters, and surveys, to give users a visual experience of their business, products, and services.
For instance, if you make a video explaining how a certain product works or its benefits, you won’t just have to rely on word-of-mouth to prompt them to purchase.
Bottom Line
Many businesses accustomed to cold calling remain blissfully unaware of several alternative lead generation and prospecting methods. With the options above, you can connect with high-value leads by expanding your sales funnel with new channels and strategies to increase your revenue.
If you want to switch from cold calling to email marketing or diversify your lead generation strategy, head to Emelia immediately to create and send highly effective cold email campaigns.