Just when you thought the hype around social media couldn't get any bigger, there's seems to be a revived interest in that old-school approach - the cold call.

If you look at this poll on LinkedIn, Is Cold calling Dead, you'll see (at the time of this blog) that 64% of 352 respondents answered "No (Have No Plans to Change)".

Only 6% have moved totally to social media and a further 14% say Yes, they have stopped or will stop soon. The rest are somewhat on the shelf.

Even more interesting than that are the comments.

One after another, business owners, sales people and business development executives are confirming that cold calling is still alive and kicking.

You won't see that said in much of the B2B marketing media.

Also, people are confirming that they use social media to enhance their cold calling.

Whilst picking up that phone may be old school the approach has changed. Researching targets online before engaging (something that we always recommend) leads to a more intelligent approach and, ultimately, higher conversion rates.

If you read between the lines in the comments you'll find that many of those people who think it is dead are probably justifying the fact that they hate cold calling. Or they're selling "social media" as the new magic bullet.

Truth is, cold calling still works, but it needs a more intelligent approach.

Which is where we come in, I guess.

Labels: b2b telemarketing, cold calling, social media