The Arrival of Social Media – The Death Toll for B2B Telemarketing?

B2B leads, lead generation, Social Media, telemarketing

B2B telemarketing, B2B leads, lead generation, telemarketingEver since the arrival of social media, many marketers have been scrambling to try and learn the ropes in regards to how it could potentially have an impact on their marketing efforts. And as more and more people are leaning towards social media, we can see a lessening in other marketing activities, one of them being B2B telemarketing.

If you’re using telemarketing to generate B2B leads and increase sales, then you too may have noticed the slow activity as of late. However, can this really be attributed to the arrival of social media? What could possibly be some other causes for this phenomenon? Let’s consider the following:

What time/quarter of the year is it? – Before jumping to hasty conclusions and blaming social media as to why B2B telemarketing has become slow, examine how business flows. Usually, there are times within a year that business just booms and you can get a large number of sales from your B2B leads. However, if you’ve noticed, there is also a time when business starts to slow down and your prospects are less responsive to your marketing attempts. If you think about it, this is because most companies, during the middle of the year (2nd or 3rd quarter), have already exhausted their budgets or have acquired the services that they need. That being said, at a later point in time such as when their current contracts expire, then they will most likely be more receptive to marketers and be willing to do business.

What sales channels are used in your industry? – Considering the presence of social media in marketing, B2B telemarketing may not be an effective sales channel in marketing your products and services. Take for example a B2C company that wants to increase their sales. Rather than making use of telemarketing, which gets rather negative views from the general public, a B2C company would most likely lean more towards using other forms of marketing, such as social media. So to speak, social media isn’t “killing” B2B telemarketing, rather that the effectiveness and usage of telemarketing depends upon the industry in which it is applied and of which sales channels are more effective in said industry.

Is your product/service sellable through the phone? – Social media is effective in that most products and services can be marketed through it; all types of businesses are shifting to using social media as part of their major marketing movements. However, this isn’t the same thing for B2B telemarketing and what you can sell through the phone is quite limited. General consumers, for example, don’t always buy from telemarketers. On the other hand, some businessmen are quite open to receiving sales calls and entertaining telemarketers. So to speak, depending on what product/service you are selling, the effectiveness of a telemarketing campaign can vary. Is what you’re selling for the general public, or is it for B2B clients? Consider this factor as part of the equation.

Social media has indeed changed how marketers perform on the playing field. However, that doesn’t mean that all other marketing approaches are left out. In fact, you can combine social media with your other approaches to come up with more effective lead screening or lead generation processes. As for B2B telemarketing and social media together, well, that’s going to be the topic of the next post. Stay tuned!

The Arrival of Social Media – The Death Toll for B2B Telemarketing?

b2b telemarketing, lead generation, Social Media, telemarketing

B2B telemarketing, B2B leads, lead generation, telemarketingEver since the arrival of social media, many marketers have been scrambling to try and learn the ropes in regards to how it could potentially have an impact on their marketing efforts. And as more and more people are leaning towards social media, we can see a lessening in other marketing activities, one of them being B2B telemarketing.

If you’re using telemarketing to generate B2B leads and increase sales, then you too may have noticed the slow activity as of late. However, can this really be attributed to the arrival of social media? What could possibly be some other causes for this phenomenon? Let’s consider the following:

What time/quarter of the year is it? – Before jumping to hasty conclusions and blaming social media as to why B2B telemarketing has become slow, examine how business flows. Usually, there are times within a year that business just booms and you can get a large number of sales from your B2B leads. However, if you’ve noticed, there is also a time when business starts to slow down and your prospects are less responsive to your marketing attempts. If you think about it, this is because most companies, during the middle of the year (2nd or 3rd quarter), have already exhausted their budgets or have acquired the services that they need. That being said, at a later point in time such as when their current contracts expire, then they will most likely be more receptive to marketers and be willing to do business.

What sales channels are used in your industry? – Considering the presence of social media in marketing, B2B telemarketing may not be an effective sales channel in marketing your products and services. Take for example a B2C company that wants to increase their sales. Rather than making use of telemarketing, which gets rather negative views from the general public, a B2C company would most likely lean more towards using other forms of marketing, such as social media. So to speak, social media isn’t “killing” B2B telemarketing, rather that the effectiveness and usage of telemarketing depends upon the industry in which it is applied and of which sales channels are more effective in said industry.

Is your product/service sellable through the phone? – Social media is effective in that most products and services can be marketed through it; all types of businesses are shifting to using social media as part of their major marketing movements. However, this isn’t the same thing for B2B telemarketing and what you can sell through the phone is quite limited. General consumers, for example, don’t always buy from telemarketers. On the other hand, some businessmen are quite open to receiving sales calls and entertaining telemarketers. So to speak, depending on what product/service you are selling, the effectiveness of a telemarketing campaign can vary. Is what you’re selling for the general public, or is it for B2B clients? Consider this factor as part of the equation.

Social media has indeed changed how marketers perform on the playing field. However, that doesn’t mean that all other marketing approaches are left out. In fact, you can combine social media with your other approaches to come up with more effective lead screening or lead generation processes. As for B2B telemarketing and social media together, well, that’s going to be the topic of the next post. Stay tuned!