Are you Doing Telemarketing During Covid-19? 5 Pros for Going Digital
When it comes to sales, marketing and telemarketing during Covid-19, the question is: shall we stop it, or shall we adopt and possibly succeed? In my opinion this is the time to go digital, to work from home and to promote your brand among your prospects and customers.
It looks like we are all in this together, and it will be a while till we get back to normal, whatever “normal” it is going to be. According to officials, COVID-19 quarantine may last weeks, or even months, and it will probably be back in the fall, if the vaccine is not developed. So, this is a new reality and we need to adopt to it. On a good side, the times of change also presents opportunities to renew, rebuild, re-learn and reconsider what we do in our business and every day lives.
Many of us, small business owners, started our businesses in 1980s to early 2000s. We built them based on hard-core traditional marketing methods such as telemarketing, business networking, door knocking – you get the idea. All of us worked hard, and got customers the old way and we succeeded. Why do we need to change what worked for us for so many years? Many of us are still skeptical of the new modern marketing methods. Some tried it and failed, others found it challenging and time consuming to learn, and it can be hard to trust another marketing agency, which promises to make it all work.
As a result of these postponements and hesitations, hundreds of thousands marketing dollars are wasted without positive ROI’s.
In this article, I invite you to reconsider your telemarketing during Covid-19 strategies in favor of digital prospecting via LinkedIn, Google and other social media channels.
Why to reconsider doing Telemarketing During Covid-19 Pandemics? See if I can persuade you here:
“We do Telemarketing because our Customers are Not Present on Social Media Networks…because they are too small, too busy, not very educated, not technology oriented, etc.”
Surprisingly, this is a very common belief among late baby boomer’s generation and even early millennials. My counterparts were amazed when I shared my screen viz Zoom with them and presented the possibility of the Sales Navigator searches. One of my prospects was shocked when I presented them with a search showing over 18000 business owners in Ontario alone with 1-50 employees.
Marketing during Covid-19 presents an opportunity to tap into this huge pool of LinkedIn users, who now have more time on their hand, working from home and as a result are more active on their Social Media networks.
“Telemarketing is the only way to reach people – Our customers are not active on LinkedIn”
- According to statistics 40% of LinkedIn users use it regularly: https://kinsta.com/blog/linkedin-statistics/
- People who are not active will not accept your invite. And it is OK! It does not take long to invite other prospects, who are just like them and are active on the platform.
- You may choose to connect only with Premium profiles users. These type of users usually pay LinkedIn, so they are active on the platform for sure!
Money talks: LinkedIn Prospecting vs Telemarketing cost benefit scenario.
In addition to the benefits above, it has been calculated to be at least 10 times cheaper to deliver your message via LinkedIn rather than via Telemarketing. Here is the example based on the real numbers:
| Telemarketing | |||
| Target Market | 18000 (Business Owners Ontario) |
| |
| Cost to Reach | $1000 per month | $50 per hour | |
| Timing | 12 months | 12 months | 720 hours (25 calls/conversations per hour) |
| Budget | Yearly/monthly | $12000/ year or $1000 per month/profile | $36000 ($3000 per month=60 hours) |
| Connections/Calls per month average | ROI/month | 1500 invites=500 connections | 60*25=1500 calls/ 150 conversations (10% call/convers rate) |
| Engagement | Reply/further interest/appointment | 30% Avg Reply rate 10% further interest = 15 monthly /future appointments | 150 conversation-2% appts = 3-5 appointments (optimistically) |
| Cost per Appointment | $1000/15=$65 | $600-$1000 | |
“I get a lot of spam from my LinkedIn connections, nothing good can come out of this”
Yes, you may have spam if you are not connecting with the right people. Here are the reasons why you may have spam and how to fix it when marketing during COVID-19:
- You are accepting connections without looking at the Invitees profiles – they will spam you with the message not relevant to your business.
- Your Team uses LinkedIn Bots – Bots will connect you with wrong people.
- You do not regularly clean up and audit your connections.
“I tried it, but I did not get any results.”
According to statistics 43% of marketers say that they acquired at least one customer out of LinkedIn.
To achieve results, you need to have the following:
- Know your customers: Buyers Persona
- Sales Navigator Search – Pay for it and use the filters to narrow down your search.
- Do NOT Sell like a company. Be personal – connect first!
- Pay attention to your communications be friendly and professional.
- Keep conversation going and follow up, follow up, follow up!
Conclusion
In conclusion, I strongly believe that money spent on telemarketing during Covid-19 crisis shall be redirected towards digital prospecting, marketing and advertising. Digital prospecting on LinkedIn is unmatched when in comes to startinga connection and communications with our prospects and customers.
So, stay connected and stay healthy!
Ekaterina Spooner
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