IT Telemarketing Vs. Social Media – Which Will Win?

IT companies may be wondering whether social media is really the new way to market their products and services to their customers. So what happens to other methods, such as the use of telemarketing? Is the good old calling approaching about to go down the drain as social media becomes more popular and more used by marketers?

Hold your horses! Telemarketing isn't about to go anywhere even if social media is creeping up behind it like a monster about to sink its teeth into some juicy prey. In fact, the phone is still a tool that marketers cannot be fully rid of due to the fact that it greatly helps them when it comes to lead generation. Although social media is popular nowadays, there are still some things which it isn't capable of accomplishing.

So how is IT telemarketing lead generation going to fare against social media when it comes to being part of an IT company's marketing strategy? Well, let's take a look into it.

Social media is what it is – “social”.

Sure enough, social media channels allow us to engage with prospects within our target market on a much larger scale; messages can be viewed by almost anyone and sharing good content becomes easier. We could say that by using social media we are doing lead generation a much greater levels because of the reach it has.

However, social will just be what its name implies it to be – “social”. Although you can generate leads via social media, social channels are better left to engaging and connecting with your prospects before you go in to make a more detailed offer. Social media doesn't really have enough power when it comes to converting your prospects into IT sales leads for your company – and this is something you actually want to be doing. Nonetheless, social is great for connecting with your prospects and building initial relationships.

Telemarketing converts prospects into leads – something social isn't always good for.

As said above, social media helps build relationships and is good for engaging your prospects. However, when it comes to actually converting those prospects into leads, it is a job better suited for a more direct approach. Many businesses use B2B telemarketing as part of their lead generation strategy because of its power in being able to convert prospects into leads.

Although, telemarketing doesn't have much power when it comes to actually converting prospects on the first try. Other businesses even make it a habit to email prospects their offer before setting up a call with them. Telemarketing does convert leads, however, it is best used when the prospect is already set-up for your call.

So who will win the fight in being a more effective means of generating IT outsourcing leads, web hosting leads, cloud computing leads, IT consulting leads and other IT services leads? computing leads? Judging by what we have talked about, I would say that the two stand pretty equal. No single approach is above other, and sure enough none of the two are going to be replacing the other anytime soon.