cold email vs cold call

The Cold Email vs Cold Call Dilemma Which Outreach Method Wins More Deals?

When reaching out to new prospects, sales and marketing professionals often debate whether cold emailing or cold calling is the more effective strategy. Both tactics can generate leads, book meetings, and drive revenue when executed properly. However, each approach has distinct advantages and disadvantages.

In this comprehensive guide we’ll compare cold emailing vs cold calling to determine definitively which method typically produces better results. We’ll cover key factors such as response rates conversion, scalability, and more. By the end, you’ll have the knowledge to select the right outreach channel for your unique situation.

Let’s dive in!

Cold Emailing Overview

Cold emailing involves sending unsolicited emails to prospects who’ve shown interest in your product or service but haven’t engaged with your brand yet. It’s a proactive attempt to grab their attention when they likely receive hundreds of emails per day.

Here are some key stats on cold email campaigns:

• Cold email open rates average around 20-25%. For comparison, the average marketing email open rate is 21.33%.

• Click-through rates typically fall between 2-3%.

• Only about 1% of cold emails sent receive a reply.

• Personalized cold emails generally perform better. Including the prospect’s name, company, or role can increase open rates by 50% or more.

• Following up is critical. It takes an average of 5 follow-up emails to get a response.

When executed properly, cold emailing allows you to reach many prospects and scale your outreach. Though open and response rates seem low, even a 1-2% conversion rate from a large volume of emails can deliver solid results.

Cold Calling Overview

Cold calling refers to calling a prospect you’ve had no prior interaction with to pitch your offering. It’s seen as more intrusive yet can also be highly effective.

Here are some key statistics on cold calling:

• On average, only 2% of cold calls convert to opportunities. However, some sales teams see conversion rates between 5-20% with refined tactics.

• Call connect rates improve later in the workweek and workday. People are more likely to answer calls on Thursdays, Fridays, and after 3 p.m. local time.

• Voicemails have a callback rate between 4-6%. Calls with a live connection convert at a 35% higher rate.

• Top sales reps require 5 call attempts to reach a prospect. Average reps take 8 attempts to connect.

• Increasing call attempts boosts conversion rates by 70%. However, 48% of reps don’t follow up after the first call.

Though the intrusive nature of calls can annoy some prospects, cold calling allows for real-time interactions. Savvy sales reps can build quick rapport, answer questions, and ask for the deal.

Now let’s compare cold calling vs cold emailing across a few key factors:

Cold Email vs Cold Call: Key Factors

Personalization

Both emails and calls allow for personalization to improve results. However, cold calling has the edge here. On a call, you can dynamically pivot your pitch based on the prospect’s responses, pain points, and personality. It’s harder to replicate this real-time adaptability through email.

That said, personalized emails still outperform generic templated emails significantly. Make sure to customize your messages with the prospect’s name, company, industry, and role. Reference prior interactions or trigger events to boost engagement.

Verdict: Cold calling is more adaptable but cold email allows for some personalization.

Scalability

When it comes to volume and reach, cold email reigns supreme. You can automate emails through CRM tools and quickly send customized messages to hundreds or thousands of prospects. The time investment is far less than cold calling.

Alternatively, manually cold calling dozens or hundreds of prospects daily requires significant time and resources. Automated call tools face regulatory hurdles. Overall, cold emailing is much more scalable than cold calling.

Verdict: Cold emailing wins for reach and scalability.

Connect Rates

The chance of getting an initial response is far higher with cold calling. Even if the prospect doesn’t answer, they may listen to your voicemail pitch.

With cold email, you’re relying on the prospect to notice your message among the many emails they receive. If you email 100 prospects, you’ll be lucky to get 1 or 2 responses. If you call 100 prospects, you could conceivably get 5-10 callbacks or conversations.

Verdict: Cold calling has significantly higher connect rates.

Conversions

Most sales teams find that cold calling converts interested prospects into sales at a higher rate than cold emailing. The reason is simple – on a call, you can directly ask for the sale, answer objections, negotiate pricing, and close deals.

With cold email, you’re mainly trying to intrigue prospects enough to get a meeting on the calendar. There’s no opportunity to push for a conversion in the initial outreach. Savvy sales reps use both methods in tandem – emailing to book meetings and calling to close.

Verdict: Cold calling converts more prospects into customers.

Intrusiveness

Here’s the big tradeoff. Cold calling, by its very nature, interrupts the prospect’s day and demands immediate attention. Most people find unsolicited sales calls annoying or invasive. They may hang up, ask you to email them instead, or avoid answering unknown callers altogether.

Cold email sits patiently in the prospect’s inbox waiting for them to engage. There’s no pressure or intrusion. For that reason, many prospects prefer being contacted by email first before jumping on a call.

Verdict: Cold emailing is less invasive and may be preferred by more prospects initially.

Cost

In terms of hard costs, cold emailing is substantially cheaper than cold calling. Bulk email tools have low monthly fees while calling platforms and integrate systems can be pricey. The real cost with cold calling comes with staffing – you need a team of sales reps dialing for hours per day to see results.

With email, one associate can manage large and complex campaigns for a fraction of the cost. It’s one reason cold email ROI is often significantly higher than cold calling.

Verdict: Cold email provides better ROI and costs less overall than cold calling.

Now let’s explore some best practices to optimize both cold emailing and cold calling efforts.

Optimizing Your Cold Email Campaigns

If you decide to focus your lead gen efforts primarily on cold emailing, here are some tips to maximize effectiveness:

• Personalize every message. Avoid blasting generic copy/paste emails.

• Research prospects to reference relevant details. Mention their company, role, initiatives, etc.

• Grab attention with an urgent, provocative, or curiosity-inducing subject line.

• Focus your content on their needs and problems, not your product.

• Use a simple, benefit-driven call-to-action focused on the next step, like a meeting.

• Send short emails with scannable text, bulleted lists, and ample white space.

• Include a strong hook or interesting content asset to boost engagement.

• Customize your follow-up sequence with new subject lines, offers, and content.

• Leverage days/times prospects are most active. Tuesday at 10 AM is a winner.

• Test different approaches to optimize click & response rates.

With persistence, optimization, and automation, top-notch cold email campaigns can deliver fantastic lead gen results.

Optimizing Your Cold Calling Strategy

For sales teams who swear by the power of cold calling, here are some best practices:

• Refine your prospect list with thorough research and intelligence.

• Personalize your pitch for each prospect’s role, pain points, and situation.

• Leverage optimal calling days/times. Afternoons and later workdays see higher connect rates.

• Keep initial pitches concise and pique interest rather than overwhelm them.

• Focus on speaking with decision-makers. Gatekeepers need a different strategy.

• Smile and project energetic confidence even if you don’t get the prospect live. It transcends in your voice.

• Leave compelling voicemails that motivate return calls. Consider pre-recording value-driven messages.

• Ask smart questions and actively listen to build quick rapport with prospects.

• Have a clear CTA on each call. Schedule a meeting, get a referral, or close a deal.

• Relentlessly follow up until you get a hard yes or no. Track all attempts and responses.

With persistence, personalization, and refined messaging, cold calling can be highly lucrative. Just know it requires significant time and dedication compared to cold emailing.

Cold Email vs Cold Call: Key Takeaways

So what’s the final verdict in the cold email vs cold call battle? Here are some key takeaways:

• Cold calling allows for more dynamic, real-time interactions but is far more intrusive. Cold emailing is less invasive but communication is asynchronous.

• Cold calling typically sees higher initial connection and conversion rates. However, cold emailing wins on scalability and reach.

• Cold email costs less, especially at scale. The ROI