The conveniences offered by the internet are boundless. Email has become the main channel for B2B marketing, allowing lead generation campaigns to engage prospects across different locations.

We can always vouch on the internet for having the ability to get people closer together in spite of geography. But the question remains: Is direct mail really that effective?

For modern marketers, emails may seem like the way to go to expose your product to existing and potential customers. But we can never really deny that it has its limits.

When in doubt, trust that the traditional practice of telemarketing can be effective in getting higher conversion rates. And this is due to advantages of telephone correspondence that direct mail couldn’t possibly replicate.

Here are three reasons why picking up the phone is better than sending direct mail:

Humanistic. Talking to someone, whether in person or through telephone wires, brings you closer to your targets. One-on-one conversations with business prospects are intimate, with each end of the line eliciting a direct response. You can never (or else rarely) achieve such an active exchange as that with direct mail.

Higher Response Rate. Emails always face the prospect of being placed in the spam folder or junked entirely, entailing a waste of time and money. Rejections are very common in the realm of B2B marketing, but it matters to have more responses to truly succeed. Information at the soonest. That is where the real strength of telephone conversations lies.

More Direct. The directness of voice interaction enables you to be more attentive towards your prospects in a way that trumps direct mail, no matter how politely written. Your emails can be overlooked and junked with other messages asking for subscriptions. Many consumers have this common knack to forego anything that lacks authority. On the other hand, a ringing phone can be anything, so it merits an immediate pick-up. The task then is to make the pick-up worthwhile by knowing what they need and offering them your solutions.

It would seem wise to engage your prospects by phone rather than e-mail. But don’t get a little too confident. Make the most out of the chances that a consumer can read your mail. If you are lucky and skilled enough, you might be expecting an inbound call sometime later. We wouldn’t be expecting direct phone calls to diminish amid incessant advancements in information technology.

Source: Phone vs. Email Advantages