Social media is not just for young people. It’s for businesses too. It is obliterating barriers to sales, and becoming an indispensable marketing tool. Tactics like cold calling are a thing of the past. You shouldn’t need to cold call anymore. Here’s why social media is better:

Social media beats cold calling 11 times out of 10.

Cold calling doesn’t work like it used to. Thanks to the Internet, marketing analytics, and social media, there are much better ways to approach leads. When you cold call someone, your target usually doesn’t know anything about you. Social media lets you build a rapport, either directly or indirectly with your target. Connecting with leads via a mutual online contact, and nurturing them by posting in similar groups or discussions is much more effective than cold calling. Social media can create a personal relationship, and can help close a sale without having to come across as salesy.

Social media has incredible reach.

Social media can enable you to target anyone, anywhere, at any time. Cold calling limits you to a single point of contact. Sharing content online exposes you to your target and anyone else who sees your post. It simultaneously has pinpoint targeting, and massive reach. Your business is not limited to your geographic location. Want to talk establish a partnership abroad? Find key decision makers via social media, and forge a relationship with them. Social media is becoming an increasingly powerful tool that simply cannot be ignored anymore.

Social media is not just a lead generator.

Social media is not just a great lead generating resource. It’s a hub of information, FAQs, crowdsourcing, and much more. Having trouble understanding how to use a program, or need advice regarding inbound marketing? Take to Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn, and you will have your question answered. Need to the minute business rumors that could impact you? A custom search on Twitter can divulge a lot of breaking news, oftentimes before it hits mainstream media. Furthermore, social media also builds things like SEO for your business if you link back to your site. It is an outbound AND inbound marketing tool.