Most Effective Outreach Methods for SMMA in 2023

SMMA outreach is one of the most important systems for any Agency. It is the key to acquiring clients and driving revenue for your agency.

Especially as a beginner, finding a place to start is really difficult. But fear not. In this article, we’ll go over the most popular cold outreach methods for SMMA.

What is Meant By Cold SMMA Outreach?

Any agency needs customers and a way to get them, no matter how good you are at delivering the best results.

Outreach at its base means contacting prospects. This can be other businesses or whoever your leads are. Outreach is generally done to send a business inquiry or to present an opportunity to another business.

Cold outreach means that you contact prospects who have most likely never heard of you and your agency.

For most agencies, cold outreach is the best way to find new clients. The three primary outreach methods most agencies use are Cold Emailing, Cold Calling, and Social Media Messages.

SMMA Outreach: Cold Emailing

Cold Emailing is still the most popular cold outreach method used by the majority of agencies, according to our survey:

It’s the best method to reach out to many prospects in bulk for free or very cheap. The downside to this approach is that your prospects probably already receive multiple outreach emails from other agencies. That’s why it’s important to stay at it.

What You Need to Start Cold Email Outreach:

To start cold email outreach, you will need:

• A list of leads with email addresses (check out AgencyLabs Lead Generation AI for that)
• Software:
  • Somewhere to track your progress (Google Sheets will do the trick)
  • Tracking tool for open rates (e.g., Snov.io)
  • (Optional) Loom to record your screen
• Your own domain

What to Say in a Cold Email And How To Start:

This is one of the best articles about cold email outreach (template included).

Here are a few key points from that blog post:

• Younger prospects (20-35) respond to social media importance, fast results, and authentic success stories.
• Older prospects prefer a formal and professional tone, emphasizing experience and addressing concerns about digital marketing.
• Key elements of an effective cold email: email design, personalized introduction, email body, call to action, and follow-up plan.
• Personalized cold emails are crucial for creating a meaningful connection and solving challenges.
• A/B testing is essential for refining cold email strategy and improving open and response rates.
• Continuous learning, adaptation, and experimentation are necessary for success.
• By following the tips and leveraging insights, SMMA can increase its chances of landing more clients through cold outreach.

If you want to start reaching out to prospects via cold emails right now, check out the template included in the blog post.

SMMA Outreach: Cold Calling

If you’ve seen the graph from our survey, you may have noticed that cold calling is pretty unpopular in the SMMA space.

The reason this method is so unpopular is that most people aren’t comfortable speaking to prospects on the phone due to multiple reasons like a heavy accent or fear of not knowing what to say.

If you’re feeling comfortable speaking to strangers on the phone and you’re generally a good talker, this method is a gold mine. 

What You Need to Start Cold Calling:

Here’s what you need to start cold calling:

• A list of leads with phone numbers (check out AgencyLabs Lead Generation AI for that)
• Software:
  • Somewhere to track your progress (again, Google Sheets will do the trick)
• A phone (preferably with an all-net-flat due to avoid a costly phone bill)

What to Say on a Cold Call And How To Start:

Starting is pretty straightforward. You get the first number from your lead list, check out their business website and find out what they do and what their website, social media, or marketing could need. Now you start calling and start with what you’ve noticed to be improved or added to their marketing efforts. You’re either going to be rejected instantly, or you’re being listened to.

But let’s say you’ve landed in a call center or some sort of reception and don’t have the decision maker on the phone. Most of the time, you can ask the person on the phone when it’s best to call back to get a decision-maker on the phone.

The rest of the call is mostly hybrid. You should have a script that tells you what to say in certain situations (e.g., to handle objections). It’s important that you don’t start pitching them on this call. Your prospect may be in a situation where he or she doesn’t have time for this right now.

Remember: Your objective is always to book a meeting with the person on the other side of the line.

SMMA Outreach: Cold Social Media Messages

Getting the social media accounts of businesses is often easier than finding their email or phone number. That’s why this is the second most used cold outreach method.

Sending a quick direct message to a business also doesn’t take much time and can yield to better open rates.

What You Need to Start Cold Messaging:

Here’s what you need to start sending out cold messages:

• A list of leads with social media accounts (check out AgencyLabs Lead Generation AI for that)
• Good-designed and professional-looking social media profile
• Software:
  • Somewhere to track your progress (again, Google Sheets is there to help you)

What to Say in a Cold Message And How To Start:

If you want to start messaging prospects via Instagram, Facebook, Tiktok or wherever, you can go two different routes:

1. Personalized Message:

On your prospect’s social media profile, you’ll often find a link to their business’s website. Visit their website and assess areas where their marketing efforts can be improved. In your message, start by highlighting the issues you’ve found and suggest potential fixes to capture their interest.

Lastly, ask for a meeting in which you discuss how to help them. (This doesn’t need to be included in your initial message. You can say that in the later conversation.)

2. Bulk messaging/Scripts

You can also set yourself up with a script and send it to all the leads you have on your list. This approach is less personalized and leads to a worse response rate, but since the number of prospects contacted is way higher, it may yield better results.

Which of these two methods works best?

That’s totally dependent on your demographic and niche. I use personalized messages as it reduces the amount of strain on the social media servers, and it works better for me.

Conclusion

No matter which outreach method you start using, the important step is to start at all and not be stuck learning service delivery (which is still very important). 

Go with what suits you the best.

You’ve got a good-looking social media profile with nice pictures? Try social media messaging.

Are you a great speaker and confident in your language? Try cold calling

Otherwise, cold emailing is probably the way to go for you.