Voicemail marketing can be one of the most effective ways to reach out in telemarketing today. But what exactly is it? To explore that, let's first explain the concept of ringless voicemail. A ringless voicemail takes place if you dial a number and go straight to voicemail—without the recipient ever being aware there was an available call. It essentially drops you straight to the voicemail inbox, a process also known as a voicemail drop.
Why might marketers choose to reach out this way? Customers are likely to lump everything into "junk" phone calls these days. This heavy screening makes it difficult for marketers to reach people personally in a unique way. How else can you get a customer to hear your voice if they're hanging up on you before you have a chance?
With voicemail marketing, you can also scale—leaving a pre-recorded message directly in someone's inbox. The result is a non-intrusive, personalized way to reach out. And when you combine it with your other marketing efforts, you may find that it's one of the least labor-intensive ways to conduct your marketing. Here's why.
If you don't have a marketing strategy without some element of personalization, you may find it feels like talking to a wall. There's a reason for that. Gone are the days of landlines and traditional phone calls; people expect to text or email these days, with direct voice-to-voice contact being less frequent. When you reach out to someone with these new 21st-century expectations, you can expect to get screened.
A "voicemail drop" is different. Rather than allowing someone to screen your call before they can hear your voice, you use ringless voicemail marketing to access their voicemail inbox directly. This outreach style is less intrusive—since it doesn't interrupt a potential customer's day—but still gets your message across. Once they check their voicemail, they can hear your voice, along with your well-crafted presentation for them.
For example, let's say you manage a real estate sales team. You know that people are busy and that when you call your potential clients—or even your clients—they won't necessarily pick up. With ringless voicemail messages, you can drop directly into their inbox with the critical information or promotion you have. The best part? You won't turn people off because you're not being intrusive. An unchecked voicemail feels more like an email in the inbox. A potential customer can check it at any time.
On the one hand, you can't ignore the fact that your potential customers are more likely to be on their phones than ever. Statistics show that as many as 97% of American adults have a cell phone of some sort. That's 97% of people with a voicemail box in their hands, all the time. It's never been more accessible than it is now.
On the other hand, people are wary of incoming calls. They know that a marketer interested only in a lead generation may be trying to get their number and calling them directly. And if they get on a call with the wrong person, they know that they might be talking for five minutes, interrupting their day. People even sign up for National Do Not Call registries or try different app integrations to ensure they don't get interrupted with unwanted calls.
In voicemail marketing, you can essentially skip this entire "screening" process. You can drop into someone's inbox with the ease of anyone on their contact list. That's true for both you and the potential customer.
Think about it: people are constantly checking their phone notifications. Your voicemail message can be right there, inspiring a high open-rate, but without turning people away from your brand. This helps run marketing campaigns with much greater confidence that the scripts you send out will be far more effective than dialing customers directly.
Whether you're a nonprofit or a for-profit, you sometimes have to conduct outreach that relies on the quality of your salespeople. But you might have noticed something changing. People don't like to get unsolicited calls, let alone answer them.
Ringless voicemail drops are a way around this. They can help you avoid the "missed call" stigma and boost your bottom line without turning people away from your brand. Rather than making your phone number something customers dread, think about it this way instead: your ringless voicemail message can be a welcome change from how other businesses and nonprofits conduct their outreach.