How to Use the Cold Calling Meme to Generate Leads

It's the twenty-first century, and the days of rage memes and Nyan Cat memes have become a part of everyday life.

With millennials now representing 50% of the worldwide workforce, the meme generation has been a significant part of the global workers for years. And more than Gen Z, millennials are starting to become decision-makers: 73% of those roles are made up by millennials.

And because millennials grew up in the digital age, we have high expectations when it comes to digital products, whether it's SaaS or hardware.

So how to reach out to such savvy prospects?

In their own meme-heavy language, of course!

A cold calling meme is an image with superimposed text that is self-referential about the fact that one of the people involved is cold calling the other. They can sometimes be only for SDRs, but if used correctly, can also be a way for SDRs to connect and communicate with their prospects.

We've discussed the usage of GIFs as a strategy for cold outreach before - it is particularly useful for LinkedIn prospecting, as the platform lends itself well to sending GIFs via direct messages. GIFs serve to bring humor and personalization to your messaging and ensure your prospect remembers you.

The cold-calling meme is quite similar.

It refers to any meme truly related to cold calling.

They are easily understood and fairly universal, for both callers and those who receive the calls. And because cold calling continues to be a real source of revenue and sales for companies - around 82% of buyers will accept meetings with salespeople who are doing outbound outreach.

An example of a basic cold calling meme is:

Success Baby may have grown up, but the meme remains useful and timely on certain occasions. This meme could be sent between SDRs as a way to celebrate internally when they can get through one of their leads, but it could also be a fun way to keep the conversation going with your lead and let them know you value their service.

Of course, always be sure that it will be well-received. Sending a meme to a millennial working in a startup is very different from sending it to an executive in a bank who has had a long trajectory there.

As is always the case in B2B sales, you want to make sure that you know your audience and that they appreciate memes.

So how do we use the cold calling meme to generate actual B2B leads and turn them into prospects?

Well, let's look at a few examples below.

When a lead tells you to re-contact them again via call, however many months later, this is a great, fun response you could send over email. It shows your perseverance as an SDR, but it also demonstrates that you understand that there will be time in-between that you should and will respect.

And it's funny. You're guaranteed to get a laugh from your contact. Once you make that next outreach, they will remember how you took them, pushing further down the line with humor and respect.

Another example is:

If you are cold calling in conjunction with emailing, this would be a great way to follow up on a lead after having that initial call. Remember that your leads are probably fielding tons of calls and salespeople every day.

And sometimes, they do indeed take the call and respond positively. But to get them to truly remember you, sending this directly after will help them identify you for future follow-ups.

In a similar vein, the following meme could be sent:

Your prospect now feels recognized and you get to leave a fun, unique impression as they move further on the sales pipeline to the rest of your team.

Another good meme to use to recognize the importance of the lead you are working on is:

We saw Success Baby above but here he makes his triumphant return. Since you've had extremely positive interactions with this lead, in particular, sending along with this meme after establishing a positive rapport via your cold emailing strategy serves to truly memorialize their experience with you as well.

You can send it along with a message such as "Hey [first name], I'm so glad you remembered me! Always happy to know we are in the right places to truly make a difference. Saw this today and thought of you and wanted to send it along in the hopes it makes you chuckle - I definitely felt identified!"

If you want an option to overcome objections, the cold calling meme also has you covered with a classic from Lord of the Rings:

Sometimes leads are tired of hearing from BDRs, we know. And they might have very clear objections to the particular product or service you are trying to introduce to them. Following up on a cold call that was mostly them rejecting what you are offering with a funny meme recognizing it could be a good way to re-direct the conversation into a friendlier territory and change their initial impression.

Another option is when you get a gatekeeper instead of the specific lead you are after. Gatekeepers refer to anyone that stands between you and the decision-maker you are after. They might be executive assistants, secretaries, or have any other role that makes them a screen between you and the person you are aiming to contact.

A lot of the time, the decision-maker trusts their gatekeepers implicitly, and they have been doing it for some time. So you want to also impress them, and stand out from other SDRs who might give up or come across as too pushy. Once again, using a cold calling meme comes in handy in this situation.

For instance, you could send them the meme below in response to an email saying they will be in contact with you:

In this case, you can also go the extra mile and edit it a bit.

The gatekeeper might be a familiar title to salespeople, but not one they might appreciate. So with a quick edit, you can instead send this:

You're still being funny and self-referential, and ensure that they will remember who you are. And it might give them that extra nudge to pass your information along to the decision-maker you're really after.

Another popular strategy is to send your cold email outreach and include a phone call as part of the sales cadence. SDRs can let the lead know that they will in fact, be following up with a call at a certain date and time. A fun meme to add at the end of that message could be:

You're likely to either get a more immediate response or when you do indeed call, they'll remember who you were and what you were about. You'll have a leg-up on anyone else cold calling them that day, guaranteed.

Want another fun cadence idea? Use a meme letting them know that, after calling and emailing, you'll also look them up on LinkedIn:

You let them know that you'll be going the extra mile to find them on LinkedIn. Liam Neeson's a cold caller extraordinaire if you look at it in a particular way, and letting your lead know how invested you are in helping them may very well bare fruit. You can follow up on LinkedIn with a fun message such as "see, told you I'd find you!".

But be careful about using this meme with the right audience - you want to be sure they recognize Liam Neeson, the intent behind the meme, and how it is funny.

And of course, you can always share them on social media to become a leading voice on the subject. This will allow you to become more influential and able to start social selling while building a community of like-minded individuals.

Say for instance you share the following link to your LinkedIn followers and connections:

By sharing these types of memes on LinkedIn, you will begin to generate conversations about cold calling. And if you've dedicated time to prospecting correctly by making connections with your leads and prospects, they will see your content and react to it.

From there you can start a conversation about the pros and cons of cold calling, take that conversation into direct messages, and slowly work your way towards a meeting or full-on sale.

Never underestimate or forget the power of a social sale. And, arguably, that is one of the best places for memes.

Old-school tactics are well and good, and they exist for a reason.

But with decision-makers being children of the 90s and 2000s, the use of unconventional methods to generate leads will be adopted more and more often. Be one of the first by making use of cold-calling memes.

At SalesPipe, our SDRs will use every trick up their sleeves to get you that meeting. From GIFs to memes to video messaging, our team can try it all and provide feedback for you about what works in your industry and what doesn't. And, we still are experts are good old-fashioned cold calling and cold emailing.

Want cutting-edge sales techniques coupled with traditional lead generation efforts in your toolkit?

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