If you’re in sales, you’ve probably asked yourself this at least once: “Which channel has the LinkedIn Gods declared dead this week?”
- Is it email?
- LinkedIn?
- Good old-fashioned cold calls?
You’ve heard a million opinions about well, everything. But what does the data say?
The answer isn’t obvious, so we’re writing this article to help you figure it out.
We’ll cover:
- The pros and cons of email, LinkedIn, cold calling, and social media
- How outreach habits (and buyer behavior) have changed
- When to use which channel, and how to stack them right
Let’s get into it.
Cold Email in 2025: Saturated but Still Clinging On
Every year, someone declares email outreach dead. Admittedly, it’s seen better days.
And yet, here we are, still writing them, still sending them, still hoping someone replies.
Data suggests that email’s not dead. However, it is crowded and hard to get right in 2025.
Why Does Cold Email Still Work?
- It scales. One rep can send hundreds of emails a day. Can’t say that about cold calls.
- You own it. No reliance on algorithms or third-party platforms, you get to control your lists and your sends.
- It’s async. Your prospect doesn’t need to be “on” when you hit send. They read it when they’re ready.
- It’s searchable. Even if they don’t respond, a good email gets saved, forwarded, or reopened later.
It’s still one of the cheapest, easiest ways to start a sales conversation.
The problem with email, however, is the same. It’s cheap, easy, and low effort, so everyone’s doing it.
Why Is Cold Email Fading?
- It’s a war zone. The average office worker gets 121 emails/day. Your message is just one more.
- Deliverability is a nightmare. Only 69% of marketing emails even make it to the inbox. The rest? Filtered, flagged, or dumped in spam.
- Response rates are ridiculously low. Average reply rate? 8.5%. Average conversion rate? <0.4%. Translation: send 250 emails to maybe get one good conversion.
- Prospects are numb. Everyone’s seen the “quick question” openers, the mass personalization, the pretend urgency. Every minute, 149513 emails are sent. Imagine the overwhelm your prospects experience.
Cold hard stats:
Wrap-Up: Use Email, But Don’t Bet on It
Cold email isn’t useless. But in 2025, it’s no longer the MVP of outreach.
It works best when:
- You’re personalizing with context (not just {FirstName})
- You’re combining it with other touchpoints (like LinkedIn or a call)
- You’re tracking deliverability like a hawk
Used right, cold email can still be a powerful door-opener. It just needs a bit more attention to detail than before.
Cold Calling in 2025: Not Dead, Just Dusty
Ah, cold calling. The OG of outbound.
Loved by some, loathed by many, ignored by most.
Cold calling might just be making a comeback in 2025, and there’s some good data to back this up.
However, is it THE channel you should be using? Probably not.
Does Cold Calling Still Work?
Somewhat. Here’s why:
- It’s direct. When someone picks up, you’ve got their attention, no algorithms, no inbox filters, just a simple conversation.
- It’s human. Real voice, real time, real reactions. That can build trust fast.
- It skips the scroll. No character limits, no swiping past your message.
- It shows grit. Picking up the phone takes effort. Some prospects respect that.
Why Does Cold Calling Not Work?
- Nobody’s picking up. The average cold call success rate in 2025? 2.3%. That’s half of what it was just a year ago.
- Gatekeepers still gatekeep. Receptionists, assistants, and “not available right now” voicemails aren’t going anywhere.
- It’s interruptive by nature. Prospects are in meetings, in traffic, in don’t-call-me mode.
- Spam blockers + mobile filters = more missed calls than ever.
So… Is Calling Worth It?
Maybe. But only in specific contexts:
- You’re calling warm leads, not total strangers.
- You’re supplementing email and LinkedIn, not trying to replace them.
- You’ve got something genuinely valuable to say. (Not “just checking in…”)
Otherwise? It’s a high-effort, low-yield game.
Cold calling isn’t dead, it’s just on life support. Still good for some industries, but not the go-to it once was.
LinkedIn in 2025: Where Sales Conversations Start
If cold email is a crowded subway and cold calling is shouting through a locked door, LinkedIn is like walking into a networking event where people want to talk shop.
It’s not perfect. But in 2025, it’s the closest thing to a clean slate in outbound.
Let’s talk about why LinkedIn is winning, where it struggles, and how to play it right.
Why Does LinkedIn Outreach Work?
- It’s built for business. You’re not interrupting people mid-scroll through vacation pics or memes. This is their work tab. In fact, LinkedIn generates 80% of B2B Leads. 4 out of 5 people on LinkedIn are decision makers.
- It’s personal. You see faces, job titles, and mutual connections, every message comes with built-in context.
- It converts. InMail response rates range from 10-15%. That’s significantly better than email, infact, upto 4-10x better.
- It builds trust. People are more likely to respond to a real person with a real profile than to some random @salesdomain.io.
Bonus? When done right, LinkedIn doesn’t feel like a pitch. It feels like a conversation. (Which, not so surprisingly, is what prospects want.)
Why LinkedIn Isn’t All Unicorns and High Reply Rates
- Not everyone is active. Some prospects log in once a month (if that). If they’re not checking DMs, they’re not seeing yours.
- Manual outreach = snail speed. Unless you’re using automation, LinkedIn outreach is a full-time job. And even then, there are limits.
- The bots have arrived. Prospects have seen the generic “Hey {First Name}, loved your recent post…” opener a hundred times.
- Algorithm roulette. LinkedIn’s rules change, and if your outreach feels spammy, it can throttle your reach, or worse, restrict your account.
Wrap-Up: LinkedIn Is the MVP, If You Use It Right
LinkedIn is the place where B2B deals start: in the comments, in the DMs, and between the lines of a well-written post.
But it’s not magic.
You still need:
- Context
- Timing
- A message that doesn’t feel like it was copy-pasted 236 times
- And automation (unless you plan on manually sending 500 DMs)
Use LinkedIn to warm up your cold outreach. Use it to connect before you sell.
And please, for the love of Sales Navigator, don’t start with “quick question.”
Want help scaling LinkedIn outreach?
Salesflow helps you send personalized, human messages at scale, without tripping LinkedIn’s alarms.
That means more replies, fewer blocks, and way less manual grunt work.
Try Salesflow for free or book a demo to see it in action.
Other Social Platforms: Great for Memes, Meh for Sales
Twitter, Instagram, Facebook. Fun? Absolutely.
Good for prospecting? Ehh.
For most outbound sales teams, these platforms offer more noise than pros.
Why Other Platforms Might Work
- Massive reach. Billions of users = a ton of visibility potential.
- Retargeting heaven. Great for staying top-of-mind after a prospect has engaged elsewhere.
- Brand awareness plays. If you’re trying to show up where your buyers live (but aren’t working), these platforms help.
- Community building. Some brands crush it by creating niche groups on Facebook or educational Reels on IG.
Why They’re a Tough Sell for Sales
- Low intent. Nobody logs into TikTok thinking, “I hope I get pitched a B2B software tool today.”
- Scroll culture. These platforms are built for fast consumption, not meaningful conversations. LinkedIn, on the other hand, is 277% more effective for lead gen than Twitter or Facebook.
- Rising ad costs. CPCs are spiking while organic reach keeps shrinking. It’s getting expensive just to be seen.
You can get attention, but attention isn’t the same thing as interest.
Wrap-Up: Use Them Strategically
We’re not saying ditch these platforms entirely. We’re saying know why you’re there.
Use them for:
- Retargeting warm leads
- Running brand campaigns
- Building thought leadership content
- Humanizing your company
But if you’re here to book meetings and build pipeline? Use them with LinkedIn and email, not instead of them.
The Ultimate Sales Outreach Comparison: What Actually Works
There’s no shortage of hot takes. But when you stack the channels side-by-side, things get real clear, real fast.
Here’s how the key sales channels compare in 2025:
Multi-Channel Is the Answer
So the million-dollar question: What actually works in 2025?
The answer’s not revolutionary, but it is effective: Use Them Together.
Why Just One Channel Won’t Cut it Anymore
Relying on a single channel in 2025 is setting yourself up for failure. Even if your message is brilliant, timing perfect, and intent clear, you’re still putting all your eggs in one (probably overcrowded) basket.
Let’s say you send a cold email. Maybe it lands in spam. Maybe it gets buried under 121 other unread emails. Maybe it’s ignored altogether.
So you try LinkedIn. But your prospect hasn’t checked their DMs since last quarter.
You cold call. It goes straight to voicemail, and let’s face it, nobody’s calling back.
None of these tactics are bad, they’re just incomplete.
Your prospects are human. They scroll LinkedIn at lunch, check email in batches, and ignore unknown numbers.
If you’re only showing up in one of those places, you’re easy to miss.
Multi-channel For the Rescue
- Multi-channel campaigns drive 287% higher engagement than single-channel.
- They can shorten sales cycles by up to 26%.
- Prospects need 6 to 8 touchpoints before they take action.
- And when you combine LinkedIn + email + call + content, you stay top-of-mind without being annoying.
Here’s what the best reps are doing:
- They open the conversation with a thoughtful LinkedIn connect or DM.
- They follow up with a personalized email that adds value, not just repeats what was said last.
- They use cold calls sparingly, but strategically, usually to follow up or nudge an already warm lead.
- They engage passively by commenting on posts or sending useful content.
It’s not about which channel is “best.” It’s about how you orchestrate them.
A single cold email is forgettable. A LinkedIn DM, followed by a value-driven email, a soft-touch call, and a thoughtful comment?
That’s memorable. That builds trust. That gets replies.
How to Make Multi-Channel Outreach Work
So you’re sold on the idea of multi-channel. Great. But now you’re staring at a blank spreadsheet, wondering: “Okay, but what do I send, where, and when?”
Fair. Multi-channel sounds great in theory, but in practice, it’s a bit of a mess if you’re winging it. Here’s the 4 cardinal rules you should follow:
The 4 rules of multi-channel outreach
1. Start with personalization that’s not boring
Nobody wants to read:
“Hi {First Name}, I noticed we both work in sales.”
Personalization doesn’t mean sprinkling in a {company name} or mutual connection. It means saying something that proves you did a little homework. Something that makes them pause. Smile. Feel seen.
If it feels like AI wrote it, it’ll probably get ignored.
We wrote an entire guide on how to personalize and do outreach at scale, with AI. It’ll come in clutch when you want to send something personal to a 200+ contact list.
2. Sequence it like a story, not a sales pitch
Here’s a basic play:
- Day 1: Connect on LinkedIn with a custom message
- Day 3: Drop a short value-driven email
- Day 6: Nudge via DM referencing the email
- Day 9: Follow-up call or voicemail (optional)
- Day 12: Share something relevant like content, case study, invite, etc.
Each touch builds on the last.
3. Track what’s working (and what’s not)
Sending 100 messages a week, but not sure who opened, clicked, or replied?
The power of multi-channel isn’t just in the volume, it’s in the data. You should know:
- Which channels convert the best for your ICP
- What time/day your prospects reply
- Which message variant crushed it (and which flopped)
Otherwise, you're just guessing.
Salesflow’s analytics dashboard makes it super easy. With Salesflow, you can track 45+ LinkedIn and email metrics that help you understand exactly what’s working and what isn’t.
4. Respect the rules of each channel
Email: Watch your domain health. Avoid spammy phrases.
LinkedIn: Don’t go overboard on volume or copy-paste templates.
Cold calls: Don’t be weird. Seriously.
The real magic? Knowing how to stay compliant and still sound like a human.
Okay, but what if you’re thinking, “I get it. But who has the time to write custom messages, build sequences, check 3 inboxes, and track 12 metrics?”
You don’t. That’s why the best teams aren’t doing it manually.
They’re doing it with Salesflow.
Next up: how to actually do this without burning out.
Because sequencing, personalization, and staying compliant on every platform takes more than grit. It takes a smart system.
(And yes, we’re about to talk outreach automation.)
Meet Salesflow: Your Multi-Channel Wingman 🦸♂️
To do multi-channel outreach automation right, you’d need:
- Personalized messages that don’t sound mass-produced
- The right mix of LinkedIn + email + follow-ups
- Perfect timing, without being annoying
- Data across every step
- Tools to stay out of spam and under LinkedIn’s radar
Everything you get with Salesflow:
Be Everywhere Your Prospects Hang Out
Salesflow connects you with prospects on LinkedIn and email, without you needing to juggle tabs or inboxes. One platform. The right channels. No chaos.
Automation That Keeps You Safe.
Randomized actions, human-like behavior, and smart limits mean your account stays under LinkedIn’s radar.
Know What’s Working
Salesflow’s 45+ metrics show you what’s working, what’s not, and where to optimize—so you spend less time guessing and more time closing.
Let AI Do the Heavy Lifting
From AI templates to sentiment detection, Salesflow’s AI makes your outreach sharper, faster, and more effective, without the gimmicks.
Set Up in Minutes, Master in No Time.
No coding, no steep learning curves, just an intuitive platform built for busy sales teams who need results, fast.
Cold outreach shouldn’t feel like shouting into the void.
Salesflow helps you break through inbox clutter, land in LinkedIn DMs, do multi-channel outreach right, and stay top-of-mind, without the manual grind.
Sign up for the free trial today, and find out why winning sales teams pick Salesflow.
FAQs:
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