Should I use cold email or paid ads to transition from cold calling to a more scalable acquisition channel for my SaaS launch?

#27 · Cold Calling In 2025 Is Silly (+ Alternatives)

Should I use cold email or paid ads to transition from cold calling to a more scalable acquisition channel for my SaaS launch?

I wouldn’t recommend cold calling today. While it’s cheap to start—just a phone and your voice—the biggest downside is that it’s synchronous, meaning over half of your leads aren’t available when you call, cutting your efficiency in half right away. It also forces you to block time for calls, makes you vulnerable to spam patterns, and requires years of practice to become effective, with most of your time spent talking to unqualified prospects and having to convince them of your credibility. In contrast, asynchronous methods like personalized Loom videos let you work in short windows, avoid the 50% availability loss, and create a reusable asset you can send via email, LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram, or Facebook. When hyper‑customized, such videos can be seen by about two‑thirds of prospects and generate reply rates around 50 %. Spending an hour a day on Loom outreach can yield five to ten times the results of cold calling. That’s why I’ve shifted from cold email to warm inbound and scaled my agencies, and I advise you to use Loom videos for your SaaS launch.

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Related answers

youtube ↗Lead Generation

Is cold calling a bad lead acquisition method for agencies, or are other methods better?

Cold calling is a very direct way to reach people, but it's inefficient—you might spend only about 15 minutes of an hour on actual calls, with pickup rates around 3-6%. This means you often waste time on dialing, voicemails, and unanswered calls. I've made over 10,000 cold calls in my career and realized I could achieve the same outreach using Loom videos: record a video, send it, and it lands at the top of their inbox with no dial time, plus you can automate follow-ups. Loom saves time, lets you show visuals, and avoids the spam fatigue of phone calls. So instead of cold calling, just send Loom videos.

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youtube ↗Sales

What do you think about cold calling for outreach compared to cold email or Loom videos, especially regarding spam risk and effectiveness? Do you recommend it over cold email, and what's the best outreach method you'd suggest?

I don't cold call anymore because of three main issues. First, you often don't get a pickup—if you call 100 people, maybe only 30‑50 actually answer, wasting a lot of time. Second, even when you get past the voicemail, you frequently reach a gatekeeper or front desk instead of the decision maker, and gatekeepers tend to discard your message. Third, after finally reaching the decision maker, they're often busy or give excuses, so you don't get meaningful time with them. Overall, I'd estimate that 80% or more of cold calls are wasted, making it negative leverage—you'd need to make five calls just to get one worthwhile conversation. I much prefer sending Loom videos, which let you convey your message asynchronously and avoid those gatekeeper and pickup problems.

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youtube ↗Cold Email

Why do you recommend cold email over cold calling?

Cold calling is inefficient: you spend only about 40% of your time on actual talking (10% dialing, 10% waiting for connection, 20% dealing with gatekeepers) and often never reach the decision maker. Cold email guarantees you’re speaking to the decision maker and lets you automate follow‑ups to stay top of inbox. I equate the effort of cold calling to sending cold Loom videos—Looms add video but the core effort is similar; you can skip the call time and send Looms directly via email for better pound‑for‑pound results. Cold calling does build a killer mindset, but for pure productivity cold email wins.

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youtube ↗Sales

Is cold calling a good option or worth it?

Cold calling isn't effective because it's asynchronous, requires you to be available when the prospect is, and you have to get past gatekeepers. A better approach is to send Loom videos that prospects can watch on their own time, letting you follow up repeatedly without scheduling conflicts.

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