San Francisco—Photos posted online on professional profiles can help determine whether b2b prospects will respond to a marketing overture, according to study by customer acquisition company Mintigo Inc.
The study compared the results of a cold-call email campaign with publicly available online profiles and photos on LinkedIn. The study found that a smiling prospect was 3.8 times more likely to respond to an email than one who wasn't smiling. While 5.3% of recipients responded overall in the email campaign, 20% of all “smilers” responded.
Also, people who recommend other LinkedIn members were 4.5 times more likely to respond to the cold-call email than those who didn't. Mintigo's study was based on 1,000 email messages sent to b2b prospects in June through August.