Decoding the True Essence of Outbound Marketing

Outbound Marketing – Brief Overview and Facets Around it

Ever been curious as to what exactly is “outbound marketing?” It is a marketing & sales procedure adopted by many companies to share information regarding their products & services. This method focuses on an undiscovered client-base. Putting straightforwardly, it is carried out in traditional forms; as in print ads, cold-calling, cold emailing, and television ads. Research & investigations have revealed that firms invest around ninety percent of their incomes on different forms of outbound marketing.

With inbound marketing hogging the limelight across most of the world, outbound has kind of become old-fashioned. The latter is intended to reach out to its prospective customers & inform them about their product & service portfolio. Alternatively, outbound marketing is referred to as traditional or direct marketing. Amidst the hoopla surrounding inbound marketing, several business experts and marketers have turned away from outbound marketing and taken to the other.

The Relevance of Outbound Marketing

Contrary to what is generally opined, outbound procedures manage to steer the revenues & leads. A study by MarketingProfs demonstrated that merely focusing on inbound strategies and turning a blind eye to outbound would not augur well for companies. It even brought out to fore that 75% of the topmost software executives fixed their appointments or made their presence felt in events post the receipt of cold emails or calls.

60% of the IT executives stated that IT vendors were analyzed solely on the basis of emails or outbound calls. This information came when social media, content marketing, search engine optimization, and other inbound strategies had already proved their mettle with regards to “cost-efficiency.” And, the information delivers a fact, loud & clear – Cold emails are still seeing the light of day!

In the modern era, firms have intensely propelled content development, blogging, & social media initiatives to sell their products & services. However, old-fashioned sales proposals, such as outbound marketing & its likes have enhanced the potential of marketing, regardless of the size of businesses or industries. A blend of outbound and inbound marketing also works for multiple firms. It can be wisely concluded that lucrative companies cannot survive without outbound marketing. Henceforth, both forms of marketing go hand in hand, instead of posing rivalry with one another.

Strategies to Transform “Outbound Marketing” Big Time

B2B (Business-To-Business) outbound marketing is a dynamic form of sales development and drives action. In times of contemporary marketing, outbound is believed to not bode reasonably well for companies. On the contrary, outbound is highly efficient if it is modified to suit business needs. Some of the ways in which B2B outbound marketing is made effective comprise:

1. Thinking “Out-Of-The-Box” – It may not strike a marketer’s mind in the first place, but conducting business exhibitions is definitely one of the means of going about it. This is where company brands settle their differences with other rivals & demonstrate their effectiveness. Not limiting oneself to e-blasts and direct mails, marketers should think creatively, witness the latest trends, and figure out the best solutions.

2. Collaborating With Inbound Procedures – The optimization of inbound marketing, along with outbound can target some consumer bases. Furthermore, the internet is a huge medium to convey marketing messages. Thus, resorting only to outbound strategies may not do well for companies.

3. Being Ahead in the RAT Race – The overall analysis of the pros of print & internet media to ascertain what suits the brand is the key to the growth of companies. All “sales” measures need implementation for the supply of decent & affordable services that cater to the problems of clients. Such communications help businesses meet their goals and earn higher revenues.

4. Clicking PPC (Pay-Per-Click) Ads – With PPC, each click is paid for, and advertisements show up as subsidized results at the top or bottom of organic search rankings. PPCs have a unique distinction of highlighting the recent services or contents. As they are massively targeted, high-quality leads are produced.

5. Through Display Ads – Display advertisements are one of the finest means of targeting behavioral or demographic operations. Choosing where marketers desire to see their ads through the selection of web publications, is the place where the leads pass their time. They even boost the conversion rates at the BOFU (bottom of the funnel).

6. Via Direct Mails – Direct mails are highly effective when the case boils down to targeted customers. They serve a distinct role for high-level officers, as it can be difficult to contact the latter. Direct mails enable creativity so that potential customers are converted into real ones.

7. Syndicating Content – With probable buyers not visiting marketers’ websites during their journey, syndication of content is one way to promote businesses. Content syndication allows the content to be visible on other sites and newsletters, exposing the content to TOFU leads. The visits of marketers on other sites help prospects convert into leads via search results and allied companies. Majority of the syndicators drive leads to marketers.

8. Conducting Exhibitions – Exhibitions present a good opportunity to display various market brands & privately connect with the competitors. Irrespective of whether the events are officer-level webinars or global trade shows, the 2-way communication among prospects, clients, and companies is precious! Shows/events are apt for expanding “thought-mentorship” in buyers’ eyes.

9. Preferring Quality, Not Quantity – Across outbound marketing, multiple business formulas are led forward by the percentage of web visitors, ROI, & responses. What stands distinct is the quality of the responses from marketers. At times, it is better to set the bar on integrated direct selling formulas.

10. Showcasing Proficiency in Niche Solutions – Eminent marketers/businessmen around the globe have maintained their traction by focusing on providing niche solutions. Doing this lowers the number of competitors and makes prospective clients partner with them.

11. Saying “No” To Premade Templates – With a range of systems that enable the use of pre-made email templates in other firms, marketers can be negatively impacted. Thus, it’s better to avoid affordable templates and progress without them in email marketing.

Objectives of Outbound Marketing

The primary aim of outbound marketing is to reach prospective industries/sectors, apprise them of their products & services, and convince clients to buy these services. The soul of outbound lies in persuasion. The key intent is to produce higher demand for services & products that generate enough ROI.

Apart from the above, sales campaigns need outbound marketing to deliver their messages all over the world. Product innovations constitute a solid example of such campaigns, are adopted to garner utmost attention, and assist in gaining an edge over competitors. The extent to which outbound marketing is carried out relies on industry accessibility, sector variations, rivalries, product advancements, and budgets.

The outbound “push” tactic is adopted through conventional ads, flyers, and other communications. On the other hand, the “pull” tactic is used to generate demand and endorse creativity. On a pragmatic level, most of the outbound operations use both the tactics.

Outbound marketing drives discussions on various products and services by quickly sharing information via conventional sales methods. When a majority of the non-marketers stumble upon the word “marketing,” they mean the same. Regardless of whether marketers put up their advertisements on newspapers or televisions, this approach remains valid.

Outbound marketing targets customers via personal contacts or general media endorsements. From every outbound initiative, marketing leads are produced. It raises the chances of “first contacts” to build upon business relationships. With the advent of mobile phones and the worldwide web, outbound marketing has lost some of its significance. Nevertheless, few companies spend about ninety percent of their finances on outbound marketing.

For firms needing to expand their worldwide presence, outbound is the most tried & tested manner to reach the broadest probable client-base and that too, within a short time. Moreover, with few outbound principles not trending, the promotion of services has become more affordable.

Describing in general, outbound attempts are more likely to impact older consumers. Older clients are okay with radio & T.V. ads and see reason in the scanning of flyers and newspaper ads, as & when they purchase these. When inbound marketing is normally done through technologies that aged clients may have issues with, outbound leaves a positive impression on their minds.

Outbound marketing has proven its efficiency in B2B marketing, alongside deals comprising some of the most costly products. Though business organizations may invest time & research on other firms, they look forward to making personal contacts via exhibitions, networking, or personal meetings.

Outbound Marketing Campaigns – What Does It Take to Organize Them?

Most outbound activities include the distribution of messages to the largest customer base. The primary step towards establishing such campaigns encompasses the apt analysis of products & services. The second step involves highlighting the advantages of these services. The third and fourth steps include assessing the requirements met by the products and identifying the prospective customers respectively. Outbound marketing can be effective if you avoid certain outbound sales mistakes.

In order to find the answers, business firms need to compile targeted & riveting data. Client-feedback assists organizations in detecting the buttons the latter are pushing. With established targets, businesses make an impact via their messages. The messages normally generate responses on ascertaining more about the products and services being offered.

Based on the size of their targeted customers, business companies prefer spreading their data through different portals. Huge customer-bases would need an amalgamation of newspapers, radios, televisions, magazines, etc. to propagate their views. Regional or local businesses could be on phones or send direct mails for establishing their personal presence. As a consequence, B2B marketers look to build personal affiliations in regional & national marketing events.

How Outbound Marketing Boosts Inbound Sales

B2B marketers are drawn to advanced marketing tactics, just like ants are drawn to sugar. Hubspot, quite possibly, the generator of inbound ideas, employs traditional (outbound) marketing to boost its connection with inbound leads. People receiving Hubspot emails are actually receiving outbound communications. Here’s a sneak peek into the approaches that depend on both the forms of marketing for companies to succeed.

1. RSS Feeds – Once, the marketers have brought leads to subscribing to their blogs, all their posts distributed to the leads through feeds are outbound. Comments and sharers form the inbound sources.

2. Events – Partaking as orators or exhibitors at events is an outbound initiative. Whatever is spread by marketers to others should decide the inbound capabilities of those events. People taking the conversation ahead with marketers on the basis of these events are deemed inbound.

3. Twitter – With marketers leaving tweets that lead customers to their content, they indulge in outbound tactics. Others who tweet this content also constitute inbound services.

4. Lead Nurturing – Maintaining steady relations with probable clients is what defines lead nurturing. In place of casual emails to their own databases, marketers hold their consumers in high regard by producing & distributing content that fits their choices.

The aforementioned four approaches, coupled with the information given in our previous article, why inbound marketing isn’t enough delivering insights on the essence of outbound and inbound marketing. Outbound activities can be executed at any scale or speed. In case, marketers require more leads; they could recruit executives, buy data, and adopt high-tech software devices. Upgrading inbound marketing is “time-consuming,” with outbound tactics making customers feel at ease in terms of recruitments & guidance.

Several firms, specifically B2Bs employ outbound strategies & tactics. Not attempting to lay their hands on outbound initiatives could result in losing several prospective clients. If marketers relied only on inbound strategies, competitors would get the better of them by implementing both the selling techniques. The key significance of outbound marketing is realized only when businesses want to make it really big. That’s the reason why outbound marketing tactics remain paramount to the existence & maintenance of profitable firms.