If you don’t have a firm grasp of practical aspects of marketing, you may find yourself quite puzzled by distinctions between outbound and inbound marketing found all over the Internet. Some suggest that inbound marketing draws in interested readers and organically converts them into customers through interactive content whereas outbound marketing is a pushy, one-way method that imposes on customers products and services through display and TV ads, billboards, and telemarketing. Even if there were times when it was true, now it definitely isn’t. Outbound marketing is a terrifically effective tool, if used wisely.
In fact, digital technologies make it possible for marketing and sales teams to use outbound strategies on highly targeted audiences, boosting conversions manifold. Indeed, display ads have become the least effective outbound technique as Internet users develop ‘banner blindness,’ consciously or subconsciously ignoring web advertisements. Upon seeing clickthrough rates fall to a miserable 0.05%, did marketers refuse one or all outbound approaches? Absolutely not. Having taken into account criticism, marketers reconsidered their tactics. Now outbound marketing is much more personalized and better targeted.
Your outbound marketing strategy success hinges on the quality of the B2B sale lead – Belkins works with targeted lead lists and produces impressive results. With top 6 outbound marketing channels from Belkins, a top B2B sales lead generation company, the results of your campaigns will be more precise and predictable.
Your ICP is the 1st Step in Successful B2B Sales Lead Generation
To make outbound efforts effective, preliminary prep work should be done. Developing an Ideal Customer Profile is Step Number One. Ideal Customer Profiles and Buyer Personas are roadmaps both for marketing and sales to identify and engage with the most promising leads. Most probably, you already have your ICPs and BPs developed. Based on your past customer data, they need adjusting from time to time as new customers bring in new data and specify the most effective ways and modes of communication with them.
Whatever tool of targeted business leads building you use, you create a best-fit lead list. Now, you are ready to examine outbound channels and decide which works best for your current campaign.
Top 6 Outbound Marketing Channels
Outbound marketing uses traditional channels:
- social
- web
- phone
Plus, direct mail and face-to-face communication at trade shows and marketing events.
Cold Emailing
Paradoxically, cold emails are on the lists of the best and worst outbound marketing techniques. Just check out your email box and see the efficacy of cold emails. Some use catchy headlines, call you by your name, and suggest you products and services you recently googled while others use stale templates and are too formal.
Cold emailing is the most effective marketing strategy for those who use solid research, craft highly personalized messages, and target relevant audiences. Especially if cold emailing is supported with technological innovations, such as email automation tools (HubSpot, Zoho), appointment scheduling tools, or super software to improve email deliverability (email checker Forderly). Using cold emails as an outbound tactic is based on a relentless circle of targeting, personalizing, and reaching out. Over and over again, marketers and SDR teams rehash content and subject lines and adjust frequency and cadence of multi-waved email campaigns.
B2B Sales Lead Generation through Social Media
Traditionally, social media is part of inbound marketing. Inbound marketing includes blog posts, influencer marketing, social media content as less intrusive and more engaging and interactive tactics. For B2B lead generation, LinkedIn is the most used and effective platform and a convenient site to start a sales conversation. To some extent, lead nurturing approaches are similar to cold emailing: researching the prospects with LinkedIn Sales Navigator, HubSpot, ZoomInfo, and other tools and CRM solutions and warming-up them up before suggesting a sales deal. Research is mandatory as it is no longer effective to just know the prospect’s name.
The more data you know, the more personalized messages you write. And you need those data as every element and detail of a message requires personalization: subject lines, conversation openers, post scriptum lines, commonalities you share, their new achievements you can praise, big names and companies in the industry you can mention. That’s where marketers can use other social media platforms. The prospects’ Facebook posts, Twitter shares, and comments on LinkedIn shed light into who they associate with, what interests they have, how they live and work, and even what KPIs they have. Use lead data wisely, without falling on a creep side.
Web Channels
Web-based outbound includes digital ads and landing pages. Although these two channels are normally included into inbound tactics, they will work for outbound too if coupled with target lead lists and proper tracking. Digital ad campaigns can pave the way for cold calls and cold emails. This will create brand awareness that, supported with solid research, can convert into a prolific nurturing stage. Landing pages are mandatory for all marketing efforts as whatever tactic marketers opt for, every email and social media outreach should lead the prospect to a landing page. To make a landing page effective, it should also be personalized.
Cold Calls through Lead Generation Companies
Cold calling is not a go-to outbound channel for most B2B marketers. Seen as an outdated and not very effective tactic, cold calls nevertheless can do magic for B2B clients if SDRs are skilled in effective communication and emotional intelligence. Keep in mind that business-to-business sales are still based on human-to-human interaction. With calls in real time, it is easier to connect on a human level and adequately respond to the prospect’s objections. Hardly anyone expects a sale during a cold call. Instead, a cold call goal is to set the stage for a sales rep to start nurturing a lead. That is why this outbound tactic is often outsourced to appointment setters who select the leads and send the hottest ones to SDRs.
Direct Mail
In the digital age, many people get excited at getting paper mail, especially if it is personalized and pleasantly looking. Whereas checking their email accounts seems like a chore, the physical opening of the envelopes gives a thrill and a personal touch. Use direct mail to send a holiday postcard or a box of candy, adding a handwritten note. Thus, you warm up the leads and create a human connection.
Event Marketing
Event marketing brings salespeople and their potential customers together in the field. In addition to outside sales, event marketing is a fantastic opportunity for targeted b2b lead generation. Webinars, seminars, sales events, conferences, and trade shows lend B2B companies a chance to meet their qualified prospects face-to-face and convert their b2b leads into customers. While it would be too demanding to expect outside sales to happen right away, keep your engagement strategy updated for any upcoming marketing event.
Orchestrate Your Multi-Channel Outbound Strategy
Probably not all b2b sales lead generation strategies need to use all the channels described above. A lot depends on the product and goals. However, it is worth mentioning that multi-channel marketing campaigns are more effective than when companies use one or two outbound channels. In case of doubt, consult with lead generation companies to make sure your marketing strategies are working. But remember that selected leads and a flexible, versatile approach bring terrific results. You won’t need to think about the quality of each b2b sale lead by Belkins. Combining inbound and outbound methods, Belkins engages warm prospects and creates successful marketing campaigns.