Outbound Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing [Advantages]

Outbound marketing, also referred to as lead generation, is considered obsolete by many due to the rise of inbound marketing. In certain respects, the inbound methodology can be very effective. However, outbound marketing is a dependable strategy that most companies tend to mistakenly overlook. In other words, businesses that believe outbound marketing is ineffective are probably doing it wrong.

The inbound method assumes your audience is aware of what they want and will approach you when they are ready to make a purchasing decision, but this is not always the case. More often than not, your untapped audience will not realize they are in need of your product or service until it is brought to their attention. Outbound efforts focus on the customer and how they can benefit from what you have to offer. Embracing this form of marketing will greatly improve your ROI and bring in more leads than you would with just an inbound, or organic, marketing program.

Note that the two are not mutually exclusive. Increased revenue and sales will stem from a multifaceted marketing approach. In order to produce high-quality results, you must understand the differences between these two approaches and how they work with one another. In B2B environments in particular, there must be a balance between these methods in order to achieve success. From this point forward, you will understand that inbound and outbound strategies are both foundational components of a successful marketing plan.

What is Outbound Marketing?

Outbound marketing is the process of reaching out to new prospects and establishing a relationship through digital media. Whether it is via email, social media, or advertising, this medium has unfortunately suffered a bad rap in recent times. Like any relationship, outbound is an introduction, so you will likely have to interact with your audience more than once to form a relationship.

For several decades, outbound marketing was the primary method of advertising. Audiences were reached mainly through direct mail, television ads, sales calls, radio commercials, billboards, and magazine advertisements. As in, unsolicited forms of communication the buyer was not expecting. Then, as the internet became more popular than the telephone, email advertising took over consumers' inboxes.

A common misconception about today’s digital outbound marketing is that it is intrusive and focuses more on the company's needs, rather than the customer's. In the beginning this may have been true. Think back to when vacuum salesmen went door to door in the 1920s. While this may have worked in that time, today’s users (particularly younger generations) are not as open to this type of aggressive sales tactic.

Because of this, outbound has drastically evolved in order to keep up with the ways of the modern consumer. While intrusive tactics pushing purchases are no longer welcomed, offering value in an authentic manner is well received by today's buyers. Through focusing on what customers truly want and their buying habits, outbound marketing has since transformed into a high-performing marketing practice that many are now turning back to.

Examples of Digital Outbound Practices

Communication via email and LinkedIn are by far the most popular channels for outreach efforts. Ads on different digital platforms are also widely used in this space. Below is a look at the top forms of outbound marketing to integrate into your company’s marketing strategy.

Email Blasts

Email blasts can be a very effective outbound marketing tool. Using a mass email to reach as many prospects as possible is a great way to build up your list of contacts. These are particularly effective when promoting a new product or service that you know will benefit your untapped market. Easy to produce and cost-effective, email blasts can get you the furthest reach possible in a short amount of time.

Cold Email

Cold emails are personal communications sent to particular individuals but they follow the same principles as email blasts. Engaging with prospects you believe would largely benefit from what you have to offer is how you begin the conversation. A simple email introducing who you are and why they need your product can drive more leads into your pipeline than organic efforts alone.

Linkedin Marketing

LinkedIn's vast network of professionals enables you to connect with those who are in need of your service or product. A thoughtfully crafted message can help you build relationships by introducing yourself and your brand to prospects you would not otherwise have the opportunity to reach.

Advertisements are a great medium to expand your reach. Whether it is banner ads, native ads, or paid search, they are all excellent for brand awareness. Ads are more costly upfront than the methods mentioned above, but if done correctly, they can yield a high ROI.

Maximize your email and LinkedIn outreach efforts by partnering with Acceler8now.

As part of our outbound marketing management, we manage every aspect of your campaign for you, ensuring success.

The Benefits of Outbound Marketing

In most markets (except for those rare few with no competitors) you will have to approach potential clients to find more business. A significant number of opportunities will be missed if you are dependent on prospects coming to you. You have a very low chance of tapping into your potential market this way. Take advantage of the following benefits instead to maximize your business opportunities and reach as many potential customers as possible:

1. Expand your reach

When you reach out to your audience via outbound efforts you are able to increase your exposure beyond the audiences you are accustomed to targeting. As your brand awareness and conversions increase, you will get more qualified leads than ever, resulting in more warm leads flowing into your sales pipelines. Your business will be able to get ahead of your competitors much more quickly than organic efforts. Plus, it increases your market presence and gets more eyes on your current organic efforts.

2. Easy to implement

Compared to traditional marketing, current forms of outbound tactics are much easier to implement. In a similar fashion to inbound marketing, you will use specialized marketing technologies to target, prospect, and manage your segmented lists and campaigns.

3. Provides instant feedback

The greatest benefit of outbound marketing is that it produces instant results and can be tracked and measured in detail. As you send out cold emails, email blasts, or linkedin messages for example, you can immediately establish connections and encourage prospects to take action. Outbound traffic moves more quickly than a blog post, which can take months to rank! Due to the fast nature of outbound marketing, you can pivot your efforts accordingly to stay on top of how potential audiences are interacting with you.

Having said that, outbound marketing should never be your only strategy. Inbound marketing is a separate discipline from outbound marketing that can also contribute to a well-rounded marketing strategy.

A Quick Look at Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is founded on the notion that people don’t want to be interrupted or sold to, but rather, they want help solving a problem. The emergence of the internet was the perfect companion for what HubSpot termed "inbound marketing" in 2005.

When consumers began to search online to find their own solutions, marketers began to focus on writing and delivering valuable content that spoke authoritatively on topics without “selling” or “advertising.” Because these interactions were digital and mapped to targeted audiences with specific pain points, marketers could act far more strategically in the delivery of messaging.

Once audiences started educating themselves, companies could identify the keywords that were used to search for solutions. They became keywords incorporated into the categorizing and writing of all content for searchability, forming a part of what we now know as SEO (search engine optimization).

The foundation of the inbound methodology is the idea of the flywheel, which reinvents the traditional sales funnel. Within its four stages, it is believed that a consumer can enter and re-enter at any point in the flywheel, rather than only at the top of the funnel.

Awareness Stage: The buyer becomes aware that they have a problem.

Consideration Stage: The buyer defines their problem and considers options to solve it.

Decision Stage: The buyer evaluates and decides on the right provider to administer the solution.

Delight Stage: The buyer is “delighted” via additional resources that continue to educate them after a purchase, and this in turn encourages repeat purchases.

Consider outbound marketing to be your first step in your strategy, and inbound to be your second.

Although inbound efforts may be effective at empowering prospects to make informed purchasing decisions, it still heavily relies on them doing their homework. There can be numerous faults in this if you are not considering prospects who are still unaware of your company and what it has to offer. A value-based outreach campaign allows you to encourage potential customers to enter the inbound flywheel and nurture them through the rest of the buyer’s journey. Only after accepting both will you then see the results you want to see from your marketing initiatives. The solution? Marrying both types of marketing approaches for a comprehensive strategy that addresses all your target audiences in some way.

3 Steps to Implementing Inbound and Outbound Strategies Together

step
1

Focus on Targeting

While both require you to know your ideal customer, outbound requires you to know how to reach them. By finding them in the right places online, you have a better chance of reaching out and having them respond. In this case, assume they do not know about your solution and then focus on finding those who need it based on the pain points you solve.

step
2

Create Impactful Messaging

The way you present yourself to prospects is everything. As this is your first introduction, you want to make sure you catch their attention and keep it. The only way to do so is by providing them with something of value. Always think about the customer first and what they are getting out of speaking with you. Word by word, make sure your communication benefits them in some way.

step
3

Look at the Right Analytics

Pay attention to the right analytics in your outbound versus inbound efforts. For outbound, you will want to track metrics that show your efforts are indeed landing with the right audiences. Open rates are the most telling, and higher rates will indicate the audiences you are targeting are interested in what you have to say. It also shows that the subject lines are working well. Conversion rates will be the main focus of inbound marketing, since leads are already warm and engaged, and in the later stages of the flywheel.

For LinkedIn outreach, consider the amount of communications sent versus how many have been responded to. This number will help you gauge what needs to be changed in how you approach your conversations. If adjustments are needed, start with your copy and aim to add even more value than what is already there.

How to Combine Outbound and Inbound Marketing Efforts

As a two-part process, outbound is your first step in making connections. The following example illustrates how both methodologies work in tandem if you are looking to increase market penetration.

In this scenario, you are launching a new B2B software feature that serves a different segment of your target market.

Outbound Strategy

First you gather a list of prospects to send out an email blast. These individuals are senior executives in the new industry you wish to target. You collect their information via LinkedIn or ZoomInfo and gather a total of 5,000 targets.
Your email introduces your product, noting how it has been proven to perform and solve a problem for companies such as theirs. It includes references to other companies that have tried your product after experiencing the same issues that plague their specific industry.
You offer your service as a solution to said problem and in the email include a call-to-action to download your latest case study.

Inbound Strategy

Moving into the inbound strategy to nurture them further, you might take the following steps.

The case study asks recipients to provide their name and email address in order to receive the downloadable content. The case study includes in-depth analyses, use cases, and success stories as to how your product performed.
In the coming days, you email them a follow up, asking what they thought of the case study’s information. You offer them the option of scheduling an appointment for a demo to learn more about your product.
If they see a need for the product and sign on, your company can then offer “delight” services, such as resources on how to make the most of their new product, and so on. You can then request a review to help improve customer service and provide insight to future prospects.

Our Latest Examples of Outbound Marketing Success

In our role as a lead generation agency, we deliver outbound marketing services that get results. Get a glimpse of how email and LinkedIn outreach can drive more business to your company by simply reaching out to prospects. Across various industries, tons of leads can be found to give your teams more selling opportunities.

The following are some of our recent success stories involving outbound marketing and driving more leads into our client's pipelines.

*Company*	Senior Telehealth Services	Geoscience Engineering Software & Data Services	Facility Management Software
*Marketing Channel*	Email	Email	LinkedIn
*Business and Industry*	Healthcare	InfoTech Services	SaaS
*Acquired Leads*	127	67	84
*Achieved Timeline*	3 months	2 months	5 months

Get Outbound Marketing Help from Our Experts

We offer a two-pronged approach to constructing your outbound campaigns. We begin by calculating your Total Addressable Market (TAM). The process starts by gathering insights and specifications on the target market and then breaking it down into smaller pieces to develop hyper-focused campaigns. From there, we create high resonance messaging that aligns with the pain points your customers are experiencing.

If your bottom goal is to generate more revenue, we are looking to help you get there.

When partnering with us, your sales teams spend less time hunting for leads and more time closing. Schedule a time for us to begin building your pipeline.

OUTBOUND MARKETING VS. INBOUND MARKETING

The Advantages of Outbound Marketing & How it Compares to Inbound Marketing

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