Introduction – Outbound Marketing: All You Need To Know 2021 Plus Effective Strategies
What is outbound marketing? Outbound marketing is a form of marketing where you market your product to potential customers who are not aware of it, instead of waiting for customers to come to you. You might promote your products by running TV commercials, sending emails, or making phone calls to people who are not yet customers.
Outbound marketing can be expensive because it targets people who are not aware of your business and tries to convert them to a customer.
However, it could lead to more sales and new clients because you’re reaching potential customers who don’t know about your company and product offerings.
Outbound marketing is a term that encompasses everything from cold calling to email campaigns.
The goal of outbound marketing is to generate leads and convert them into sales.
It’s a process in which you identify people who may be interested in your product or service, then reach out to them with the hope they will become customers.
While outbound marketing can be quite effective when done correctly, it requires work and effort on the part of both the business owner and their team members involved in making outbound calls or sending out emails.
With this being said, in this blog post, we’d like to teach our readers all they need to know about Outbound Marketing.
We’d like to help our readers understand what is Outbound Marketing, how it can grow their business online, and if it’s the right marketing strategy for them.
- Introduction – Outbound Marketing: All You Need To Know 2021 Plus Effective Strategies
- Download Our Free eBook
- What Is Outbound Marketing?
- What Are Some Examples Of Outbound Marketing?
- Why Isn't Outbound Marketing A Good Option Today?
- What Is Inbound Marketing?
- What Is The Difference Between Inbound Marketing And Outbound Marketing?
- Why Do Businesses and Customers Enjoy Inbound Marketing?
- Should I Switch From Outbound Marketing To Inbound Marketing?
- How Can I Switch From Outbound Marketing To Inbound Marketing?
- Conclusion – Outbound Marketing: All You Need To Know 2021 Plus Effective Strategies
Download Our Free eBook
What Is Outbound Marketing?
Outbound marketing is a type of business strategy that focuses on reaching out and connecting with potential customers outside your company’s network.
With outbound marketing, you can grow your business online by attracting qualified leads from various channels in order to generate more sales for your products or services.
Outbound marketing campaigns are usually created through the use of different types of tactics such as paid ads, content creation, and social media platforms.
These strategies need to be carefully planned out so they have the most impact on any given audience they might reach out to.
Outbound Marketing has been around for a long time, but not all businesses have recognized its benefits.
In outbound marketing, the company or organization is not waiting for prospects to come to them; they are going out and finding potential customers themselves.
This type of marketing is often overlooked by businesses because it doesn’t seem passive enough.
However, outbound marketing can be a powerful tool that helps grow your business online!
In outbound marketing, the company will be the one doing most of the talking and not waiting for a customer to come in.
This is different than other types of marketing where you have to wait around for customers.
There are many reasons why outbound marketing is important for your business – it can grow your business online, help with lead generation and even increase brand awareness.
There are also some strategies that you can use to improve outbound campaigns so they’re more successful!
What Are Some Examples Of Outbound Marketing?
There are many types of Outbound Marketing that you can use in your business today. In fact, outbound marketing is still a popular form of marketing and organizations still spend up to 90% of their marketing budget on Outbound Marketing.
Some of the popular forms of outbound marketing include:
- Buying an email list of prospects (this is spam so don’t do it!)
- Cold calling
- Cold emails
- TV and radio ads
- Placing Ads in a magazine or other print media
- Catalogs
- Newspaper Ads
- Tradeshows
- Product sampling
- Networking events
- Providing giveaways in exchange for information
These outbound marketing techniques are just some of the ways you can grow your business online through outbound marketing!
It takes a lot of time, effort, creativity, and money to get out there and make connections with potential prospects on their own turf – not at home where they feel safe behind a screen.
This kind of outreach requires persistence too because even if one prospect declines the offer or doesn’t want anything from you now, they might be ready at some point in the future and another prospect might come that is ready to do business with you now.
This is the major problem with outbound marketing: by actively going out to find clients and customers now you will have a harder time because only the less than 3% of the market that is in ‘buy now mode’ will be even remotely close to doing business with you.
Even then they might not know enough about you or trust you enough to do business with you.
The interruption-styled approach to this marketing method also makes it unpopular among customers.
If there are so many businesses spending up to 90% of their marketing budget on Outbound Marketing but according to CRM Daily “nearly half of the companies that implement inbound marketing efforts see a 25 percent greater return on investment (ROI) on those programs than companies that do not,” and “inbound marketing channels can deliver up to 30 times the campaign conversion rate of traditional outbound direct-mail campaigns,” then something must be wrong.
This study tells us that even though businesses are spending so much of their marketing budget on outbound marketing they would benefit better from investing more in Inbound Marketing.
So, if that is the case, is Outbound Marketing really the hot bread it used to be?
And, are businesses really spending their marketing budget where it brings the highest Return On Investment?
Let us learn more about that.
Why Isn’t Outbound Marketing A Good Option Today?
There are many reasons why Outbound Marketing is not a good option today.
The main reason why Outbound Marketing is not a good option is because of the methodology of outbound marketing.
The Methodology Of Outbound Marketing
The First Problem With Outbound Marketing
The methodology of outbound marketing involves interrupting your prospect or customer and showing them your marketing message.
When you interrupt your customer you are unlikely to be given any quality attention because you’ve distracted them from something they are doing to ask them to pay attention to you. Then ultimately you’d like them to give you money.
That’s a huge no!
The Second Problem With Outbound Marketing
The other problem with Outbound Marketing is the fact that when you use Outbound Marketing you are actively looking for a needle in a haystack. There is no certainty that your message will reach people who are actually looking for you.
Instead of coming off as a helpful option to help them solve their problems, you will seem like a bother and a pest because of your interrupting message that doesn’t help them solve a problem they have.
If even in the likely event you connect with a prospect who could benefit from your business then they will still need to build a relationship with you and learn more about your business before they trust you enough to make a purchase.
All while this happens you have to continue spending money to build that relationship and eventually, if you’re lucky, get a sale or new client.
The Third Problem With Outbound Marketing
The final major problem is that prospects get interrupted over 2000 times per day with marketing messages.
If you doubt that statistic just checks your inbox with unread marketing messages and spam, and count how many advertisements are shown in one hour of your favorite tv show.
Then take into consideration that you are being interrupted with billboards and vehicle graphics on your way to work, ads in the magazines on the coffee table of the doctor’s office, and so many ads interrupting your favorite radio show on the way home from work.
Interruptions are everywhere and because of that, they mean less with every passing day.
Is it perhaps time for you to market in a way that your ads will get more attention then?
We certainly think so. As we have learned so far Outbound Marketing used to be the standard way of doing advertisements and many businesses still spend up to 90% of their marketing budget on Outbound Marketing.
So, what is the better option?
Let us learn about Inbound Marketing.
I’m glad you asked! Please, allow me to introduce you to Inbound Marketing.
What Is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound Marketing is a process of bringing attention and potential customers to your business by helping them with their problems. It is the process of attracting and delighting customers through content and interactions that are relevant to their needs.
The way that you do this is through an Inbound Marketing Strategy.
It’s all about starting the dialog when prospects have a need for your product or service.
And, it is not about interrupting them with marketing messages because they are not receptive to such interruption. Instead, you provide helpful content that they will find when they need it most and look for it.
That’s what makes Inbound Marketing so different from Outbound Marketing.
Content can include blog posts, videos, ebooks, or a variety of other formats. It also includes email campaigns with offers tailored to customer preferences (for example: “Use code BLOG19 for 20% off your purchase”).
The goal of inbound marketing is not an outbound promotion but rather making people aware of what you have to offer so they come looking for it on their own.
In this way, businesses rely less on interruptive outbound techniques such as TV commercials and instead focus more on fulfilling potential customers’ informational needs while converting them into buyers over time by being helpful in an authentic manner.
We have prepared a detailed guide on Inbound marketing including a powerful 5-step inbound marketing strategy that you can use in your business today to start growing your business online.
Learn more about Inbound Marketing and get that marketing strategy by reading that article here: Inbound Marketing: All You Need To Know 2021 Plus Effective Strategies
What Is The Difference Between Inbound Marketing And Outbound Marketing?
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is a strategic digital marketing technique that attracts customers to your business with content and offers, rather than interrupting them. Inbound marketers focus on producing high-value content in order for it to be successful within the online community.
Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing focuses more outside of your company’s website or blog channels by using tactics such as direct mail campaigns, telemarketing, email blasts, social media advertising, print advertisements (print flyers), cold calling, etc.
The goal of these methods is generally aimed at making contact with new prospects who may not yet know about you or your product/service offerings.
This can lead to an increase in sales leads but they’re typically less qualified than those coming from an Inbound Marketing campaign.
Inbound marketing differs from outbound marketing in that Inbound Marketing creates content that is being sought after while Outbound marketing is the promotion of products or services through traditional advertising such as print ads, television commercials, and other interruption-style based advertising.
Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing
The approach of Inbound Marketing versus Outbound marketing varies exceptionally.
We will look at some of the differences below:
- Inbound Marketing is focused on the buyer and on solving their problems. For this reason, it’s said to be ‘buyer-centric.’ Outbound marketing is focused on what the seller is selling and its features. For this reason, we say it is ‘seller centric’
- Inbound Marketing is focused on who the company is and why they do what they do. Outbound marketing is focused on what the company does.
- Inbound marketing is focused on attracting clients by producing helpful information and content that will educate them about their problems and possible solutions. Outbound marketing is focused on interrupting potential clients to get their attention
- Inbound marketing is focused on providing helpful content that proves they are thought leaders in the industry. Outbound marketing is focused on forcing a sale.
Inbound marketing is much easier on your budget than outbound marketing because it doesn’t involve the vast majority of expenses.
Learn more about Inbound Marketing and Inbound Marketing strategies using this Complete Inbound Marketing guide: Inbound Marketing: All You Need To Know 2021 Plus Effective Strategies
Why Do Businesses and Customers Enjoy Inbound Marketing?
There are many reasons why businesses and customers enjoy inbound marketing.
We have looked at many of the differences in approach and methodology between inbound and outbound marketing but why do businesses and customers both prefer inbound marketing?
The reasoning is simple. Let us look at the reasons why customers and businesses prefer Inbound Marketing to Outbound Marketing.
Customers
Customers prefer inbound marketing over outbound marketing because it is less forceful.
Customers are bombarded with advertising from outbound marketing and it becomes too much for them to take in sometimes.
They don’t appreciate being sold at every turn, so they would rather enjoy the content of your website instead of feeling like you want something out of them all the time.
In order to effectively grow outbound marketing campaigns, businesses need to learn how their customers think about outbound marketing which can be difficult if not impossible without some deep customer analytics research done beforehand.
This is why many companies prefer to use inbound marketing since it doesn’t affect a person’s mood or feelings as quickly when compared with outbound tactics such as cold calling or spamming email inboxes.
As time goes by and a prospect begins to learn more about your business and is given helpful information about a problem they have because of your business they will grow to trust your business a lot more.
They will feel inclined to do business with you and will want to learn more about you.
This will increase their experience with your business in a positive way. With this experience, it becomes more likely that they will recommend your business to a friend or family.
It becomes more likely they will become a repeat customer or loyal, lifetime supporters of your brand.
It becomes more likely that your business will flourish in the long term and this is all because of the differences in approach between Inbound and Outbound Marketing.
But if the customer benefits so much what about the business? Why do businesses love inbound marketing so much?
Businesses
Businesses love inbound marketing because it is a low-cost way to market their business. The outbound marketing approach is expensive, time-consuming, and often ineffective.
Businesses lose money when they use outbound tactics – even if the outbound tactic was effective!
It becomes much more of an investment for businesses to have to spend so much on advertising or hiring someone with experience in outbound marketing techniques like cold calling or email blasting.
This type of outreach can be very difficult because it puts pressure on the person being contacted by putting them on edge before they’ve had any contact with you at all.
They are put off from doing anything else that day due to this interaction and may not give your business the consideration it deserves later down the line which could lead to you losing out on a valued sale, customer, and market share.
Another reason is that inbound marketing is easier to track and measure. By using current analytics tools like Google Analytics, Kissmetrics, and Microsoft Clarity you will be able to learn more about your customer’s interaction with your website.
Using tools like Google Search Console and keyword research tools also helps you to learn more about the ways that your business is being found by customers.
This information tells you how to serve them better and even how to attract more warm traffic that is easier to convert and ready to do business with you.
Another reason why businesses love doing inbound marketing is that it is a great way to get out of the mindset that your business must sell. Inbound marketing helps you to focus on building relationships and trust with potential customers by providing them with valuable content first before trying to make a sale at the end.
The best part about inbound marketing is how easy it can be for businesses of all sizes, even those just starting out.
You can learn more about building a relationship with your audience, increasing your conversions, and growing your business online by using the following free resources:
- Is Email Marketing Dead In 2021?
- Powerful Marketing Tips For Small Businesses In 2021: How To Get Explosive Growth
- 12 Powerful Email Marketing Strategies Your Small Business Need To Succeed In 2021
- 1 Powerful Digital Marketing Strategy for Small Businesses and Startups
- 8 Best Online Marketing Services For Small Businesses: How To Market For Explosive Growth
- 32 Powerful Website Traffic Generation Techniques You Need To Try
- 11 Email Marketing Best Practices 2021: How To Write Engaging Emails For Your Business
Should I Switch From Outbound Marketing To Inbound Marketing?
There is no hard and fast answer to the question of if you should choose outbound marketing or inbound marketing for your business.
It depends on your business, your ideal customer profile, and your market among many other factors.
We have shown how inbound marketing differs from outbound marketing but that doesn’t mean there isn’t a place for outbound marketing.
Even though Inbound Marketing is so much more effective than outbound marketing you might still want to pursue outbound marketing techniques for no other reason than it is what you’re used to.
Another reason you might use Outbound Marketing in your business is that you may have the budget to facilitate it.
If you’re in this position then we recommend you invest up to 60% of your marketing budget and efforts on Inbound Marketing and then put the remaining 40% into outbound marketing.
Track your results from both campaigns over the next 6 months and tweak your budget accordingly.
With Inbound Marketing you will see returns in the short and long term so you would like to invest more in Inbound Marketing as time goes by.
You would also invest in outbound marketing only if you are confident that you have the best cold-calling and other outbound marketing techniques available today.
If this seems too hard for you to decide on then we recommend you hire a professional marketer to help you market your business. A professional marketer will be able to help you decide which type of marketing is best for you and your business.
A professional marketer can also direct you in the direction that you need to go to get the best results for your business and even set your business on the path to success in the short and long term.
How Can I Switch From Outbound Marketing To Inbound Marketing?
One of the easiest ways to switch from outbound marketing to inbound is by utilizing your audience.
Once you have an established audience, it becomes much easier for them to promote your content and help with outbound initiatives as well. It’s important that they are engaged if this strategy is going to work.
This can be done through regular blogging, posting on social media channels, or sending out monthly newsletters such as a customer newsletter or company blog update.
When people sign up for these updates they’re making themselves available so reinforce their interest with valuable information like discounts, coupons, free prizes, etc., when relevant.
Another great way to reduce outbound efforts while increasing conversion rates is with email marketing campaigns – especially those that offer subscribers deals and a free offer to your website visitors in return for their email address.
You can learn more about email marketing by using these free resources:
- Is Email Marketing Dead In 2021?
- 12 Powerful Email Marketing Strategies Your Small Business Need To Succeed In 2021
- 14 Types of Email Marketing Campaigns for Small Businesses: How to Increase Revenues!
- 40 Genius Ways To Increase Your Email Signups
- 16 Powerful Email Marketing Lead Generation Strategies
- 32 Powerful Website Traffic Generation Techniques You Need To Try
- 11 Email Marketing Best Practices 2021: How To Write Engaging Emails For Your Business
Conclusion – Outbound Marketing: All You Need To Know 2021 Plus Effective Strategies
In this article, we have taken a look at Outbound marketing and why, even though it is so popular, it is not the preferred method of marketing that is being used today.
We have also introduced Inbound Marketing and discussed the differences between Inbound Marketing and Outbound Marketing.
If you are looking for help marketing and growing your business online then please set up a free consultation with our team.
We hope you’ve found this article helpful.
If you have any questions please ask them below in the comment section and we will quickly try to answer you.
