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Inbound vs Outbound – which is more effective at generating new B2B leads? (Part 2)

“Beware the naked man who tries to sell you his shirt”

Harvey Mackay.

In my last post I was discussing the distinctions between inbound and outbound marketing and their relevance in different scenarios. In today’s post I want to drill down deeper into how and when to use each type of approach.           

So, to recap briefly on last week, the defining distinction as to when you use each type of marketing is down to whether a prospect is ‘known’ or ‘unknown’.  In the first group, you know who they are, and in many cases you know the identities; as for the latter group, you know they’re out there, but you can’t communicate with them because you don’t know their identities. ‘Known’ prospects respond to well to outbound, because they’re easily and precisely targeted. Conversely it tends to be more cost-effective to communicate with ‘unknown’ prospects by inbound means. 

Another key distinguishing factor in the inbound-outbound debate is whether your industry is driven by long or short contracts.

Some industries favour long contracts.   Others tend to be much more flighty and prefer shorter term commitments.  If your industry has long, complex contract cycles, then your primary line of attack should be outbound – conventional pipeline management, preferably combined with web video. 

This involves pro-actively contacting named prospects using a combination of telemarketing / email marketing.  Once a prospect has been identified and decision making processes and contract-due dates have all been clarified, it’s time to switch to a lower key programme of nurturing – highly targeted and relevant emails, downloads,  white papers, web videos, etc, etc.

Your aim is to stay in front of those prospects at appropriate intervals throughout their contract term.  This will keep you in the forefront of their minds when a contract comes up for renewal. And as you’ve already found out from the prospect when this is, you’ll be able to contact them at exactly the right time with a well-placed call or email.

Conversely, if your industry is not contract-driven and / or vendor turnover is commonplace, then you’re better served by taking a predominantly inbound, web-based approach. This would include the development of a strong social media presence – Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, etc.  The aim is to turn up consistently and robustly in all those places where prospects from your industry are hanging out. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) should also form a vital part of your marketing toolkit in a no-contract environment.  

Why do I recommend this approach?

In the absence of long-term contracts, most businesses are in a permanent state of need. This means they’re frequently online looking for peer input to help them solve problems.  Your aim is to make sure you get noticed during this frequent searching phase. 

Alongside social networking, SEO and PPC, one of the best and least expensive ways of gaining widespread exposure is to publish a blog. Your blog should be aimed at delivering valuable, well-written and relevant information that directly benefits your target audience, should demand nothing in return, and not seen to be directly selling anything.  The business blogger’s mantra should be “Don’t Sell! Pre-Sell!”  Always remember that the buyer wants to be in control of the conversation. The more you can place them at the centre of the debate by providing highly relevant information, the greater the chances they’ll listen to what you have to say. Do it properly, and in time you’ll be perceived as a thought leader.   But as with all inbound marketing approaches they take time to have an impact (with the exception of PPC, which is instantaneous – and expensive!) and patience is key.  

As a rule of thumb with inbound, the frequency with which your audience is looking for a new solution should directly influence the level of resources you allocate to being found online.  Key word searches and social network monitoring will help you identify how often people search for your products.  Be vigilant. Be patient. Be successful.

More on this subject next time in Part 3. 

And finally…

The poet Jean Cocteau was once asked whether he believed in luck. “Of course,” he replied. “How else do you explain the success of people you don’t like?”

That’s it for now. Thanks for reading and, as ever, your comments and ideas are very welcome. 

And always to a higher response!

Norman

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