Marketing's job is to generate leads that convert to revenue. End of story. The bottom line.
So it's sometimes frustrating when we hear ideological arguments about inbound vs outbound, direct mail & print advertising vs digital - "old school" vs "the new way."
The truth of the matter is that there is a difference between what channel and tactics are chosen to reach potential buyers and the messaging and positioning used in those tactics.
What certainly seems to be consistently true is that the "inbound way" is winning out. That is to say, making sure your content is not self-promotional and product-centric. We live in the era of the internet enabled buyer, and marketers must do a first class job of understanding their buyers, their challenges, communicate that understanding and how they help in their marketing messaging.
This is something good solution sales people have understood for many years. Now its marketing's turn.
Developing a clear map of each of your persona's buying journey and the content you have generated to get them there is job number one.
However, how you choose to deliver that content is a different story and in many cases, we find a blend of outbound and inbound tactics can work well. Especially in highly specialised niche B2B markets.
Lets look at some of outbound marketing's alleged "deadly sins" and see how they can still work.
Email to rented lists
If you are looking to find people in a specific niche, or perhaps those who have already expressed an interest in the topics you discuss in your blogs and other content, why not consider emailing to subscribers in a relevant industry journal?
These people are looking for content that helps them stay up to date and addresses their common issues. Many of them will be glad to receive your email as long as you are promoting top of funnel content that is genuinely helpful and advances their understanidng.
Product-centric or self-promotional emails are a big no-no. Provide an easy way to unsubscribe or opt-out of your content stream and you have an inbound approach using a more outbound delivery system. As long as the list is good quality, targeted and up to date, good results are possible.
Direct mail
As long as you do your homework, direct mail can be highly effective. The inbound way is to promote solutions and ideas, not products, and to invite people to learn more, not purchase. For example, a direct mail invitation to a select lunch for CEOs featuring a great guest speaker, has been a succesful way to reach a very difficult audience. Not cheap, but effective.
But what about the cost of outbound?
It's certainly true that, on average, inbound marketing enjoys a lower average cost per lead than outbound methods and for many of our clients its this ability to generate lower cost per lead has been the reason to engage with us to develop an inbound marketing methodology. But its not the whole story.
Inbound is really good at reaching people who are already looking for your content in your natural channels, like search engines and social networks, but what about the rest? Many of your potential buyers maybe unaware of your brand and your thought leadership.
Outbound methods are more direct, albeit expensive and if targeted well, can be faster to reach the underexposed segment of your potential market. Put another way, effective marketing is not always a matter of lowest cost. Some firms are prepared to spend money to make money, and some of that budget may be best spent on outbound campaigns done the inbound way.
5 tips on how to do outbound marketing the inbound way
- Make your campaigns about solving your buyers' most pressing problems
- Don't compromise on content quality, including both copy and design
- Distribute your campaigns only through targeted channels and lists
- Test your campaigns, channels, messaging and landing pages on small subsets to find the best mix
- Make it easy to opt-out AND easy to learn more about you through calls to action
John McTigue, Principal and co-owner of Kuno Creative, one of the leading marketing agencies in the USA puts it this way:
"I do think we're evolving away from absolutes in marketing. Much of what we preach these days is common sense, and few of these ideas are really new. Marketing has always been about trying different approaches (testing) and targeting likely buyers. The nuance in inbound is the "what" that we're promoting (content instead of product) and the "why" we're doing it (to start a conversation instead of selling). Yes, ultimately we're still selling. That's what we get paid for. We're just being a little more patient these days."
if you would like to find out more about how to build an effective lead generation engine for your business why not download this complimentary eBook.
