Why Cold Calling Just Doesn’t Work Anymore

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Effective outbound and inbound lead generation

Cold calling and telemarketing just don’t work any more, so it’s up to your business to start using the latest B2B sales strategies that are making money.

Lead generation is evidently key, but how can you get really effective results from your outbound and inbound lead generation?

The answers below apply both to outbound lead generation – where you go out to appeal to clients using email marketing campaigns and advertising, for example – and inbound lead gen, where you use social media, blogs and website videos to attract clients in with interesting, lively and helpful information.

What is inbound lead generation?

With inbound lead generation you nurture your leads until you turn them into customers – and turn customers into ambassadors who will tell everyone how much they love your brand. They learn about you, trust you and buy from you.

With outbound lead gen you go straight out to woo new business with offers, unique problem-solving ideas that your competitors cannot match or funky branding.

How to identify your target market

Either way, identifying your target market is key to driving success. The next step is to communicate with relevance and engaging content and messaging. To give an eye-catching example from the media playbook, if you’re sending out a press release, make sure you’ve researched your audience. There’s a huge difference between the readership of Vogue and Fish Fryers’ Monthly!

Talk to a specialist agency that is well versed in the practices of outbound and inbound lead generation: a company, for example, with a highly-targeted contacts database for outbound marketing that will bring you high quality leads and qualified appointments.

Creating engaging content

The foundation of successful inbound marketing is marketing activity that brings visitors in by sustaining a stream of relevant, engaging content that people will share and spread on social networks. If you don’t have the talents in-house to keep this up, it could well be worth outsourcing this vital task. Done properly, this brings great results: businesses that blog regularly, for instance, have 55% more traffic to their website, 70% more leads and 97% more inbound links than those that do not.

Building long-term relationships

Above all, it is important to remember that follow-up and ongoing communication is crucial to delivering ongoing revenues. It’s not just a case of sending out one email – however tempting your offer is – or going all guns blazing into a Facebook campaign that then runs out of steam.

Lead generation is best understood as a programme of activity not a series of one-off activities. It is about building senior decision-maker relationships as well as short-term opportunities. Once you have forged these relationships, the results can be of long-term benefit to both parties: retention rates grow as relationships develop and improved customer service leads to higher lifetime customer value.

Linkedin for lead generation

An excellent way to build relationships is to use Linkedin as part of an email messaging campaign to generate new leads. Your Linkedin profile summary should give a vivid human picture of you and your business, making it easier for clients to pick up the phone to call you and to understand in practical terms just how you’ll be able to help them.

And never underestimate how much people buy from people! Think no one will be interested in your windsurfing? … maybe your next prospect shares your passion and you’ll have an immediate connection. This is particularly important when using outbound lead generation techniques where there is no prior bond between company and customer.

Outbound and inbound lead generation specialist

If you’re looking for some guidance on current trends in effective outbound and inbound lead generation, IBG could be the specialist team to help. We’ve seen companies using inbound marketing register huge impact on their ROI, such as an average 54% more leads and 61% lower cost per lead than outbound marketing. Of course, it’s a skill that takes practice.

This is a prime process for businesses and needs expertise to ensure results. Call IBG today and ask about our unique “Think As a Client” approach. Give us a call today at 0203 368 6606 or chat with us live via the link below.

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