If you are a B2B technology or a software firm, there are two sides to a sales lead generation process:
- Outbound Lead Generation
- Inbound Lead Generation
Both are equally significant, and both will be a part of B2B sales efforts in this decade and those later to come. Inbound lead generation should be a source of more than 30% or more of your leads. But there are times when Inbound lead generation is not enough. Even though there still seems to be a fight against outbound: most marketers say it is old or not essential.
If that were true, the majority of software houses would not exist. Most B2B technology houses have successfully implemented outbound lead generation campaigns for their customers. In this blog, TechNinjaPro will name all the reasons behind outbound’s success and provide you an insight into eight effective outbound lead generation strategies that will improve your sales efforts in 2021.
What Is Outbound Lead Generation?
Outbound lead generation is a sales procedure of finding active, engaging leads that fit your customer profile. Simply put, inbound attracts leads in, and an outbound lead generation goes out to get them. For example, company X offers team-building activities for a big corporation in California. Company Z searches for these services and finds company you through a search engine, ads, or LinkedIn. With some help, this lead possibly will go down through the sales funnel and become a customer. That is an inbound lead generation.
Since the leads need to keep flowing, company X finds one hundred leads that match their customer profile and may be interested in this service. Then, sales representatives reach out to them by email, phone, or social media. Fifteen leads are interested and are ready to meet with the sales executives. That is an outbound lead generation.
Outbound vs. Inbound Lead Generation
Inbound lead generation is cost-efficient and more of a long-run strategy. Inbound lead generation brings you more nurtured and more qualified leads to go down the sales funnel. However, it takes more time. Outbound lead generation dynamically reaches a broader group of people and therefore brings you more sales opportunities in a concise period. Outbound lead generation provides you control of the leads you target and is perfect for getting ahead of your competitors.
So TechNinjaPro recommends both. Add outbound lead generation to your inbound to get a perfect equation.
How Does Outbound Lead Generation Work?
Outbound lead generation involves a collection of clear phases, managed through a well-defined process supported by automation. Here are the main steps:
- Define Ideal Customer Profile
- Value Proposition for Campaign
- Build Targeted List
- Draft Emails
- Prepare Follow-up Materials
- Send the Emails
- Manage Responders
- Schedule Call
- Send Follow-up Materials
- Schedule Meeting
- Hand Off to the Sales Process
Outbound Lead Generation Strategies in 2021
Outbound lead generation is definitely required in the times we live in. Rising competition, changing sales environment, and global shifts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. These eight effective outbound lead generation strategies will help to increase your sales funnel no matter what.
1. Automate
To optimize workflow.
The number of times users searched for marketing automation has tripled over the past three years, and that is not a surprise. Marketing automation, CRM, or lead generation software is not an important part of an outbound lead generation process. CRM software is a tool that tracks and stores every interaction that happens between a lead and a B2B firm. Marketing automation helps in various operations such as:
- Saves time
- It cuts down on manual tasks
- Provides analytics on various KPIs
Marketing automation is vital for your outbound lead generation process. The multichannel outreach becomes much more accessible and more transparent. Every interaction with the leads in monitored easily. Therefore, your sales representatives have more time for a quick reaction.
2. Personalize
To develop a bond between a seller and a buyer.
The personalization strategy was useful yesterday and will be tomorrow. Not to overdramatize, but TechNinjaPro thinks it will stay here and into the near future as well. The additional information you have about your leads, the more ways you have to develop a trustworthy relationship with them. According to research, more than 70% of customers say that they only engage with personalized content. Personalization improves customer experience, highlights the value of the services to a lead, and increases sales.
You can personalize anything in the outbound lead generation efforts, such as calling scripts, emails, landing pages, and even sales objections. Personalized emails get higher open rates, CTAs perform better, and pre-targeting ads cannot exist without personalization.
3. Use multichannel outreach
To reach a wider audience.
Everything is fair in love and outbound lead generation strategies. Of course, you can still have a key channel for your outreach, but you should not disregard the other resources. Multichannel outreach improves customer retention rates, spreads company awareness, and builds a complete customer journey.
Outbound lead generation channels include cold emailing, social media connections, cold calling, landing pages, pre-targeting ads, content syndication, direct email, and much more. More than 75% of buyers say that they have accepted meetings with sales representatives after a series of contacts beginning with sales calls, proving that cold calling will not die any time soon.
Personalized cold emails can double your sales rates. Social media outreach is cheaper and can reach a target demographic quickly. Direct email is much more difficult to master, even though there is almost no competition in the lead’s post box. No matter which leads generation channel you choose to add to the outbound lead generation efforts, it will be helpful.
4. Get Eyes on Your Content with Syndication
Content Syndication is another efficient strategy that can be used alongside your cold calls and emails. It is all about getting your best content in front of the right people. For example, if your lead generation team published an in-depth whitepaper, it will act as a powerful level to start a conversation with the right prospect.
With perfect content syndication and distribution, you will be able to offer value to your prospects and start a conversation that can lead to a sale. This method mixes inbound with outbound lead generation techniques and can be highly effective. Content syndication works perfectly as part of an outbound lead generation strategy as you can use your content as a part of a targeted ad campaign at the same time.
5. Use Cold Emails
Whatever your personal opinion on cold email is, the truth is that they still work. Data shows that you can get up to a 45% open rate even when emailing primary decision-makers if you make them relevant enough to your product. Cold email should be one of the outbound lead generation strategies that you consider. According to research, email is 40% more effective at acquiring new leads than social media platforms.
6. Use Social Media
Using social media as an outbound lead generation strategy involves using platforms like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc., to contact prospective clients and communicate your marketing message. It can be a compelling lead generation strategy if used properly.
The key to execute social media campaigns ideally is to start with one platform and put all of your energy and focus on it. For B2B businesses, LinkedIn is typically a perfect place to start. LinkedIn remains an excellent place for networking as long as you use it correctly. Luckily, there are a variety of LinkedIn automation tools out there in the market to help you.
You can use your LinkedIn presence to build a relationship with prospects, then call or send an email to those who are most engaged and concerned about your product or solution. It is essential to know that you should learn the pros and cons of the tool you select before committing to it. LinkedIn has banned some LinkedIn automation tools in the past due to their violating terms of service.
However, if you can sustainably use LinkedIn automation, it is going to pay extra. It is not only a strong outbound lead generation strategy, but it has the side effect of building your personal brand.
7. Let Your Clients do the Work with Referrals
While it is not a traditional outbound lead generation strategy, it will be extremely helpful if you can make referrals work for your business. Not only do you let your clients help you with your achievement strategies, you get to advantage from the social proof that a referral offers. Depending on your business needs, this could look different. Here are the ideas for referral programs that work perfectly for your brand.
For SaaS: provide free credit or upgrades for referring new clients.
For services: provide a commission on new referrals
Your referral program does not have to be difficult. If your customers like your solution, they will be happy to share it with friends or family in their professional network.
8. Job Boards
Job Boards are another strategy you can add to your outbound lead generation campaign. Some marketing might disagree that job boards do not count as a form of outbound lead generation. As long as you treat the job postings as outreach opportunities, these can be easy slam dunks. This one is especially for service-based businesses and is a favorite among freelancers and small marketing agencies.
The most important benefit of doing outreach on job boards such as Upwork is that the leads are much warmer. Often, people are posting jobs in search of someone similar to you to solve their problems.
Conclusion
Outbound lead generation is the best way to start conversations with key decision-makers in businesses you know are an excellent fit for your solution. You would not be waiting for new clients to arrive at your site, then hoping that they are a good fit. You get to decide who you are connecting with and how you communicate with them. These lead generation strategies will help you get started with your outbound lead generation campaigns.