Inbound vs. Outbound Lead Generation – Which Is Right For Your Business?
If you’re looking to bring in more customers and grow your business, you may not be sure exactly where you should concentrate your efforts. Should you and your sales team focus on outbound lead generation, or should you work on inbound lead generation?
The short answer is that a mixture of both inbound and outbound lead generation is likely right for your business. But to understand why, it’s important to understand the basics of both methods. Here is a little breakdown:
Understanding Outbound Lead Generation
Outbound lead generation involves reaching out to people who may be interested in what you have to offer, but have not taken any action or expressed explicit interest in your products or services. You’re reaching “out” to a potential new customer. This can include:
Email
Phone calls
SMS messages
InMail
Paid social ads
Paid ads on search engines
Participating in trade shows/conferences
Outbound lead generation is an important part of sales for just about every company, and it has lots of benefits. You can reach the widest possible variety of people in your target audience, generate leads fairly quickly, and build awareness of your products and services. And modern tools and techniques like data collection and market segmentation make it easier to hone in on your target audience and develop a more effective strategy.
Understanding Inbound Lead Generation
So, what’s inbound lead generation? Unlike outbound which reaches “out” to customers, inbound lead generation brings them “in” to your website, social pages, and other resources in a more organic way. This adds value for potential customers and builds the reputation of your business. Some examples of inbound lead generation methods include:
An SEO-optimized website
Website content like blogs and case studies
Organic social media posts
Email newsletters
Free whitepapers and eBooks
Webinars and training sessions
Inbound marketing has lots of benefits. It feels more organic and less “salesy,” helps provide valuable information about your services and products to customers. This helps enhance your reputation and positions your business as an industry leader.
Also, leads who come to you through inbound channels are more likely to “self-qualify.” If someone visits your website, for example, there’s a pretty good chance that they're interested in what you have to offer!
Want To Grow Your Business? You Need To Use Both Strategies!
So, what’s best for you? We may have already spoiled it in the intro, but we think that a good mixture of both strategies is the ideal choice for most businesses.
Consider a scenario where you call a potential customer. You tell them about what you have to offer, the customer listens to your pitch, and then tells you they’ll let you know if they're interested. up after a quick call. Then, they Google your company and can’t even find your website on the first page of search results – or they find it and it’s basic, bare bones, and lacks valuable resources and content. You might miss out on a sale.
Or, on the other hand, you might have a fantastic website with great resources and tons of helpful content as well as a highly active social media presence. But if you never use any outbound techniques like cold calling, sending out emails, or buying display ads, only a small portion of your ideal customers will find out about what you have to offer.
By investing in both inbound and outbound strategies, you can build up a comprehensive lead generation plan that gives you the best possible chance of bringing in new customers. The right ratio of outbound to inbound investment may vary depending on your industry. But both types of lead generation are important for continued business growth.
Related Post: 7 Common Mistakes in B2B Lead Generation and How to Avoid Them
