Outbound content marketing is a debatable issue among marketing strategists. For some, it has become obsolete, while others still consider it significant. Outbound content marketing is paramount in lead generation and for increasing sales. Businesses still need an outbound marketing strategy for brand awareness and content promotion. It helps businesses promote their products and services to a wider audience. So, there is no denying that it is an effective marketing strategy even in 2022.
What Is Outbound Content Marketing?
Outbound marketing encompasses sending messages to many people to generate leads. The purpose of generating leads is to increase sales. The basic assumption behind this strategy is that the more messages a business sends, the more customers it will get. Outbound marketing is similar to traditional marketing. It entails sending emails to customers, TV commercials, newspaper ads, magazine ads, brochures, and sales events. The most famous strategy of outbound content marketing is cold calling and email spam. It also includes pay-per-click advertising.
Outbound marketing involves reaching out to customers to divert their attention toward a product. Outbound marketing is synonymous with push marketing tactics and carpet-bombing approach to attract a wider audience. The goal of this strategy is to send a maximum number of messages to many people in the hope that it will generate leads and sales. Outbound marketing is disruptive. It reaches out to consumers who are often unaware of or uninterested in the sold product. For instance, when you browse a website, you see ads popping up for a product. It is more common on social media platforms. Ads frequently pop up when you are watching YouTube videos.
What Is Considered Outbound Content?
Outbound content comprises the following essentials:
- Television Advertisements
- Print Advertisements such in Newspapers and Magazines
- Billboards and Display Ads
- Email Spams
- Cold Calling
- Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Paid Social Media Advertisements
- Video Advertisements
What Are Examples Of Outbound Marketing?
The Academic Papers UK, a top dissertation writing services firm, have categorized outbound content in the following categories:
1. Conventional Marketing
Conventional marketing or traditional marketing utilises the following channels for promoting a product or a service:
- Television Advertisements
- Print advertisements such in newspapers and magazines
The outbound content promoted through traditional platforms is for those who still watch television and read newspapers.
2. Digital Content
Businesses also use outbound digital marketing strategies. They use digital platforms to reach out to customers and generate sales leads. Following are the types of digital content popular in outbound content marketing:
- Paid Search Advertising, also known as Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
- Social Media Ads
- Email Ads
- Video Ads
Digital ads attract and retain customers by targeting specific demography and geographic location. It tries to influence the psychological and behavioural traits of consumers. Outbound digital content hunts for different customer segments and utilises advanced tools such as Google Analytics. Artificial Intelligence usage is also becoming frequent in outbound content marketing. For instance, when you search for something on Google about a product or a service, it keeps appearing in your news feed. One example is L’Oréal Paris, which invests millions of dollars in outbound digital marketing to promote its products and services.
a) SEM
Businesses pay Google to have their advertisements appear in search results in Search Engine Marketing. It is a systematic approach by big businesses and corporations who pay for the advertisements to attract customers.
b) Social Media Ads
You must be familiar with social media ads because you come across ads whenever you scroll down on your social media. Businesses pay social media apps to promote their products and services. It is an effective outbound marketing strategy.
c) Email Marketing & Email Spams
Businesses also send cold emails to attract and retain customers. If you open your spam folder, you will encounter plenty of ads about some companies’ products and services.
d) Video Ads
You are watching a video on YouTube or listening to your favourite song, and out of the blue, an ad appears. These advertisements display a company’s product or service and are disruptive since they disturb the watching time. Similarly, video ads are also popular on social media platforms such as Facebook; advertisements appear whenever you watch a video.
3. Cold Calling
You might be familiar with the term “Telemarketing”, and if you are a third world resident, you must have come across it. There are numerous call centres or BPOs (Business Process Outsourcing) companies in third world countries. They have a separate sales department for outbound telemarketing. Also, the sales section practices cold calling to generate leads even in the companies’ home countries. Cold calling is when a salesperson phones a list of potential consumers to assess their willingness. They use sales pitches to persuade them and convert them into potential customers. Warm calling is the next phase in telemarketing after a prospect demonstrates interest in the products or services.
4. Affiliate Marketing
Affiliate marketing is a strategy in which other people (referred to as “affiliates”) get their audience to buy your products. The linked partner will promote your business on online sites, YouTube, social media, and other venues to broaden your reach. Affiliate marketing is also synonymous with content syndication. It pertains to collaborating with third party websites to promote the products and services.
What is an outbound marketing strategy?
Outbound marketing strategy pertains to business tactics to reach a wider audience. Being pushy does not necessarily mean it should be done heedlessly without evaluating the intended impact. So, businesses with an effective outbound marketing strategy stand out among their competitors.
1. Cold Emails
Many people think that email marketing has become redundant. But, it is not true as email marketing has the potential of attracting customers if done properly. Also, cold emails are those emails that businesses send out to customers without their consent. They sometimes go to the spam folders. As it turns out, most people don’t like receiving unwanted emails. So, if you have a proper strategy, there is a higher chance of increasing sales leads. You can devise your emails in a manner that is not disruptive to customers.
Generating leads is still possible with a less aggressive approach. You don’t have to be a pushover to generate sales leads. But, you can customise your emails and make them more personal, which respects customers’ privacy. You can write cold emails that garner answers and generate leads using your knowledge of your primary audience. The following strategies are useful when it comes to cold emails:
- Sort out your list and ensure that you are reaching out to active emails
- Write compelling subject lines that can pique the reader’s interest
- Personalised the emails to make the customer feel valued and respected
- Demonstrate that your offerings can add value to the lives of customers otherwise, it will not benefit you.
- Incorporate Call to Action (CTA), which is a hyperlink that can take the customer directly to your business website
- Send follow up emails after some interval, and do not just bombard the customer’s mail with your emails
It is important to respect the customer’s time and privacy. So, emails should be personalised and considerate towards the customers.
2. Cold Calling
The outbound marketing strategy also pertains to cold calling, and those who work in telesales know how frustrating it is. But, on the brighter side, cold calling has a dramatic impact on customers and can generate sales leads. It is only possible when you do it with proper strategies.
Many telesales representatives are too eager to make sales on their first call. As it turns out, they are foolish to assume that someone will buy anything after receiving the first call. When you call someone for the first time, it is an opportunity to `make a sales pitch. The first call is a step towards relationship building and breaking the ice.
For example, Toyota has a good outbound marketing strategy for cold calling. They have a database of customers, and every sales representative has access to that. The concerned salesperson makes phone calls to the customers and makes a sales pitch during the first conversation. There are three categories to classify a customer: Hot, Warm and Cold. Customers who are not interested in the product or service remain in the Cold category. Customers who show some interest in the product come under the Warm category. After the Salesperson successfully persuades the customer, they fall in the category of Hot. There is a follow-up period spread across a span of 21 days. It is a good outbound marketing strategy that allows the salesperson to recuperate. The following strategies are useful when it comes to cold calling:
- Utilise efficient software that is productive and time-saving to maintain the database and cold calling
- Telesales representatives do not have to be pushy.
- Cold callers must promote the brand values of the company.
- Telesales representatives should work on strengthening the relationship with customers.
- Respect the privacy of people and do not bother them again and again if they request you never to call them again
- Make the prospective customers feel valued and talk to them in a manner that can engage them.
3. Search Engine Marketing (SEM)
When a business pays Google to make its advertisements appear in search engines, it amounts to an outbound marketing strategy. SEO, an inbound marketing strategy, is slow and takes time to build. But Search Engine Marketing is an effective marketing strategy to reach a wider audience in a short period. Paid search advertisements highlight your brand in the SERPs (search engine results pages), almost ensuring visitors. But, a few strategies are essential in ensuring the success of SEM. Here are a few tips to refine your strategy:
- Use Search Ads Optimisation techniques even if you are paying Google to make your business visible.
- Draft and design brief and concise ads
- Provide links to the landing pages, and they should be user friendly
- Set clear objectives for paid ads
- Streamline your products and services
- Make sure that the checkout pages are not old-fashioned
- Research to understand the needs of your customers
- Knowing about the search intent is important; otherwise, you will waste your money
- Analyse your competitors and evaluate the keywords they are using
- Incorporate unique selling points
- Clearly explain how your products and services can add value to customers’ lives.
- Include and elevate sales pitch that can influence customer decision
- Create ads that are compelling and persuasive
4. Outbound Social Media Marketing Strategies
There are billions of people across the globe using social media due to the rise of Information Technology. Digital marketing has become paramount for the success of businesses. Social media is an effective tool to reach out to the masses. Outbound social media marketing strategy pertains to those tactics in which businesses pay social media apps to promote their content.
Paid social media advertisements are quite effective compared to pay per click advertisements. It is cheap as compared to SEM and can generate more potential traffic. Also, social media advertisements promote the company’s brand and access. It has more potential to generate sales leads and turn people into paid customers.
Companies utilise Google Analytics and AI tools to understand people’s searches on search engines regarding products and services. It is an effective strategy that collects and classifies data as per the needs and desires of the customers. If you want to engage with the customers more personally, collaborating with social media platforms is effective. LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter have vast data on their users. However, it can effectively create and design more personalised content that caters to customers’ specific needs and demands.
Conclusion
Outbound content marketing does not have to be impersonal and cold as it is famous in the marketing world. It can utilise more personalised tactics and learn from inbound content marketing to enhance its outreach. Outbound marketing has paramount importance even in 2022. However, it requires personalisation and developing a relationship with customers. We hope that the strategies mentioned above will enhance the outbound marketing of your business.