Given the popularity of social media and inbound marketing, when should outbound marketing be used?
For some types of buyers, outbound marketing is the only way to engage (e.g. direct mail, email, events, teleprospecting).
These buyers require intervention through outbound marketing:
The Unaware Buyer – this buyer is evaluating but is unaware of your solution despite your high level of marketing activity (including inbound marketing). Outbound marketing may be your only option to reach these buyers.
The Puzzled Buyer – this buyer has some misconceptions that have precluded consideration of your solution. By persuading the buyer through direct, interactive, phone or web-based communication, these buyer’s misconceptions can be corrected through dialog.
The Buyer with Unmet Needs – in this case, the buyer may have underlying needs that have not been openly discussed with a third party. Or perhaps, the buyer was unaware of a solution that would address her needs so had not initiated an evaluation. Early stage solutions that are new-to-market often target buyers with latent needs.
The Tuned-out Buyer – not all buyers participate in social media or conduct online searches. Some buyers expect that some vendors must reach out to them as a precondition to considering their solution.
The Buyer at the Tipping Point – B2B marketing is part art & part science. Given the length of the marketing and sales cycle, we can often identify many of the touches that led to a closed sale but we are unable to pinpoint the catalyst that converted the buyer. Perhaps those accounts that closed through online marketing were prompted by the cumulative impact of both online and offline touches through both inbound and outbound marketing.
Through our outbound marketing efforts we have converted these types of buyers into opportunities. Depending on the stage of their evaluation, these buyers can vary in terms of their potential to close.
What results have you seen with these types of buyers?
Photo Credit: henrybloomfield
6 Comments
What a great way to frame the outbound discussion! Sometimes we still have to go get the buyer the hard way…via outbound. Thanks for putting a bit of perspective around inbound mania.
Don't forget about the Expert Buyer. The one that thinks he knows everything and either uses a competitive product or is about to. They either know about you and have ruled it out, or they don't and they need to know. They aren't expert enough until outbound marketing reaches them, and educates them. These are high rate conversions, and waiting for them to educate themselves should be unacceptable. Go find them. Don't wait for them to raise their hand, as they rarely will do so if they think they are experts.
@Trish – thanks for your comment on perspective. In marketing, we seem to pursue the latest & greatest without fully considering buyer behavior.
@Mike – I agree that the Expert Buyer is a key persona that should be considered. We all have met the buyer, whether due to ego or time constraints, who believes that their level of knowledge does not allow for consideration of alternatives such as our differentiated solution. I consider this type similar to the Puzzled Buyer.
Great breakdown of buyer types. My thought is that in order to convert these types of buyers into actual customers, you must first be able to figure out what type they are without making assumptions. That is where demand generation and marketing automation systems (such as the one offered by my organization) come in to play. Understanding an individual's behavior on your website after you have begun the outbound prospecting process is critical. Then nurturing them with automated follow-up can help you to easily and quickly identify whether they are "unaware" or "tuned-out", etc. while saving you time and potential mistakes. Behavior speaks louder than words, so understanding what moves they make (or don't make) on your website can mean a great deal more than simply what they are telling you.
very good
And let's not forget about the culture and pace of some professions – eg: I'm targeting accountancy and legal professions – mid tier to large and the bulk of these guys are NOT all over inbound media. Yes – they may have a blog – our only option is good ol' traditional outbound.