You must see numerous ads on big billboards on your way to work. These ads can be about anything, TV, car, washing machine, mobile devices, and so on. Ads like these are a form of outbound marketing. 

Outbound or interruption marketing is a type of marketing wherein the brands or businesses initiate the conversation. Through many forms of outbound marketing, you as a business organization can try to attract potential customers by talking to them. 

This type of marketing becomes effective when the organization has the funds to make advertisements. One of the downsides of this marketing technique is that many times businesses don’t get the return on investment (ROI) that they expected. If a brand wants to have an improved ROI, they’ve to use those marketing methods that work well with them. 

Throughout this article, you’ll find the best practices and examples of this marketing technique.  

What is Outbound Marketing?

Outbound marketing is a traditional form of marketing. Here, it is a company that approaches the customers. The company reaches the general public through the use of TV ads, billboards, newspaper ads, Facebook ads, cold emails, and more. Many brands still use this method to develop the first contact with their buyers. 

People of all age groups use technology, however, it is the older generation who are targeted through these ads. It is because the older generation is familiar and used to this style of marketing. Many of them still open the newspaper to tell their kids that they want to buy the TV that is in the newspaper. 

One of the goals of outbound marketing is to have lead generation. When lead generation is complete, the company’s sales representative takes over. He or she builds a professional relationship with the customer. 

An advantage of this type of marketing is that it helps in forming a deep connection with the consumer. Brands can use TV commercials with good storytelling to reach their audience. When people see a good story, they immediately feel a connection. Plus, these days, it’s all about making a story feel relatable to somebody. 

Outbound marketing can also be used as an extra option. Nowadays, brands don’t choose one option over the other. They know that both of them are effective in their own ways, so they combine outbound and inbound marketing strategies together. Because in the end, brands have to market their products to both tech-savvy and non-tech-savvy people. 

This method of marketing doesn’t get you a good ROI. But you can change some aspects here. For instance, placing a billboard ad for mobile devices near an engineering college. By doing this, you’re targeting a specific audience, thereby increasing the chances of sales.  

Outbound Marketing Strategy 

To make an effective marketing strategy, you have to research various things. Follow these steps to create an outbound marketing strategy for your brand:

• Your offer: You should be clear about what you’re offering to your consumers. If you’re introducing a new product, then you should tell the ways in which it is different from the previous product. 

• Know your audience: Knowing about the buyer persona will help you have a better reach. You should research their habits, what they like and dislike, etc. 

• Research on your competitors: Just like you do research on your consumers, you should also do it on your competitors. When you observe them closely, you can improve in the areas you’re lacking. 

• Your message: The campaign message of your marketing strategy should be clear to you and your consumers. There can be many messages in your campaign. Use good storytelling techniques to make your message go viral. 

• Your platform: The platforms can be both online and offline. Think of the ways you can use both of them. 

Once you’ve created your strategy, you have to use the best practices to make sure the strategies are working well. It is through these practices your brand will get a better response. 

• Use good tactics: Don’t use shady tactics to have a wide range of audiences. Don’t buy email lists or send spam emails to people. 

• Use LinkedIn: LinkedIn is a great way for generating leads. You can use it to stay connected with new prospects. Through InMails, you can send messages to people who are not connected to you. 

• Use CRM software: Get a CRM software that keeps track of sales activities and that also has a built-in call automation feature in it. 

Types of Outbound Marketing 

There are several types of outbound marketing that are used differently to target the audience. 

• Traditional Advertising: Above the line marketing or traditional marketing includes the traditional forms of media (television, radio, newspaper, magazines, billboards, etc.). These media channels help you reach many people at once. However, you can’t know who your target audience is on this channel. There are still many people who watch TV and listen to the radio every day, so this method is effective to do your brand marketing.  

• Digital Advertising: The digital advertising channel includes email ads, video ads, OTT or Over-the-top ads, social media ads, and SEM or search engine marketing. These are a form of below the line advertising. Through these, you can target the audience based on their location, age, interests, or habits. The first digital ad ran more than two decades ago, in the year 1994. Digital ads have become more updated with the change in times. 

• TTL or Through-the-line Advertising: In this type of advertising, brands use both the ATL and BTL channels. They can use multiple channels, like magazines, social media, and television at once. They can also use DOOH or Digital-out-of-home channels. DOOH advertising uses digital screens that you see outside your home. Such channels can be seen in subway stations or near crossing lights. 

• Cold Calling: Telemarketing or cold calling is a type of outbound marketing wherein the salesperson makes calls to people. These people are usually in the company database and are potential customers of the company. It is known as cold calling because the salesperson has no previous experience with the people that he or she is calling. This method type, however, has one big disadvantage. People get irritated by these sales calls, so they either don’t pick calls or they block the numbers. 

How Is Inbound Marketing Different? 

Inbound and outbound marketing are different from each other in many ways. The basic difference is that in inbound marketing, it is the customer who initiates the conversation with a brand. Whereas in outbound or interruption marketing, it’s the brand’s duty to take the first step in conversing with potential buyers. 

Inbound marketing includes content marketing, blogging, paid search advertising, and search engine optimization or SEO. These paid ads are a part of inbound marketing because they appear to them when they do a search about those products. 

When a brand opts for outbound marketing, they make use of traditional forms of marketing and advertising. These include print advertisements like, brochure ads, magazine ads, newspaper ads, flyers, catalogues, and so on. They also use radio and TV ads in this method of marketing. 

The inbound marketing techniques pull in the interested buyers. The blog posts written in this form of marketing are specifically written for some consumers. Here, the brands draw in their potential buyers by nudging them down the sales funnel. These methods become a part of an individual’s content consumption. 

Whereas interruption marketing doesn’t pull interested buyers, it is usually pushed towards them. Here, the brand seeks out the consumers and not the other way around. This method of marketing disrupts an individual’s content consumption. 

Much like the nature versus nurture debate, there have been debates about which one is the better method of marketing. Both of them work well in their ways. However, if you make a planned strategy, then you can use both of them together. Simply put, first, you can reach out to your consumer through the traditional ways, then you can wait for them to reach out to you. 

You’ve to pay special attention to both methods, this way there will be a balance. 

6 Outbound Marketing Examples 

Here are a few examples of outbound marketing: 

• PPC or Pay-Per-Click Advertising: Here, you pay search engines like Google or Bing. When you pay for these search engines, you appear on the top of search engines. The leads see your website when they search for keywords that are similar to your brand. 

• Content Syndication: In content syndication, the brand publishes its content on third-party websites. You can write a guest blog or do an interview. It can be both paid and unpaid. The unpaid way includes guest blogs. The paid way includes selecting those websites that are interested in hosting your content. As a part of content syndication, you can also do brand collaborations. 

• Event Marketing: This is one of the best ways to generate leads. Not only can you find potential customers through event marketing, but you can also build relationships with them. These events include conferences, meetings, seminars, webinars, and trade shows. Here, you can have face-to-face meetings with the customers. The better you present yourself at these events, there are greater the chances that people will remember you and your brand. 

• Inside Sales: Inside sales simply means those sales that happen from the office environment. When a salesperson or representative of the sales team gets a lead, they give it to the inside sales team. The inside sales teams are critical in marketing a brand. It’s because of them that the leads are qualified. Thereafter, they hand in the leads to a supervisor, who closes in on the lead. 

• Lead Scoring: It’s the first step in making the sale. After generating leads, you’ve to move the consumer close to buying your product. You’ve to make them interested enough to buy by emailing or calling them. You should answer their questions and clear all their doubts. 

In Conclusion

Outbound marketing is the marketing used by brands through which they reach customers. They find the customers wherever they can. Brands use advertising media channels like TV, radio, magazines, newspaper, or flyers to market their product. 

This type of marketing is different from inbound marketing because here, the business is taking the step. In inbound marketing, it is the consumers who initiate the conversation with the business. 

For creating a good outbound marketing strategy, you should know several things. You must know what you want to offer your audience. You should also research your audience and your competitors. Know the buying habits of your consumers and observe what interests them. If you want to stand out from other brands, then you’ve to observe them too. There may be some areas where you’re excelling, but some areas where you aren’t. Therefore, keeping track of others may help you improve your tactics. 

This marketing method has worked for many years, and it will continue to work when brands use it well. Avoid using shady strategies like buying email lists, instead use better platforms to reach people. You can use LinkedIn as one of the platforms to meet many customers and new prospects. You can also take part in trade shows, events, and webinars to have face-to-face meetings with people. These events are the best way you can reach many customers. Do you need help?