No one likes being sold to, but outbound marketing is the type of selling that doesn’t really give you much choice. If an outbound marketer calls you, it’s usually because they’re trying to sell you something.
And that can be annoying or even downright rude, especially when it happens over and over again. In this article, I’ll explain why outbound marketing is so terrible and what inbound marketers can do about it.
| Key Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Interruption-based Approach |
| 2. Decline in Engagement Rates |
| 3. Negative Impact of Cold Calling |
| 4. High Advertising Costs |
| 5. Limited Precision Targeting |
| 6. Adverse Effects on Brand Perception |
| 7. Diminishing Effectiveness Over Time |
| 8. Lack of Personalized Communication |
| 9. Challenges in Measuring ROI |
| 10. Misalignment with Consumer Preferences |
| 11. Shifting Trend towards Inbound Marketing |
Outbound Marketing Is Too Expensive
Outbound marketing is expensive. It’s a fact. The reason why it’s so expensive is that it requires a lot of time, effort, and money to run an effective campaign. You have to pay for all the resources and staff needed to run your outbound marketing campaigns.
You also need to consider that most of your cost will go towards paying for leads instead of generating them yourself (unless you’re doing SEO or PPC).
If you’re in a tight budget situation where every penny counts then outbound marketing may not be ideal for you because the cost per conversion could be high compared to other forms of digital advertising such as search engine optimization or social media advertising.
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Outbound Marketing Doesn’t Convert Enough
Inbound marketing is a much better approach to lead generation. It’s more effective, easier on your budget, and more likely to drive conversions than outbound marketing.
Inbound marketing focuses on creating content that attracts prospects who are already interested in your product or service.
You do this by creating content that answers their questions, solves their problems, and offers them solutions they can’t get anywhere else (think white papers).
The idea is to attract the right people at the right time so they’re ready when you’re ready to sell them something ideally when they’re looking for what you have to offer.
Outbound marketing doesn’t work because it relies too heavily on interrupting people who don’t want to listen and then trying to convince them why they should care about what you have!
Outbound salespeople rarely get past the gatekeeper because nobody wants unsolicited calls or emails from strangers hawking things that aren’t relevant or useful.
In the battle between marketing approaches, it’s clear that there’s a winner. Learn why businesses are gravitating toward inbound marketing and how it triumphs over outbound marketing in 8 crucial ways.
Outbound Marketing Is Interruptive
The second reason outbound marketing sucks is that it’s interruptive. Outbound marketing is a message that you blast at your prospects and leads, whether it’s through email, social media posts, or direct mail.
It’s not something they ask for or looks for; instead, you’re reaching out to them with a sales message.
This can be incredibly annoying for anyone on the receiving end of this type of communication! If you’ve ever received an unsolicited email from someone trying to sell you something (and who hasn’t?).
Then you know how frustrating it can be when someone tries to sell you something without knowing what your needs are first or listening carefully enough to grasp those needs once they’ve been identified.
It’s also a poor use of your time and money because people tend not to respond well when their personal space is invaded with unwanted content.
Outbound Marketing Puts More Emphasis On “Making Sales” Than On Your Customer’s Needs And Wants
Outbound marketing is often focused on the seller’s needs, not the buyer’s. The reason for this is simple: outbound marketers are trying to sell their products and services by pushing them out into the world in hopes that they will be picked up by someone who needs them.
But while this method can be effective at generating leads, it doesn’t work well when it comes to closing sales because most of the time, people don’t want what you’re selling!
If you’re using outbound methods as your primary sales strategy (and if you’re reading this article, chances are good that you do).
Take a look at what your customer has to say about their buying experience instead of just listening to yourself speak about how great your product or service is.
You might find that all those hours spent sending emails and making phone calls were wasted after all — or worse yet: harmful for both customer relationships and overall brand loyalty.
Outbound Marketing Is Impersonal
The fact that you are trying to attract the attention of a large group of people makes it inherently impersonal. You don’t know who your audience is, how they think, why they choose one product over another or what their preferences are.
Outbound marketing doesn’t allow companies to take into account any of this information because all it does is broadcast a message on behalf of the company without any thought about who might be listening and what they need from that message.
Customer relationships are the foundation of success. Discover the significance of nurturing these connections with insights from our article on Why Staying in Touch with Your Clients Is Important. Strengthen your client bonds for lasting business growth.
Outbound Marketing Is Often A Waste Of Time
As a rule, outbound marketing is a waste of time. This is not to say that it doesn’t work at all, but rather that it generally doesn’t provide the sort of return on investment (ROI) that justifies the cost and effort required.
Inbound marketing has its roots in content marketing the idea being that if you create great content and make it easily accessible to others through your website or social media channels, people will find you naturally because they want to see the things you have made for them.
Outbound marketing focuses on interrupting potential customers with advertisements or other practices designed to get their attention before they have any real need for what you offer; once attention is gained, then sales can begin.
Outbound Marketing Is Ineffective If You’re Selling A Niche Product Or Service
If you’re selling a niche product or service, outbound marketing can be one of the most expensive and frustrating ways to generate leads. It’s expensive because you have to spend money on ads and other tactics before seeing any revenue.
It’s impersonal because you’re targeting people who may not be interested in what you’re selling, forcing them into a sales funnel they don’t want to go through.
And it’s ineffective because even if someone does click on your ad or call your number, there’s no guarantee that they’ll convert into paying customers especially if there are cheaper alternatives out there (like Amazon).
It’s easier to measure ROI with inbound marketing than with outbound marketing.
Let’s start with the basics: inbound marketing is more measurable.
It’s easier to measure ROI for inbound marketing because you’re not just throwing money into a black hole and hoping something sticks. With inbound marketing, you have a clearer idea of what your budget is going towards and how it’s performing.
Inbound marketing provides better ROI than outbound marketing because it’s less expensive and more sustainable in the long run.
Since the costs are lower, businesses can spend less on ad campaigns while still getting the results they want and those expenses will be consistent over time as well.
Since you’re making smaller investments each month, you’ll also have more cash available to scale your operation if necessary (and let’s face it: If all else fails, at least you won’t be broke).
Traditional strategies may fade, but marketing’s essence remains strong. Uncover the secrets of impactful marketing with our guide on Content Marketing Is Dead. Long Live Content Marketing.. Learn to adapt and excel in the dynamic landscape.
Outbound Sales Teams Are Often Unqualified For The Job
You can’t expect a person who has never sold before to land your deals. It’s not just that they don’t know what they are doing, but also that many of them won’t even try to learn. The result is bad leads and wasted time.
One problem with untrained outbound sales reps is that they don’t know how to qualify prospects properly. They will often go after anyone they think might be interested in what you’re selling, whether or not it makes sense for the company’s overall goals or products/services mix.
This leads to low-quality leads, which in turn forces sales managers into making compromises with their sales teams either by giving them less time than promised on each call (which reduces productivity).
Or by denying access to more complex accounts because there isn’t enough time left in the day (which reduces profitability).
Often, the people who call you don’t fully understand your product/service, don’t have an answer for any question you ask them, and can’t be trusted to follow up with you as they promise they will.
A Lot Of The People Calling You On The Phone Don’t Understand Your Product Or Service
They also don’t have an answer for any question you ask them, and can’t be trusted to follow up with you as they promise they will.
Many outbound marketers are not qualified for this job at all! For example, if I told my friend that there was a guy who wanted to work hard enough to earn 500 dollars per month selling his crappy SEO services by calling random people on their phones…
He would laugh at me and say something like: “You mean he’ll cold call people asking if they want SEO? That sounds like a terrible idea.”
Achieving search engine dominance requires crafting stellar content. Explore our article on How Your Content Can Earn a Spot at the Top of Google’s Search Results to discover tactics that elevate your content’s visibility and reach.
Outbound Marketers Often Forget To Follow Up With You, Even Though They Promised To Do So
I’m sure you’ve experienced this before: a salesperson sends you an offer, or maybe they make some kind of promise. They tell you they will follow up with you later, but then they don’t.
This can happen for a variety of reasons. Maybe the salesperson forgot about it; maybe it wasn’t very important to them right away, or maybe they didn’t have time to follow through on their promise.
Whatever the reason(s), the bottom line is that the outbound marketer didn’t meet his/her commitment and let you down as a result and why should anyone trust someone who has already broken one promise?
The outbound sales industry (and its training) encourages out-of-date tactics like competitive selling, in which the rep tries to persuade you that their product/service is better than a competitor’s product/service, regardless of whether or not that’s true.
Outbound Marketing Is Impersonal. Outbound Marketing Is Interruptive. Outbound Marketing Is Expensive, Not Just In The Cost Of Your Time And Materials, But Also In Its Impact On Your Customer’s Experience, Especially When You’re Selling A Niche Product Or Service
Outbound marketing doesn’t convert enough, because buyers are bombarded with more than 1,000 ads per day (and that’s if they’re lucky).
Even if you have an excellent campaign with compelling content and a high-quality list of leads to target with it, you still have to send them emails at least three times before they’ll even look at what you’re offering! And even then…
If we can agree that outbound sales tactics aren’t working anymore if they ever did why do we keep using them? The answer lies somewhere between stubbornness and fear: fear of change; fear that maybe we’ve been doing this wrong all along; fear that doing things differently would make us feel uncomfortable or exposed.
The sales pitch was made by someone with no personality and zero charm just a bland script. (Or worse, it was made by an automated system.)
The reason your sales pitch sucked is that the person making it didn’t take the time to find out about you, your business, and what you needed from them.
The salesperson who made the call was probably some kid fresh out of college who was instructed to read from a script written by someone else.
He or she didn’t care about you; in fact, he or she never even met with anyone on your team in person before making that first call. All they cared about was following their manager’s orders without asking questions or deviating from the plan.
And while scripts are effective especially when they’re done well, the truth is that most people hate being pitched to by someone who doesn’t have any personality or charm.
Conclusion
Inbound marketing is a better way to get customers. It’s more effective, it’s cheaper, it’s more sustainable and it doesn’t have all the downsides that outbound marketing has. If you’re looking for a new way to market your business, consider inbound marketing!
Further Reading
Outbound Marketing: Pros, Cons, Examples & More: Explore the advantages and disadvantages of outbound marketing, along with real-world examples of its implementation.
Why Bad Outbound Marketing Is Ruining Your Sales: Discover the negative impacts of poorly executed outbound marketing on your sales efforts.
The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly of Outbound Marketing: Dive into a comprehensive analysis of outbound marketing’s facets, both positive and negative.
FAQs
What is outbound marketing?
Outbound marketing involves reaching out to potential customers through various channels, such as cold calling, direct mail, and advertising. It’s a proactive approach to spreading your message.
How does inbound marketing differ from outbound marketing?
Inbound marketing focuses on attracting customers through valuable content and building relationships. Outbound marketing, on the other hand, involves pushing messages out to a broader audience.
Are there benefits to outbound marketing?
Yes, outbound marketing can still be effective in certain scenarios, particularly for reaching a specific target audience quickly. It can also be useful for promoting time-sensitive offers.
What are the downsides of outbound marketing?
Outbound marketing can sometimes be seen as intrusive and interruptive, leading to lower engagement rates. It may also struggle to resonate with today’s more empowered and discerning consumers.
How can outbound marketing be improved?
To make outbound marketing more effective, it’s crucial to target the right audience, personalize messages, and provide value in your interactions. A strategic blend of inbound and outbound techniques can yield better results.
Is outbound marketing becoming obsolete?
Outbound marketing is evolving rather than becoming obsolete. Businesses are finding ways to make it more relevant by combining it with inbound strategies and adapting to changing consumer preferences.
Costantine Edward is a digital marketing expert, freelance writer, and entrepreneur who helps people attain financial freedom. I’ve been working in marketing since I was 18 years old and have managed to build a successful career doing what I love.