“Outbound marketing” is a term that’s thrown around a lot, but what does it really mean? In essence, outbound marketing is the process of reaching out to prospects and customers through different channels.
The goal is to generate leads and sales by using various tactics such as search engine optimization (SEO), search engine marketing (SEM), email marketing, social media, and more.
The following are just some examples of ways in which you can leverage these tactics to gain exposure for your brand:
| Takeaways |
|---|
| 1. Understand the value of outbound marketing strategies. |
| 2. Identify untapped opportunities in outbound approaches. |
| 3. Explore creative ways to connect with your target audience. |
| 4. Leverage outbound methods to complement your inbound efforts. |
| 5. Continuously analyze and optimize outbound campaigns. |
Set Up A Google Alert For Your Brand Name And Competitors’ Names
It’s not enough to just know that someone has mentioned your brand on Twitter or in a blog post. If you want to be on top of the conversation, you need to know what people are saying about your brand and what they’re saying about your competitors.
Setting up Google alerts for these terms is an easy way to stay on top of these conversations in real-time.
Google alerts can be set up for any term or phrase you want to monitor (or even specific questions), so if someone asks “Is [brand X] better than [brand Y]?” or says “I love [product X].” You’ll get the notification instantly!
Building a successful outbound marketing strategy requires careful planning and execution. Discover the key steps to creating an effective strategy in our guide on how to build an outbound marketing strategy.
Place Your Brand On A Top-10 List
You can easily find out what your competitors are doing well, and how they are doing it. And you can probably find out what they’re doing badly, too and how to avoid that.
If you know where your competitors stand in the marketplace, then it’s time to get creative! What can they add? What do they miss? Are there new opportunities for them? How could their customer experience be improved?
Let’s take an example of a real business: The Economist is a British weekly news magazine with a global circulation of 1 million as of 2017.
It publishes “The World In [year],” which includes rankings like “Best Countries For Women To Live In” or “World’s Most Innovative Companies Of 2019.” Also, they have written articles about various countries’ economies before.
This will allow The Economist to expand its audience and reach people who don’t follow politics closely but might still be interested in learning more about other countries through this content series alone!
Create A Feature Box At The Top Of Your Homepage
A feature box is a short, plain text summary of the page’s content that appears at the top of your homepage. It should be concise and concisely describe what a visitor will find when they scroll down. There are many different ways to write these, but here are some strategies that work well:
In the world of marketing, embracing change is essential. Learn how we transitioned from skepticism to embracing the power of outbound marketing in our journey outlined in how we learned to love outbound marketing.
Use Bullet Points Instead Of Paragraphs
Use bullets with links to related resources or other content on your site (e.g., “More details about this topic can be found here” or “Find out more about us at our blog.”)
Give links to external articles or resources if appropriate
Add Testimonials To Your Site
Testimonials are a great way to show off your awesome product or service. They help potential customers get more information about you and what you can do for them, and they also help build trust even more so than a self-written description.
But how do you get testimonials from customers? You’ll want to ask, but don’t just ask anyone you want genuine testimonials from real customers who have used your products or services.
You might want to send out an email asking for “starters” (testimonials), with the promise that everyone who responds gets entered into a drawing for free stuff! Here’s one way of doing it:
I know this will sound crazy, but we’re looking for some people who have recently tried [product name] and would be willing to write a short review on our website explaining why they liked it so much!
Of course, if you hated us then feel free not to waste both our time by writing something up 🙂 Just kidding…we’ll only be using the positive reviews though 😉
We’ll also include any photos/videos/etc that go along with those reviews as well, so there’s no need for anything fancy here at all!! Just basic text describing how much fun/relief/help [product name] was for YOU specifically 🙂
Optimize Your Website’s Meta Description And Title Tag For Each Page
The meta description and title tag are important for SEO, but they also play a direct role in attracting visitors. If your site has a good meta description and title tag for each page, it will stand out from competitors who haven’t optimized their pages or who have done so poorly.
Let’s start with the basics: Meta descriptions tell users what a page is about before they click through it. Title tags are headlines that appear as part of browsers’ search engine results pages (SERPs).
They’re often used by online shoppers to decide which products they want to buy next. Both elements should be unique to each page of your website and written specifically for that page’s content.
So that searchers can easily determine whether or not you’re the right resource for them based on what’s being shown on their screen at any given moment. It’s also important that these elements be descriptive enough without being overly enticing;
Otherwise, people might think they’re getting something else when they arrive at your site than what’s there (which could lead them away from buying anything).
Looking to maximize your revenue through outbound efforts? Learn the techniques and insights to earn more money with outbound marketing and boost your business growth.
Place Mini Landing Pages For Campaigns On The Back End Of Your Blog Posts
If you’re going to be running an outbound campaign, it’s a good idea to create a landing page for each campaign. You can do this by setting up new pages and building a mini site around each campaign on the back end of your blog.
Then, include a call to action in your blog posts that points readers towards these landing pages. Make sure you don’t go overboard with this; just include one link at the end of the post so people know where they can go next if they want more information about that particular topic.
When launching an outbound marketing effort, make sure the content and messaging on your landing page are relevant to whatever has been discussed in your blog post!
Your goal here is not just getting people onto your site (though this is important), but rather generating leads by providing value through informative content that speaks directly to their needs/problems/etcetera.
Develop Executive Profiles On The Back End Of Your Blog Posts
If you have an executive on your team, develop a profile for them on the backend of your blog posts by creating a section that showcases their expertise.
You can do this by including information about their professional achievements and awards; certifications they’ve earned; education; hobbies and interests; personal stories; family life.
The more you showcase what makes them special, the more attractive they become as a resource for potential customers.
Use Hashtags In Your Social Media Bios To Drive Brand Awareness
A few years ago, hashtags were a way to find posts on social media related to a specific topic.
Since then, they’ve taken on added importance they are now a way for people to express their identities and interests. Hashtags can be used as part of your marketing strategy in several ways:
Use hashtags in your social media bios. Hashtags make it easier for you to be found by the people who want what you have. They also help drive awareness of the work you do and how it fits into broader conversations around topics like your industry or niche area of expertise.
Be sure not to overdo this tactic though – don’t try using every single hashtag under the sun!
Engage with other influencers using relevant hashtags. When someone shares something about marketing automation or customer relationship management (CRM).
Reply with something relevant that shows that you understand and are interested in what they’re saying–but don’t use sales techniques or come across as pushy; instead focus on being helpful without seeming like self-promotion!
To succeed in a competitive market, it’s crucial to rise above the noise and stand out. Explore our guide on how to outmarket your competition with effective outbound marketing strategies.
Reply To Comments Left On Blog Posts And Social Media Updates
You should reply to all comments left on blog posts and social media. Your goal is to provide value, so try to answer questions or provide information that the commenter didn’t see in your post.
If you receive a negative comment, you must respond directly and personally. You don’t have to spend hours on this a short thank-you note will suffice.
If the person made a valid point (or several), be sure to acknowledge it, apologize if necessary, and determine what steps you can take going forward to improve their experience with your brand or product.
If someone leaves an off-topic comment (e.g., “BTW I love pizza!”), it’s okay not to reply here. Just delete the comment if possible; otherwise, keep it separate from any other replies by pointing out how it’s not related in any way:
“We’re very grateful for your support of PizzaCo., but I’m afraid this isn’t what we were looking for.”
You should also respond quickly when someone asks for more information about something they read on your site even if they haven’t left a comment yet!
Send them an email explaining why their question wasn’t answered sufficiently online so they can get started right away without having wasted time searching around aimlessly before contacting Customer Service with questions like “What kind of cheddar cheese do ya use?”
When you find a great marketing opportunity or idea, document it!
When you find a great marketing opportunity or idea, document it! Write down the idea. Write down the action you need to take. Write down the next step: Who do I need to talk to? What research should I do first? What is my deadline for this?
Is there a reward if I succeed in getting this done by that date and time? What consequences will there be if I don’t follow through on this task by that day or week or month? How much money could we make by getting this done now versus later (or never)?
And finally, what are all of the benefits of taking action now not just financially but also in terms of being able to sleep better at night knowing everything is moving forward as planned instead of leaving things up in the air indefinitely?
Provide Infographics As Visual Content On A Blog Post Or Website Page
You can also create infographics a visual representation of an idea or concept. Infographics are a great way to break down complicated topics into bite-sized pieces, which makes them ideal for your blog posts and website pages.
For example, you could use an infographic to explain the steps involved in buying a home or show customers how their products are made.
As long as it’s relevant to your audience, there are many different ways you could use an infographic on your marketing materials:
To present data that would otherwise be difficult to understand when written out in text form (e.g., showing how much money was spent on advertising this year compared with last year)
To illustrate how two things compare by breaking down their similarities and differences (e.g., comparing two different types of cars)
Offer Best Practices As Downloadable White Papers, Ebooks Or Reports
Another great way to leverage outbound marketing is through white papers. White papers are an excellent way to position your brand as an expert in your market.
Educate customers and prospects about a topic, generate leads for your business, drive traffic to your website or even sell products or services directly from the document.
White papers can be used in many different ways. For example:
Positioning statement. Use the opening of a white paper as an opportunity to market yourself as a thought leader in your industry.
The first few paragraphs should clearly state the problem that exists and then back it up with facts and figures from reputable sources that show how big of an issue this is for organizations today (or will be soon).
This will allow you to establish credibility right off the bat before getting into any further details about how you are going to solve this problem through whatever solution(s) you provide next.
Problem/Solution breakdown. If there are multiple products or services offered by one company, this section would include details on each one separately along with what makes each unique compared with competitors’ offerings.
This gives readers who may not be familiar with either product enough information so that they feel comfortable making informed decisions based on their own needs when considering which solution would best suit them best given their specific circumstances.”
Outbound marketing can be a strategic move that yields substantial benefits. Discover why many businesses find value in this approach and learn more about its potential in our article on why outbound marketing can be a smart move.
Write Case Studies On How You’ve Helped Customers Solve Problems
One of the best ways to attract customers is by demonstrating your expertise and showing how you’ve helped others solve their problems.
Customer case studies are extremely effective at achieving this goal because they show how you’ve helped them solve a problem in an easy-to-digest format that’s easy to read and understand.
And once someone reads one of these articles, they’ll be more likely to contact you when they have a similar issue themselves (or recommend your business to someone else).
Case studies can also demonstrate:
Customer service – Show off how attentive and responsive you are as an expert in your field by taking time out of your busy day/week/month/etc.,
Even if it’s just for 5 minutes over email or phone call, then write about it on your blog with screenshots or video clips so everyone can see what happened in real-time! This adds credibility when prospects are researching which companies deserve their trust.
Value – Not only does this show off how awesomely helpful (and often entertaining) our company culture is here at [your company], but by highlighting specific details like “[Jane Smith] was able to accomplish [x] within only two months.”
Or “I was able to save him half his salary with my advice alone” shows exactly what kind of value we provide through our services/products which ultimately results in more sales leads later down the road when potential customers realize just how much power there is behind using ours instead against theirs!
Increase Your Brand’s Exposure Beyond Its Borders By Featuring Regional News And Events In Its Social Media Updates, Blogs, And Newsletters
There are many ways to leverage regional news and events in your marketing efforts.
Use local news and events to create content. If you’re hosting a conference, for example, use the event as the basis for a blog post or social media update that highlights what attendees can expect when they attend.
Include local events in your social media updates.
If a restaurant near your office has been serving an amazing new dish every week this summer, consider mentioning it on Facebook or Twitter as part of an update about lunch options in the area the folks who follow you will appreciate the advice!
Include local news in blogs and newsletters. Newsletters are often filled with stories about products and services but rarely talk about what’s happening around us.
But if you’re sending out emails twice a month anyway…why not give people something interesting besides just another sales pitch?
Design Facebook Tabs That Showcase Display Ads For Your Current Campaigns With Special Offers And Calls To Action (CTAs)
To be successful in your social media marketing efforts, you’ll need to understand the value of Facebook tabs. These tabs allow users to add them to their websites and then share them with their social networks.
This can be done by adding an “Integration” tab that allows visitors to add your content from a drop-down list of options.
A second option is to use a more basic “Share” feature, which enables visitors to easily share content from your website with their friends by clicking on a button (similarly found under the Integration tab).
Both of these methods offer an additional benefit: they help increase engagement on your website because it introduces users directly into the social networking experience without further action required by them.
When members tap this button, they are taken directly into their account settings where they can log into Facebook using whichever username/password combination they chose when setting up their account initially with us!
We’ve even created two designs–one featuring our brand logo at the top left corner while another places company name or slogan underneath it instead–so companies may customize according to preference.”
Share customer reviews on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms as well as on product pages throughout your website.
It’s important to share customer reviews on Twitter, Facebook, and other social media platforms as well as on product pages throughout your website.
- Customer reviews can be used to increase brand trust.
- Customer reviews can be used to increase sales.
- Customer reviews can be used to increase brand awareness.
- Customer reviews can be used to increase brand credibility.
- Customer reviews can be used to increase brand loyalty.
Conclusion
I hope that you’ve learned some valuable insights into outbound marketing from this article! There are lots of ways to use these techniques at your own company, so don’t let yourself get overwhelmed. Start small, test the waters, and keep learning.
With the right approach, anyone can create great content for their audience on a budget. And if done right, it can lead to opportunities that benefit everyone involved: customers who are satisfied with what they find online; businesses that have grown through word-of-mouth;
And people like me who are lucky enough to make their living by helping others do what they love!
Further Reading
Here are some additional resources to explore for a deeper understanding of inbound and outbound marketing strategies:
Leveraging Inbound and Outbound Marketing: Discover five effective ways to combine inbound and outbound strategies for comprehensive marketing success.
Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing: Dive into the differences and benefits of inbound and outbound marketing approaches in this comprehensive comparison.
Outbound Marketing Strategies and Techniques: Learn about various outbound marketing strategies and techniques that can help you engage your audience effectively.
FAQs
What is the main difference between inbound and outbound marketing?
Inbound marketing focuses on attracting potential customers through valuable content, while outbound marketing involves reaching out to potential customers through channels like advertising and cold calling.
Which strategy is more suitable for brand awareness, inbound, or outbound marketing?
Outbound marketing can be effective for quickly increasing brand visibility through tactics like advertising and sponsorships. Inbound marketing, on the other hand, builds brand awareness over time through educational and informative content.
How can I balance inbound and outbound marketing strategies for optimal results?
Combining inbound and outbound marketing strategies allows you to reach a wider audience. You can leverage the targeted approach of outbound marketing while nurturing leads through inbound techniques.
What are some common outbound marketing techniques?
Outbound marketing techniques include cold calling, direct mail, email campaigns, and traditional advertising methods like TV and radio commercials.
Is one strategy better than the other, or should I use both?
The effectiveness of each strategy depends on your goals and target audience. In some cases, a hybrid approach that combines elements of both inbound and outbound marketing can yield the best results.
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.