Leads grow b2b businesses. It doesn’t matter whether your products have more features than your competitors, or if you provide more services than others in the niche. If people don’t know about your business, you won’t generate revenue, and one of the most effective tools for getting the word out about your business is outbound lead generation.
Often, those responsible for marketing b2b companies get overwhelmed with all of the lead generation tasks they need to do. If you are struggling to find the time for both inbound and outbound marketing, don’t worry – you can offload some tasks to a Wing Content Marketing VA.
In this blog post, we will discuss outbound leads, the difference between inbound and outbound generation, and why outbound efforts remain important for b2b companies. We will also list some of the outbound lead generation tasks you can outsource to a Wing content marketer!
What is Outbound Lead Generation?
Outbound lead generation is the process of finding and contacting potential customers proactively. Instead of relying on word of mouth, or customers discovering your business, you call or email them and engage them in conversations about your brand.
The outbound lead generation process can be time-consuming, but it’s still an effective way to reach new customers. It’s because outbound is direct. People are more likely to convert when you interact with them one-on-one about your business.
Those who don’t turn into customers still provide you with valuable data, like common objections of your target market, which will help you refine future strategies. And, when you outsource some of the tasks to a company like Wing, you can free up your time to focus on strategy or other aspects of your business.
All About Inbound and Outbound Lead Generation
There are two basic types of lead generation – inbound and outbound. Inbound lead generation is all about bringing customers to you, usually through your website. It involves creating content that is interesting and useful to your target audience and then using SEO and other marketing techniques to make sure that people can find it when they search for information related to your product or service.
Outbound lead generation, on the other hand, is all about going out and finding potential customers. It usually involves activities like attending trade shows or conferences, cold-calling prospects, or emailing lists of people who might be interested in your product or service.
Why b2b Companies Need Outbound Lead Generation
Ideally, all companies would use a mix of inbound and outbound techniques to fill up their pipeline. Generally speaking, b2b customers would like companies to sell to them since the buying process is much longer for b2b companies. For one, there are more decision-makers in a b2b purchase, since the buyer is also a company.
What’s more, there are times when the decision makers are not the end users. So, the seller must be ready with multiple strategies for different stakeholders. When a business has an outbound strategy, it’ll be easier to modify its central messaging to suit these different audiences.
The downside? Outbound costs more to execute. However, the returns can be exponential, especially if you’re targeting the right prospects. If you’re looking to build a customer base quickly, focusing on outbound is the way to go.
When to Use Outbound Tactics
Wondering when you should implement an outbound lead generation strategy? Here are three scenarios where it is appropriate:
- You have a complex purchasing cycle – If you have several related offerings and different but related target markets for each, it’s beneficial for you to have a robust outbound lead generation funnel. When there are multiple decision-makers, you need to reach out to as many of them as possible, something that you can do quickly with outbound tactics.
- You are generating awareness – If you’re putting a new service or feature out in the market, you’ll see faster results with outbound lead generation. Reaching out and trying to convert existing customers is more cost-effective than finding new ones.
- You are launching a new venture – If you are a startup, you need to go after leads more aggressively. Since not many people know about your company, you need to be proactive about showing them why you’re a great option, and outbound lead generation is a way to achieve that.
That said, outbound marketing can be intimidating at first. This is especially true for b2b, where key decision-makers tend to be highly knowledgeable of the technical aspects of their industry. They may not be receptive to your message if it’s too salesy or vague.
So, you can’t implement an outbound strategy for the sake of it. You need to get your pitch right, which means spending more time on crafting the message. You can’t do that if you’re busy doing marketing support tasks.
What Outbound Tasks Can I Outsource?
Outreach is all about getting noticed in the best possible way, and having a virtual assistant will help you supercharge your outbound lead generation efforts. Here are 5 things you can delegate to a content marketing VA.
Cold Calling
One of the most effective outbound lead generation techniques is cold calling. It allows you to reach out to potential customers who might not be familiar with your brand. And, when done right, it can be a great way to start a conversation and build rapport.
Unfortunately, cold calling can also be very time-consuming and difficult. If you’re not used to it, the thought of calling someone out of the blue and trying to sell them something can be daunting.
This is where a virtual assistant can help. A VA with sales experience will know how to properly research prospects and craft a script that’s tailored to their needs. They can also handle objections and follow up after the call.
Cold Emailing
Another outbound lead generation tactic that’s often used is cold emailing. Just like cold calling, it involves reaching out to people who might not be familiar with your brand. But, instead of calling them, you’re sending them an email.
One of the benefits of cold emailing is that it’s less intrusive than a phone call. It’s also easier to scale since you can reach out to more people in no time.
The downside is that it can be easy to come across as spammy or pushy. And, if your email doesn’t stand out, it will likely get deleted without being read.
This is where a virtual assistant can help. A VA with copywriting experience will know how to write an email that’s both effective and personal. They can also help you develop a list of targeted prospects to reach out to.
Social Selling
Social selling, also known as social media outreach, is an outbound lead generation tactic that involves finding and engaging with potential customers on social media through comments on their posts, replies to their questions, and private messages.
This type of outreach is a great way to reach out to people who might not be familiar with your brand. And, since social media is all about building relationships, it’s a great way to start a conversation and build rapport.
The downside is that it can be time-consuming. You need to comb through groups and forums to find the right people to connect with. You must also write comments that strike the perfect balance between conversation and salesmanship. People are savvier about online marketing today, and they get turned off by pushy messaging.
Offloading social selling to a VA with copywriting experience helps. They can find the right prospects with whom to strike up a conversation and craft comments that are both helpful and persuasive.
Data Collection
Collecting data is a necessary component of outbound lead generation. You need to gather information about potential customers so you can segment them and tailor your message.
There are several ways to collect data, including customer surveys, social media research, and website analytics. All of these methods require time and effort, which is why it’s often best to outsource them to a VA.
A VA with experience in data collection will know how to properly segment your audience and collect the right information. They can also help you develop targeted messages that are more likely to resonate with your audience.
PPC Campaign Maintenance
To ensure that your pay-per-click campaigns are delivering the results you want, you must have a daily cadence of maintenance tasks to help you check if your ads are running as they should. Checking PPC campaigns is tedious, though, which is why you can offload this to a virtual assistant.
Let your assistant check your ad budgets, monitor keywords, and check your key performance indicators. An experienced content marketing VA will track your monthly ad spend, allocate the budget to the right devices, monitor keywords for anomalies, and watch out for sudden spikes in cost or other fluctuations.
Outbound is Easier with a Content Marketing VA
Outbound lead generation is a necessary part of marketing a business, yet it is also time-consuming. If you’d like to focus on building strategy and other high-impact tasks, without letting go of lead generation, offloading tasks is your best option.
Delegate your tedious yet necessary tasks to a Wing Assistant. Our content marketing VAs will take things like cold calling and emailing, social selling, data collection, and PPC maintenance off your plate. Book a call today and learn more about how Wing VAs help you do more of what matters!
Aya is Wing Assistant’s blog manager. When she’s not wrangling content briefs, editing article drafts and handling on-page SEO, she is crafting messages for Wing’s other communication materials. Aya writes about SaaS startups, marketing for startups, search engine optimization, and pop culture.
