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The traditional marketing strategy relies on chasing "cold leads" - directing advertising materials to an audience who has not necessarily expressed interest in your business's offerings, using methods like cold calling and door to door marketing campaigns. This technique is also known as outbound marketing. Although outbound marketing can produce some sales, the conversion rate is generally low while the costs are relatively high.
In contrast, using a B2B inbound marketing strategy can help you build relationships with qualified leads before they come to you for your products. This strategy can help businesses operating on a wide range of advertising budgets, and it's increasingly expected by both business clients and consumer customers.
The Problem with Outbound Marketing
Although still appropriate in some cases, there are numerous problems with traditional marketing, both in financial terms and in the way it shapes your interaction with leads and clients. In a sense, outbound marketing requires you to basically harass clients to make a sale by knocking on doors and making calls until you convince someone to purchase.
Perhaps the biggest problem with outbound marketing is the amount of resources it uses in relation to the number of qualified leads reached. Because outbound marketing does not discriminate between people who have expressed interest and meet qualifications, versus people who are not interested or qualified, that responsibility is left up to the sales team.
At the same time, both businesses and consumers are becoming increasingly skeptical of and uninterested in traditional marketing techniques. In an age where every high-profile businesses has a website, social media, and a multiplatform marketing strategy, clients have come to expect that companies make an effort to connect with them online by providing content that interests them.
Inbound Marketing Basics
Inbound marketing is any technique which reaches potential clients with your message so that clients come ask you for your service or product. Examples include:
The goal of all of these techniques is to entice customers to contact you about your product or service. These leads are much more likely to be qualified, and can be passed on to your sale team once they are vetted, thus saving resources in that arena.
So, how does B2B inbound marketing encourage leads to reach out to you about your products and services? B2B inbound marketing takes a different angle than traditional marketing strategies. While it's appropriate to focus mainly on products when making a cold call or running a print advertisement, B2B inbound marketing outlets like social media and blogging allow your business to build a relationship with your audience.
Your goal is to provide information that your company is in a unique place to provide, thus building trust and thought leadership in your industry. In contrast, if your potential clients don't get information they need from you, they'll get it from a company who is using B2B inbound marketing to its fullest potential.
What a B2B Inbound Marketing Agency Does
A B2B inbound marketing agency's job is to shape and run your B2B inbound marketing campaign. This may include running social media pages like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn; Facebook advertising; blogging; email marketing; and Google Adwords.
Hiring an Agency
World Source Tech provides comprehensive web design and inbound marketing services. Our experts would be happy to speak with you about developing a B2B inbound marketing strategy for your business. To learn more, please give us a call at 616-419-5515 or Request a Call.
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