Outbound lead generation is a technique of engaging with potential customers who may or may not be aware of your service or product. It's a way for companies to get their name out there, increase brand visibility, and get in touch with potential customers.
The outbound process often involves making
outbound calls or initiating any other form of contact with a target audience with the goal to generate interest in the company. Once the interest is established, the lead can then be introduced into the outbound sales funnel.
There are different modes of communication that companies rely on to reach their target audience. This could include phone calls, social media, emailing, direct mail, and more.
Usually, outbound lead generation is carried out either by the marketing team or
the sales team. Mostly, however, both teams need to work in tandem to get the desired results.
Let's have a brief look at each team's role in an outbound strategy.
Outbound Marketing Team Outbound marketing is a more traditional approach to pushing the brand message out to potential customers.
Any marketing team working on outbound facilitates the communication that helps companies get to potential customers and generate new leads. This team usually consists of the following two entities of marketers:
- Campaign marketers. These marketers are responsible for running promotional campaigns through the use of various marketing channels, such as print media, TV, radio, and so on.
- Performance marketers. They manage paid advertising campaigns, usually on social media or search engines, along with brand marketing.
Outbound Sales Team The outbound sales team goes through a similar process as the marketing team.
For them, the primary goal is to seek out the target audience and use outbound communication methods to strategically guide them through the sales funnel until they make a purchase.
This communication process occurs through a series of follow-up calls and emails, negotiations, demos, and attempts to close the sale. The idea is for the sales team to offer the prospect a solution to a problem that currently exists for them. Much of this is done by the
Business Development Representatives of a company.
Put simply, the goal of the sales team is to turn potential
leads into prospects. In order to do that effectively, the sales team has to be thoroughly educated on the product.
They also need to be highly creative in their solutions to truly draw the potential buyer in and turn them into a paying customer.