Master Your Outbound Marketing Strategy for B2B Success

If inbound works well, why do outbound B2B marketing? The answer is there isn’t a better option if you want to reach more people in less time. Moreover, you can’t put all your eggs in one basket in today’s scenario. In a recent study, 68% of marketers said outbound strategies delivered the best leads. So, it certainly has potential.

Besides, if other business owners you know aren’t doing outbound marketing like they used to, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t improvise. With the right outbound marketing strategy for B2B, you can win big in 2024.

In this blog post, we bring you some fresh ideas and practical steps on how to revitalize your outbound B2B marketing strategy.

What Is an Outbound B2B Marketing Strategy?

In a nutshell, outbound marketing is proactively starting a conversation with your target audience. However, the old school ‘spray and pray’ outbound approach is well and truly dead. Today, you need to have a targeted list of businesses that closely fit your ICP before you can do anything else.

If you’ve done your market research, you should already know the audience like the back of your hand. But there’s more to it than that. You need to slice and dice this list into segments based on market share, product range, sales revenue, competitors, growth plans, and leadership profile. This will help you make the first move.

Why? Studies show that the majority of B2B buyer journeys begin online before the conversation moves offline. So, some of the principles you’d use to build an outbound B2B marketing strategy aren’t all that different from inbound.

For example, you need to personalize your value proposition to the needs of the buyer, and you need to create effective content that drives engagement and conversion. The key is to leverage both to boost marketing performance and accelerate the B2B sales cycle.

For example, using email marketing, display ads, and social media to uplift core outbound strategies like cold calling, event marketing, and direct mail.

Before we discuss strategies, let’s discuss some of the biggest challenges with outbound B2B marketing in 2023 and show you how they are opportunities in disguise.

Outbound B2B Marketing Strategy: Putting Challenges into Perspective

As a marketer, you need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of any strategy before making campaign decisions. Here’s a fresh perspective on some common inbound marketing challenges.

1. Outbound marketing is expensive

The cost of trade shows and TV ads has been increasing over the years. Many businesses prefer inbound marketing for this reason. The truth is you can leverage email and social media to balance the costs of outbound campaigns.

2. Outbound ROI attribution is difficult

The truth is outbound attribution can be much simpler through the right systems and processes. For example, by integrating CRM and marketing automation, testing different attribution models, and using custom deal tracking.

3. Outbound marketing is intrusive

Outbound marketing is unsolicited and often repetitive. However, you can leverage inbound marketing best practices like opt-in email lists, segmentation and personalization, and multi-channel campaigns (SMS, social media) to deliver a better experience.

Read also: Your Inbound Marketing Guide with Stages and Strategy

How To Create an Effective Outbound B2B Marketing Strategy?

Your approach to outbound B2B marketing must keep up with the times. Here are some tried and tested strategies and tips on using them effectively.

1. Cold calling

Cold calling cannot be spray-and-pray – not if you want the right leads. The key is to create realistic ICPs and use segmentation to identify prospects’ pain points. This will help you personalize your messages for each segment. Make sure your sales agents understand customer needs and allow them to deviate from the script when the situation calls for it.

Remember, it’s the human touch that makes cold calling effective. Leverage B2B marketing automation to streamline follow-ups and meetings.

2. Cold emails

According to a study, the average open rate for cold emails is 36% for B2B. However, the key to driving conversions is clarity – from your subject line and opening line to the copy. It needs to be solution-oriented. Use a spam checker to remove spam words and back up your claims with testimonials instead.

Perfecting the CTA is worth every bit of effort. Leverage A/B testing to measure their effectiveness. Don’t send a thousand emails on Day 1, instead warm up your email gradually. This keeps your sender reputation intact.

3. Direct mail

Direct mail can give you a leg up over spam blockers and create a personal connection with prospects. However, don’t treat your mailing list any differently from your email list. It should be cleaned, updated, and segmented in much the same way. Stick to best practices when it comes to the design and layout.

Including multiple CTAs can distract subscribers, so make sure you A/B test different sizes and placements before you decide.

4. Trade shows and events

Trade shows and events provide an excellent platform for B2B marketers to engage with potential customers, gauge their interest, and demonstrate solutions. To get the most out of your investment, start promoting your participation via social media well before the event.

Leverage automation so you don’t miss out on any valuable leads. Also, make sure you have an attractive booth with interactive elements and that your sales reps are fully prepped for presentations and one-on-one interactions. Lastly, make sure you feed all leads into your CRM and start nurturing them as soon as possible.

5. Paid search ads

Search ads can be seen on search result pages when users look for various products. The key to improving targeting is to research the target audience and keyword trends continuously. Use A/B testing to optimize your offer, CTA, and copy – one element at a time. While you’re at it, check for the same issues on your landing page, too.

Using a landing page builder like EngageBay can help save time and effort while increasing conversions. Also, use automated bidding only if you have figured out the right budget, or you may end up spending more than you need to.

6. Video ads

If you aren’t using video ads, you’re missing out on a ton of leads. You can take advantage of algorithms to drive views. For example, YouTube forces viewers to watch the first few seconds of a video before allowing them to skip. If you can use a strong hook and optimize for mobile viewing, chances are that the user will watch the entire video.

Make sure to add keywords in the titles, descriptions, and tags to attract more views. Don’t forget to track engagement and conversions. It can bring you better returns over time.

7. Social media ads

Social media ads can get your business in front of the right audience thanks to extensive targeting options. Experts recommend using the phrase match (based on keyword meaning) option to reach high-intent users. If you want to reach a wider audience, you can go with a broad match (searches relating to your keyword).

You can also build custom audiences on LinkedIn and Facebook to retarget engaged users and move them toward conversion. You can also boost organic posts to get more traffic.

8. TV and radio advertising

TV and radio ads seem to have lost their appeal, but it depends on the demographic you’re targeting. If your target audience is older, you can expect better reach. It can even help you engage with younger audiences. Studies show that ad spending on TV and radio advertising increased 7.8% in 2022 compared to the previous year.

The reason for this is that digital saturation is increasing while traditional channels today are less crowded. Besides, the arrival of on-demand and over-the-top services has opened up new opportunities for marketers. By using cross-channel strategies and measuring campaign performance, you can better exploit the potential of traditional media.

9. Print ads

Print ads have dropped down the list of priorities for marketers. However, combine it with digital ads, and your ROI could go up 400%. Experts recommend creating a dedicated landing page for your print campaign. You can then add a QR code with which to direct traffic to the landing page and other social media channels.

Once there, you can invite users to opt-in for direct mail in return for a discount.

10. Account-based marketing

You can probably 10X the effectiveness of your outbound marketing strategy for B2B by adopting Account Based Marketing (ABM). For one, it allows you to combine marketing and sales insights to get deeper insights. You can then provide personalized content across multiple channels to drive engagement.

This will naturally require the integration of CRM with marketing automation tools as you refine your approach over time.

Read also: Maximizing Inbound Marketing Automation for Exponential Growth

Why Invest in Inbound and Outbound Marketing Both?

Using a mix of strategies reduces risk and helps drive consistent sales. Integrating inbound and outbound marketing can deliver cost and efficiency benefits, as explained below.

1. Close more sales, faster

According to a study, a combination of inbound and outbound strategies can increase conversions by 67%. While outbound B2B marketing drives increases brand awareness and qualifies leads, inbound marketing nurtures them to conversion. Integrating both strategies can increase conversion opportunities across the sales funnel.

2. Optimize marketing budgets and increase ROI

Inbound marketing efforts can take time to show results. Outbound marketing campaigns can fill the gap by generating qualified leads. With time, as inbound campaigns start paying off, you can use outbound selectively to target high-value leads (ABM), reducing overall marketing costs.

3. B2B buyers are receptive to outreach

B2B buyers spend time researching the market for alternatives before they contact marketing or sales. However, if you can identify their needs and approach them early in the decision-making process (not yet ‘in-market’), chances are they will engage.

The key micro-moments to look for include downloads of industry reports, webinar registrations, email opt-ins, social media comments, etc.

Read also: The Circle of Marketing — A Guide to the Marketing Lifecycle

How To Integrate Inbound and Outbound Marketing with Your Sales Funnel?

The goal of integrating inbound and outbound strategies is to leverage the relative strengths of both while minimizing their weaknesses. Here are some ideas to get you started.

The first step is to review your existing sales funnel to learn how customers typically engage with your brand. This will help you understand when and where to use either of the two strategies. At the top of the funnel, you can use inbound strategies to attract and educate new leads.

Once you have collected lead data, you can add them to an email or social media outreach campaign. Since the prospect is familiar with you, it’s safe to send them promotional content.

Create multi-purpose content that can be used for both inbound and outbound. You can then use it across platforms. For example, you can share snippets from industry reports or case studies on social media with a link to the relevant landing page. It can then be used by either marketing or sales. The key is keeping track of engagement and conversion rates so that you can optimize over time.

When creating content, make sure you consider the needs of not just the economic buyer but also the decision-makers. The economic buyer may control the funds (CEO, CFO), but it is the decision maker who has the final say.

For example, let’s say you are a Sales Development Representative (SDR) for a sales enablement software company. Your content should be written for the sales manager in charge of frontline teams and not the CEO.

Researching your audience helps you identify the decision-makers and economic buyers. Use those insights to draw up your ICPs and leverage analytics to understand their needs better. This will ensure that when you approach them, your message is relevant and timely. As they continue to engage with you, they will move deeper into your inbound funnel.  

You might not hear back right away from the people you’re targeting. However, you will have given them a taste of your content, and the next time they think about you, they’ll look up your website or social media.

Remember, outbound is a short-term strategy, while inbound nurtures visitors and builds relationships with them over the long term. Create your inbound content before starting to run outbound campaigns. The messaging should be consistent across both channels for a seamless customer experience.

Read also: Outbound Marketing Tips to (re)Brand your Company

Conclusion

Integrating outbound and inbound marketing gives you the best of both worlds. It can even be a cost-cutting opportunity as you can repurpose inbound content for your outreach efforts. However, integrated marketing requires integrated systems that can bring sales and marketing together.

EngageBay automates your sales funnel across channels while giving you actionable insights. It can help you hit the ground running with integrated marketing, and there’s a free plan with lifetime validity. Why not give it a try?