Can Your Business Handle a Mixed-Marketing Approach?

Marketing is an ever-changing entity. At different times, different approaches will be more relevant than others.

One thing marketers are beginning to realize, however, is that the integration of varied approaches is the key to any successful marketing campaign. While a mix of social media marketing, direct mail and telemarketing might work for a particular target audience, email marketing might be the best option for another.

The question every marketer must always ask is what approach works best in a particular situation. In order to answer that question it is vital to remember that no matter what the type—digital, email, inbound, outbound—it is all marketing.

Some prospects or leads will respond best to the human touch while others are active on social media. The biggest mistake marketers can make is to always be looking to jump on the latest marketing craze, regardless if it is relevant to their target audience. That’s not to say new marketing techniques don’t have their place, but sometimes the tried-and-true marketing techniques are the most effective.

What most marketers will tell you is that a mix of the old and the new is often the best way to go. If you are focusing on lead generation, consider approaching a lead through direct mail piece. Follow that piece up with a phone call from a professional telemarketer experienced in lead generation. The next step will be dictated by that conversation. Maybe a prospect would like to check out your website or connect with you on Facebook. Maybe that prospect would like a call back in a few weeks.

This approach is the best way to go because customers and prospects today want to be in charge of how they are approached. After all, their only real interest in your marketing campaign is how it relates to them. In light of this fact, offline and online approaches usually work best.

Marketers must also have the ability to assess the success of every marketing touch to see which one works best for each particular customer or prospect. If a customer never responds to offers on your website but when he or she is called, always reorders, you now know what to do. This illustrates the importance of having a flexible marketing approach that changes to meet each and every customer’s particular preference.

If your marketing department is not up to the challenge of marrying the old with the new and pinpointing exactly which marketing technique works best for a particular customer, prospect or target audience, your bottom line will suffer. That’s because you will be losing sales to businesses that have marketing departments that are up to the challenge.

Successful Outbound Telemarketing Campaigns Follow the Latest Trends

Outbound telemarketing remains an excellent way for B2B and B2C marketers to generate sales leads in an atmosphere where social media and other digital marketing methods seem to reign supreme. The fact that outbound telemarketing is holding its own, however, isn’t just a matter of luck. Instead, the telemarketing industry has worked hard and done an excellent job of evolving and keeping up with the times.

The best telemarketing firms, in order to remain relevant and effective, stay up-to-date on industry trends. These telemarketing firms then update the methods they use to identify prospects. They also update their scripts to reflect these trends.

These efforts ensure that a quality telemarketing firm will help make the marketing efforts of its clients as successful as possible. Equally important, data collected through each telemarketing campaign is used to make subsequent campaigns even more successful.

So what are some of the trends telemarketing firms can use to make sure they are connecting with sales leads in the most effective ways possible?

• Industry trends: Certain times of the year are important for different industries. For example, the auto industry is buzzing when the new model year cars come out. Major trade shows and conventions will be significant for different industries, as well. By being aware of when people in particular industries will be more receptive to particular sales pitches, you can be confident that there will be more sales conversions.
• Customer Trends: Black Friday, tax season, summer travel season, and back-to-school are all ideal times to contact consumers. Consumers who have particular products on their minds will be more responsive to hearing about those products.
• Regional Trends: Certain holidays or historical or religious events are more relevant in different parts of states or countries. Many states have unique and significant events that can be capitalized on, as well.

When outbound lead generation is too broad, a telemarketing campaign usually ends in failure. Therefore, it is essential that precise segmentation be used. The trends listed above allow telemarketing firms to identify the most promising leads.

Outbound telemarketing by trend is especially important when you consider that, in almost all cases, a few quality leads will always trump a greater number of unqualified leads. And filling your sales funnel with unqualified leads is a waste of your sales team’s time and can negatively affect your bottom line.