Stop chasing cold leads and make customers come to you with B2B Inbound Marketing

Michael Weitzman • Sep 22, 2015

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:

  • Social media networks
  • Email marketing campaigns
  • Blogging
  • Pay-per-click campaigns

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.

Photo Credit

a woman in a blue jacket is holding a tablet in a server room .
By Michael Weitzman 04 Mar, 2024
Faster load times could increase lead gen.
04 Aug, 2023
Getting People to Take Action on Your Website Depends on a Compelling Call To Action...
By Michael Weitzman 04 Aug, 2023
Website speed and performance affect ratings and results.
By Michael Weitzman 12 Jun, 2023
Keep your project on pace with Hub: 3 Minute How To
By Michael Weitzman 22 May, 2023
How Done For You Kartra Services Might Help You Grow
By Michael Weitzman 08 Feb, 2023
Email Phishing Scams are On The Rise. Watch out for some of these tell tale signs.
By WST Dev Ops 18 Oct, 2022
Why Hosting With World Source Tech, is a better strategy for your business
By Michael Wetizman 11 Jun, 2022
By now, most small businesses are aware that marketing themselves on the internet is a key to success. It’s no secret that the majority of consumers look first to Google when actively searching for a product or service they are considering for purchase. But how does a small business owner achieve presence on the first page of google, how do they show up when customers search for products and services they provide, and once they do show up, then what?
By Michael Wetizman 11 Jun, 2022
Who is my ideal customer? Note: This is not your only customer, but think about your top 10 paying customers, what do they have in common - build a persona based on those common traits. This allows you to focus your efforts on the customer group that will bring you the most sales. What are the top five keyword phrases that my ideal customer would type into google to find what I have to offer? How do I want to show up when I show up on Google What will my google title (the blue link) say What will my description say What is my call to action Where will my customer go once they click on the ad The home page ? Try again! A specific landing page that matches the messaging and tone of the ad and continues to lead the prospect to becoming a lead by providing their contact info or a customer by completing the purchase. Your minimum goal is getting an email address How will I target customers who click my ads but take no action on their visit to the landing page This is where retargeting comes into play. A small snippet of code from Google, Facebook, and other ad platforms places a cookie on site visitors computer. If those visitors never made it to the “Thank you” page after completing a lead form or purchase, they can be shown ads later on down the road to remind them of you so they visit the website again. It can take up to 7 touches for a customer to engage a company so retargeting is very important. We’ll have an article just on retargeting for you shortly. What is my offer? What value am I offering to capture this lead’s information or consummate a sale. Sell the sizzle, not the steak! Why should I give you my name and email, what will I receive in return? Do I want to even receive that? Think about PDF guides, producing pricing that is not published, appointments, free reviews, or for product sales - discounts, specials, or limited edition offers. If you’re not into discounting your product, we get it - make it more exclusive by adding time restraints and vip access options instead. Another post on that to come. Once I capture lead information or a sale, what is my follow up process from there. How will you consummate the sale through this process? Is it a weekly or bi weekly email drip series with tips on the industry? Is it a free consultation? Is it a weekly video or podcast offered until they purchase? If they do purchase, what is the process to upgrade and / or cross sell the customer? What will be the funnel inputs? Where will the traffic come from? Here are some ideas, each will be linked shortly to articles with videos explaining how to use each platform to generate traffic into your funnel in detail. Google organic search Google Ads Email Marketing Facebook Posts Facebook Ads Instagram Ads LinkedIn Ads Blogger Outreach Posts What percentage of people who enter my funnel turn into leads...clients? eg: Click on your ad, will convert to becoming a lead. And of those leads, what percentage do you think will become a customer. Use our Ad Results Calculator to See Potential Performance Numbers from a Pay Per Click Ad Campaign. 2.6% is a good starting point for the conversion rate of new visitors to lead. From there, use your own (true, don’t just guess) of how many people you convert. Divide your total effort of proposals or meetings, etc by the number of sales you actually make * 100 to get this percentage). I will tell you now, it’s not 99%. Be conservative here so you will be more aggressive with your traffic generation efforts. Use this calculator to figure out how many customers you’ll get from your pay per click ad efforts in your funnel.
By Michael Weitzman 01 May, 2022
Site Comments is a feedback tool that enables you to request changes and updates on your site by clicking on any element and leaving us a comment. The entire review process is faster, clearer and more accurate, giving you the best service, faster go-live, and allowing more time to scale your business. It also eliminates the need for alternative methods of communication (such as email, messages, phone calls, etc.) and creates a single channel for receiving feedback and responding to it. See the videos below to learn how to use site comments!
Show More
Share by: