Inbound sales strategy focuses on attracting interested prospects to your business by encouraging them to interact with your content until they’re ready to take the next step (hopefully with your organization).
As an example, say you provide software as a service for elementary schools. You call the superintendent of a school district and provide a case study detailing how your other schools have been helped by your solution.
Even if they never have reached out to you, it may be because they are unaware of the benefits your solution provides. Once your prospects are aware of the pain points you can address, they will often be interested to learn more.
Outbound is perfect for breaking into new untapped markets. The prospects out there who have never heard of you are unlikely to end up on your inbound marketing list, so it’s often best to simply reach out to them directly.
So, which one is better?The answer is that both have their place.
Setting up an infrastructure and getting momentum going with inbound can be time consuming and expensive. You need a website with a strong SEO ranking, compelling blog posts, and a social media presence that promotes your site to new audiences. You also need a sales team that is perfectly aligned with your ideal buyer journey, which can be the toughest part.
Once that’s all in place, however, if you do it right, you’ll have a system that generates a steady stream of inbound leads on auto-pilot. Those leads that come in will also be already interested in your offering, so it can be a much easier close.
Outbound can involve more labor in terms of outreach, but there is much less setup on the front end. The key is conducting proper research on your prospect market, identifying pain points that resonate with your prospects, and outlining a descriptive “pitch” that details how your solution addresses those pain points. Also remember to not give up! Converting a prospect, or even entering them into the funnel, can take more touches than you think. Remember that you’re starting from scratch.
There are positives and negatives to both approaches. Ultimately, it’s best to employ both strategies to make sure you’re reaching all the prospects that you can.
We focus on outbound (the one with more leg work). Contact us to learn more about how we can take that off your plate.
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