Multi-Channel Outbound Lead Generation Mastery

A pipeline of quality leads powers successful sales departments across all industries. Fresh, relevant, and easily convertible leads drive growth for every business, from small startups to multinational corporations.

New leads mean new customers, without whom growing your profits wouldn’t be possible.

Research has shown that actively pursuing lead generation strategies helps increase revenue for companies by as much as 133%. That’s a strong argument in favor of adopting lead generation tactics if you haven’t already.

Understanding how to identify and convert leads will drive sales long term and it’s best to create an effective multi-channel lead generation strategy if you want to close more deals this year. 

Inbound Leads vs. Outbound Leads

Your sales department will have two types of leads to work with: inbound and outbound. Don’t buy into claims that one is superior to the other. Both are equally valuable for your sales team.

The ideal lead generation strategy will combine a mix of inbound and outbound leads. Before learning how to master multi-channel lead generation, it’s essential to understand the differences between the two.

Inbound Leads

When a potential customer approaches your company through social media, your website’s contact form, or at a convention booth, they become an inbound lead for your sales team. It’s an organic way of letting customers find you through marketing efforts, advertising, and your brand reputation.

Outbound Leads

While inbound leads are already primed with curiosity and interest in your products or services, you can’t just rely on random people to discover your offerings. You need a more active method of reaching your target audience, which is where outbound lead generation comes in.

Outbound lead generation is faster than waiting for inbound leads to come to you. You can control exactly which demographics to target and the best way to lead them to your brand.

Grow Your Business with Outbound Lead Generation

If you want to see growth in your company’s sales figures, you will need an effective multi-channel outbound lead generation strategy. Depending on the profile of your ideal customer, you must decide on the best ways to initiate contact with them.

Outbound lead generation strategies will invariably include a mix of cold emails, cold calls, and LinkedIn networking, among others.

Here, we outline the best practices to maximize your lead generation efforts using these channels.

Email

An often underrated source of outbound leads, email can be very effective if you use it well.

First, you must avoid ending up in a recipient’s junk or spam folder. It’s important to tailor your mailing list to ensure you are contacting people who will find your pitch relevant to their interests or consumer needs.

Once you’ve identified the recipients that best fit your ideal customer profile, follow the tips below to increase your email’s effectiveness. These best practices will boost open rates and conversions:

• Optimize for mobile: In the current digital age, most people access their emails on their phones. Large blocks of text, slow-loading images, and outbound links can make your messages hard to read and, therefore, easier to overlook.
• Quality over quantity: Rather than contacting 5,000 people who may not even open your email, it’s more practical to streamline your list to 50 people who are likely to read your message and engage with it. Sending too many unopened emails will result in your email ID being flagged as spam. This is why doing thorough market research as you compile your mailing list is imperative.
• Personalize the content: Rather than a bland email template intended for mass sending, prospective customers react better to messages with a personal touch. It’s worth tailoring each email to its recipient to improve the likelihood of them responding.

LinkedIn

The way social media helps form connections has changed how companies and their customers interact. LinkedIn, as the social network for professionals, offers fresh opportunities for outbound lead generation.

It’s easier than ever to find interested people to make your sales pitch to through LinkedIn, especially for B2B sales. However, your first message to a prospective lead should still stand out among many others on a noisy social media platform.

Use the following tips to improve your company’s outbound lead generation through LinkedIn:

• Tailor your business profile: Your LinkedIn profile should reflect your brand’s authority in your industry. Leads who are curious about your message should be sold on the authenticity of your pitch based on what they see on your profile.
• Be visible: Your activity on LinkedIn is just as important as your profile. Join relevant conversations about industry-centric topics and network through groups.
• Interact with leads: Liking, commenting, and engaging with potential leads on LinkedIn will foster relationships. An established bond means potential customers and clients will entertain your pitch more seriously than if it came from someone they had never interacted with previously.

Cold Calling

A time-honored tradition in lead generation, cold calling remains one of the best ways to contact new customers. Having sales reps who can overcome the initial hostility every telemarketer faces and start a genuine conversation makes a difference between a successful and unsuccessful cold-calling campaign.

Ensure your sales team is thoroughly prepared before making cold calls to prospective leads. Increase each call’s effectiveness and draw in customers with the following tips:

• Open strong: Banal opening lines cause prospects to switch off from the conversation before it even begins. Cold callers need a strong script with an opening that hooks interest if they are to have success.
• Ask questions: When you express an interest in a prospective lead’s problems, they are more likely to listen and be converted to customers.
• Personalize your discussion: Cold calls should not follow a rigid script. Rather, each conversation should elicit maximum interest in your product according to the lead’s profile.