Using inbound vs. outbound lead is a dilemma that many sales professionals face. Both have their place. Learn which one is right for your first campaign.
Preparing for your first campaign often comes with many questions, some hesitations, and much indecision. For example, you may be confused about whether to choose between inbound vs. outbound lead generation. Know that you're not alone. It's an age-old question that has been at the center of many sales and marketing debates for years.
Essentially, inbound leads are the ones that come to you. Outbound leads are the ones you reach out to in an effort to appeal to them. Both have many advantages and disadvantages. Your budget, timeline, and the amount of resources you can allocate toward your campaign will often play a role in which one you choose. And in some cases, you may even choose to implement both.
An inbound lead is a person who shows an initial interest in your brand or product. They might visit your website frequently, sign up for your email newsletter, engage with you on social media, or share your content with their friends. They come to you because they're interested in something you offer, and they have the potential to become customers. You can generate inbound leads through practices like content marketing, social media marketing, SEO, referrals, hosting events, and video production.
One of the biggest benefits of inbound leads is that they're warm leads. They've already shown some interest in your business, so the chances of them converting to customers are higher. They're also more likely to convert at a faster rate, and they may even be willing to spend more money. Overall, they typically offer a better ROI and you tend to form stronger relationships with them as customers. And while it can take some time to make your inbound campaigns scalable, the more effort you invest, like creating high-quality content and incorporating SEO, the more scalable they may become.
On the other hand, inbound leads are not a quick path to prosperity. It takes some time to attract them. You must create high-quality content that resonates with your target audience, optimize it, and place it where it's accessible. It can take up to a year for SEO efforts to work. And because you're attempting to reach leads organically, it's unpredictable. If you are in a crowded niche, it can be difficult to stand out from your competition without some kind of outbound outreach. It can also limit your audience.
While inbound leads initiate contact with you, you initiate contact with outbound leads. You might do this through cold calls, emails, social media, outbound marketing, direct mail, or any other method in which you can introduce yourself to your target audience. You can find them through methods like conducting research, creating buyer personas, cold outreach campaigns, and using prospecting tools.
The good news is that you don't have to wait a year or even a month to see results with outbound leads. You can send out an email one day at 11 a.m. and receive a positive response before noon. It opens you up to a larger audience, and when you rely on tools like market research and buyer personas, you can practice direct targeting, which gives you more control over your messaging and your audience. It also helps you raise brand awareness, and it's easier to control scalability by simply increasing resources.
But outbound leads also have their challenges. Outbound campaigns can be expensive and require more time, money, and other resources, ranging from the need to hire more sales reps to the need to invest in more technology to help with prospecting. Working with cold leads typically means lower conversion rates. There's also the human aspect of it. Cold outreach comes with its fair share of rejection which can have a negative impact on your sales team over time. Leads may see your efforts as annoying or intrusive, which can hurt your brand.
So, which one is best for your first campaign? Unfortunately, there is no easy one-size-fits-all answer. You'll have to assess your unique business needs and goals.
The best place to start your assessment is by setting or looking at business goals. Do you want to make sales immediately? Outbound lead generation might be a better option. Do you have time to invest in long-term growth? You might consider inbound leads. If your budget is small and you can't invest in the tools needed to reach outbound leads, you might consider inbound as well.
You can also consider your business model and what you want it to look like. Are you interested in running extensive content marketing campaigns that typically generate inbound leads? Or do you prefer hiring a robust and talented sales team willing to focus on cold outreach?
Your target audience could play a role in which one you choose as well. If your audience is broad and doesn't fit well into any specific category, it might be best to focus on inbound leads who come to you. If you can narrow down your audience, create buyer personas, and target specific segments, outbound is often a better choice.
In some cases, you may decide you want to combine both inbound and outbound lead generation. A hybrid strategy can offer the best of both worlds, though keep in mind that you'll still need to make sure your efforts align with your goals and budget. There are many ways to incorporate both. For example, you can produce high-quality content for your blog, website, or social media followers but also use it in your cold email outreach.
If you do choose this approach, you could reach the widest possible audience. Just remember that it's important to keep your branding and messaging consistent across all channels.
Deciding between inbound vs. outbound leads for your first campaign often comes down to your time, budget, availability of resources, preferences, and the demographics of your target audience. Both types of lead generation have their pros and cons. Inbound leads are more likely to convert while outbound leads are quicker to access. Outbound lead generation also opens you up to a wider audience, while inbound lead generation typically leads to a higher ROI. Ultimately, you may decide that combining both strategies is the best practice for your business.
