Outbound lead generation gets a bad rap too often. Cold calls can seem spammy to some, and out-of-the-blue emails run a real risk of landing up unread or moved to the trash right away. Not ideal. But that doesn’t mean you should neglect outbound lead gen. It can be really effective when it’s done well.
That’s exactly what we’re going to help you do here. In this article, we’re sharing 5 lead gen tips to take your outbound efforts to the next level. 🙌
What is outbound lead generation?
You probably already know what outbound lead gen is, so we’re not going to dwell too long on the definition. But just to set the scene, here’s what it’s about (and how it differs from inbound lead generation).
As the name suggests, outbound is all about going out to find your ideal customer, engaging with them, and encouraging them to act—to call you, to book a demo, to buy something. It’s often more tactical and targeted than inbound marketing, and ideally, your sales team should be pre-qualifying certain leads so that they fit the bill.
The lead generation process starts by finding out where your target market 'lives' on the web.
- Wayne Davis
Types of outbound lead generation include:
- Cold emailing
- Cold calling
- Social media messaging
- Direct mail
- Display advertising
How is outbound different from inbound lead gen?
Well, inbound lead gen requires you to draw leads in by attracting them with a relevant piece of content or information. Leads arrive when the time suits them and via the channel of their choosing.
Types of inbound lead generation include:
- SEO
- Content marketing
- Blogging
- Organic social media posts
While both outbound and inbound share the same objective (generating leads and creating demand), the approaches are very different. Outbound is typically campaign-based, while inbound is often an ongoing process. In a way, outbound lead gen is about making your company and offering more visible.
Visibility plays a crucial role in attracting and engaging members in the world of community building.
A visible community not only helps in expanding its reach but also establishes credibility, fosters collaboration, and strengthens member relationships.
To enhance community visibility, community builders employ both inbound and outbound growth strategies.
-Sam Adekunle
5 outbound lead generation strategies & tips you need to know
1. Personalize everything (not just your emails)
According to MailChimp, the average email open rate hovers around the 20% mark. However, emails with personalized subject lines can generate 50% higher open rates—that’s a serious boost.
And 82% of marketers have reported increased open rates when personalizing emails, compared to generic emails. It's way too easy to delete a generic sales pitch email.
The case for personalizing cold emails is strong—but you mustn’t stop there.
You need to consider every step of the interaction with your prospect, from the initial outreach to your final pitch. Make the whole thing feel unique as if you’re talking only to them.
Whether it’s in a call, an email, a LinkedIn message, a landing page, adding a personal touch will go a long way. You should even be personalizing your calls to action. Adding personalization converts 202% better than non-personalized messages.
Does individualizing all of this content sound overwhelming? Not to worry. It doesn’t have to be the monstrous copy-and-paste chore you might imagine it to be.
With the Magical App, you can painlessly tick off all your lead generation to-dos in seconds. Refine your best messages, add variables for personalization, and save your templates as easy-to-access shortcuts. Simply type // and choose the message you want to send. Magical will automatically fill variables with key information such as recipient name and company. Generating leads—and personalizing them—has never been so easy.
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Read more: What’s the best cold email subject line?
2. Automate to dominate
Here’s the deal: effective outbound lead gen requires organization and attention to detail. Impeccably kept records are a must. But keeping a ship-shape CRM can be time-consuming, and manual data entry is repetitive and draining.
The answer? Automation. If you’re not using technology to automate tasks and hack your productivity, you’re wasting time, plain and simple.
Take Magical, for example. Our app can autofill form fields in an instant. New records can be created anywhere, from internal sales software to CRMs and spreadsheets, with as little as two keystrokes and a click. And the result is more time spent engaging with the people behind those records, which means converting more leads to customers.
Read more: Your introduction to task automation
3. Warm-up to cold calling 📞
Cold calling might make you feel like a used car salesman. But, if done right, it can work remarkably well.
Don’t believe us? Just look at these stats:
- 69% of buyers have accepted cold calls from new providers, according to Crunchbase
- And 82% of buyers take meetings with sellers who proactively reach out, according to RAIN Group
However, as we’ve already touched upon above, the key to this particular outbound activity is organization and personalization. The person on the other end of the line needs to feel like this call is for them and only them. And depending on what you’re selling, that can be tricky!
According to Gartner, the typical buyer group for a complex B2B solution is between 6 and 10 key decision-makers. That’s why to keep your call on track and your lead engaged, it’s helpful if you can pull names, notes, and call scripts on the fly. And with the right info at your fingertips, you can effortlessly answer queries and overcome objections.
The Magical App lets you do this and more. It helps you access and personalize winning call scripts—and even share them with your colleagues so that your whole sales team is in the loop.
4. Don’t sleep on LinkedIn
59% of B2B marketers say they generate leads on LinkedIn. If you’re one of the 41% who doesn’t, that needs to end now.
Of course, that doesn’t mean you need to drop everything and spend hours scrolling through social media (even if it is for work!). Instead, with the right LinkedIn automation tools, you can streamline your prospecting and automate your messaging, and all without veering into the murky world of spam.
For instance, by adding the Magical App to your box of tricks, you can painlessly complete lead generation by auto-populating spreadsheets from LinkedIn in seconds.
And those seconds saved can add up to seven hours a week, which equals more than 15 days saved every year!
5. Be ready to respond ASAP
If you’ve been working in outbound for a while, you’ll know that a lead that’s only a few days old is often far more valuable than one that’s a few weeks old. Everything is fresher in the prospect’s mind, making them more open to a follow-up call or email to push things forward.
However, if you don’t respond quickly enough, you could lose your lead to a competitor after you’ve planted the seed that they need what you’re selling.
Making your prospects feel like they have an exclusive membership in a club makes lead generation a positive customer experience.
- Eric Bower
An agile sales workflow is crucial for a successful outbound lead gen campaign. You can’t spend days agonizing over the next step—it has to be locked and loaded.
That’s why sales teams around the world use Magical. Our app just works, with no integrations required for your favorite CRM or sales tools. Meanwhile, prospecting workflows are completed in seconds (without the constant need for copying and pasting), and it can be used across the web, from LinkedIn to ZoomInfo and beyond.
Ready to sell on easy mode? Add Magical to Chrome for free today.
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