Get your shovels ready and start digging a grave. Outbound marketing is dead.

That’s what industry experts have been saying for years, isn’t it? There’s not much it can do for us and it’s not worth the cost. So, why should we care about it? The question really isn’t how can we use outbound marketing, it’s how have we have been using it as part of an integrated marketing strategy.

Sometimes you need to cast a wide net in order to find the consumers interested in your business. In a sea of potential customers, companies need to make themselves known. According to top IT executives, 75% said they’d decided to attend an event or take an appointment after having received a call or email. The good news is it’s easy to harness outbound marketing techniques and add them to existing inbound marketing strategies to build a rock solid approach.

What is Outbound Marketing?

We’ve all made a big fuss about inbound marketing, but what’s considered outbound marketing? That radio jingle that seems like it’s been playing on repeat all afternoon? Those promotional email blasts that entice people to check out a website or landing page? Those are all considered outbound marketing. Press releases, newspaper advertisements, trade shows, websites, blog posts, and newsletters are all additional tried and true examples that most of us are familiar with. Some approaches will always be stronger than others, but there’s still a lot of value to be considered with outbound marketing.

Why Does Outbound Marketing Works?

Has a commercial ever enticed someone to buy something or even research a company? How about attending a trade show or getting an email? Sure it has and it has for years! Otherwise companies wouldn’t be spending the big bucks to do so. Organizations will spend as much as 90% of their marketing budgets on outbound marketing.

Outbound marketing humanizes a brand and makes them more approachable. It also gives prospective customers a chance to hear about a company and inspires them to take the next step. Still unconvinced? 94% of adults aged 25 and older listen to the radio on a daily basis and 44% of email recipients made at least one purchase last year based on a promotional email. This is just a small taste of what outbound marketing can do for a company.

Inbound and Outbound: How They Work Together

Stop pitting inbound marketing and outbound marketing against each other! Experts will say one works better than the other, but they won’t bother to mention that they both can be supported by each other. Staying on top of trends isn’t the most important thing a marketer can do; learning how they can make a marketing strategy stronger is.

Now that we agree both inbound and outbound marketing is important (right??), what’s the next step? Take a look at an approach and figure out where the pieces fit together. Bring customers in through outbound marketing and seal the deal with inbound marketing.
Outbound marketing is just one part of having an integrated marketing strategy for your business. Building upon what you already have to make it stronger is one of the smartest things you can do as a marketer. Profits grow faster once you create the right balance.

What do you think about outbound marketing? Is there something we missed? Share with us or tweet us.