Nowadays, a common question that we get from clients is whether outbound efforts work. They talk about the noise in the market, often associated with more traditional marketing tactics - some would even say dated. Well,

“Lousy outbound doesn’t work, but well-designed efforts work as well or better than they ever have.”

With changes in technology and buying patterns, the trends are not always constant over time. At early stages, changes are often accelerating and may appear exponential. Later, as the trend runs its course, these changes tend to decelerate and may even reverse direction. This is why lead generation marketers should be focusing on the overall lead generation mix than centering on just one or two specific tactics. The key is to figure out where the noise is and to remain at a calmer spot for better traction.

Over the years, a lot has changed, especially the shift in buying patterns brought about by the internet and digital marketing in particular. This change has too invited everyone, and now the place seems crowded. This is why engaging in a mix of inbound and outbound lead generation activities to fill their sales pipeline is of vital importance.

Only Outbound or Inbound today should just no longer be the focus of your lead generation efforts. View it instead as a powerful augmentation to shore up the holes in your inbound strategy. Your inbound program can warm up many of your these cold calls by analyzing the engagement, allowing you to call out to a list of people whom you know have been interacting with your content, even if only marginally.

The focus should be on overall lead generation and not on a single tactic. If the overall goal is to get more leads, the balanced lead generation mix approach is a smart approach to get more leads. As long as the channel is not obsolete, it can still be operational. Outbound on its own delivers increasingly diminishing returns. Hence, it has to be a part of the lead generation mix, but then how much? And how? You need to figure out based on the effectiveness of each method.