The most important thing your company needs in order to sell products and generate profit is a buyer.
Both inbound marketing and cold calling can help you do this task. These two methods are some of the most effective strategies to help your business grow.
What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is the practice of producing content that helps customers organically find your brand.
By producing webpages, blog posts, social media posts, videos, podcasts, and other forms of content, you will get your prospect’s attention and make them interested in your business.
This approach delivers warm prospects to sales and converts leads into customers. Inbound marketing puts focus on the customer’s relationship with your business first.
What is cold calling?
Cold calling is one of the oldest and most common forms of marketing for salespeople and is the exact opposite of inbound marketing.
It refers to the solicitation of a potential customer who had no prior interaction with your business. You pick up a phone, dial a number and try to convince the other person on the line to take interest in your product.
You can also do in-person visits, such as with door-to-door salespeople.
Cold calling takes a more proactive approach to marketing.
Difference between inbound marketing and cold calling
Cold calling is the classic method of pitching, promoting and pushing prospects to pay attention to your products and services.
Inbound marketing, on the other hand, gives the customers more control over their purchase decisions.
Both methods can be extremely helpful in your business. But if you are confused about which strategy to choose, here is a list of differences between the two that you should consider.
Defined list of warm prospects
In inbound marketing, consumers are the ones reaching out to you. They find your product or service through the internet, and contact your team for consultation. You have an established relationship with each lead in this approach. This leads you to have a more engaging conversation every call.
Cold calling, however, involves interacting with an individual who does not have a prior connection with your business, hence why it’s cold.
Generating warm prospects in this approach requires you to have a good script, dedicated team and credible lead source. But with patience and perseverance, you may be able to gain interested buyers for your product.
Consumer’s interest in your product
Inbound marketing assures that you already have an interested customer when you take a call. These consumers are already aware of the product or service you are selling and are only contacting you for consultation.
Additionally, publishing high-quality content that consumers can see online heightens a client’s curiosity in your product, prompting them to seek you out.
On the other hand, cold calling requires your team to make an effort to get a customer interested.
Your salespeople should know how to communicate clearly and effectively with your clients so you can get them to notice your business.
To be able to succeed in cold-calling, your team should be persistent and willing to endure repeated rejection. You should also prepare by researching the demographics and demands of your target market.
Less burnout for employees
Inbound marketing relies on your employees producing immersive and helpful content for customers. It allows your team to practice their creativity instead of spending hours attached to a phone.
Experts say that it takes at least 15-17 months to gain massive interest towards your product if you are using inbound marketing.
Cold calling, on the other hand, needs your employees to be able to talk to people in a concise manner that grabs their attention and makes them want to buy your product.
In cold calling, once you are connected to the right person, it does not take long to be able to close a deal. However, it is very time consuming.
If you are expected to make at least 100 calls a day, then that amounts to at least 8 hours of being on the phone, assuming that a phone call lasts for five to ten minutes.
Inbound marketing and cold calling can help a lot in attracting customers’ interest in your product. Whatever you choose to use, make sure to always take into consideration the best method that could benefit your clients, your employees and your overall brand.
