How To Integrate Telemarketing With Other B2B Lead Generation Methods – #2 Website

How To Integrate Telemarketing With Other B2B Lead Generation Methods – #2 Website:from Business 2 Community by Patrick McDaniel

In the world of telemarketing, there will always be the occasional clash with online marketing advocates. No doubt the developments in IT and communications have really broadened the capacity of businesses to engage their market. However, trying to pit the old against the new is to set yourself up for false dilemmas and narrow your perspective. Aside from the usual debates of email marketing versus telemarketing, you also have those who say website marketing is a better, newer, and less disruptive approach.
Below is list of common reasons (with one particularly exclusive to B2B software):

• It’s inbound-oriented – The reason why it’s not disruptive is that you’re using the internet to broadcast your company’s image, gain massive exposure, and attract potential clients to your business instead of your people going into their inboxes or telephones.
• Being searched already marks interest – A site that is well-optimized with the right use of keywords will show up when people search. And when people search, it means that they’re really in the market for your product. That alone already indicates a good chance that they’ll take interest in your ERP software.
• Websites work well with online-based services – This applies really well to those who have decided to offer B2B software systems in the cloud. The very nature of your service automatically demands that your site has a strong online presence.
• It’s offers a clearer way to educate your audience – Online content is supposed to be informative. And thus, a business site obviously must inform your client on the basics of what you’re offering.

There’s no doubt that those are some impressive advantages over telemarketing. The latter has long been decried as disruptive, persistent, and conversations can be too short to be as informative. On the other hand, website marketing is not without weaknesses either (with these same weaknesses stemming directly from their strengths). Like all inbound-type approaches, there’s always a danger of inactivity when there’s not a lot of people giving your site attention. The task of SEO is also not without its own challenges because your site is just one of the hundreds of others out there competing for search engine rankings. Some people would also prefer just talking to you directly than interacting with a website (even if you are an online service). Furthermore, interacting with a website itself can waste your prospect’s precious time. A decision maker has more important things that they’d rather do than read pages upon pages of content.
Just like email though, telemarketing can be used together with websites to overcome those obstacles. Phone calls may be too short but it can help in calling the attention of your prospects to your website when SEO is not working too well. Opening yourself to phone inquires allows you to be flexible towards the many possible preferences your incoming prospects might have. Finally, websites need not bombard the prospect with too much information but giving them the option to call allows that call to give them that information at their own pace. In the end, it might even set you up for successful appointment setting. Again, software lead generation need not be limited to just one approach. Improve both methods by integrating them together!