Nearly all marketers rely on email campaigns for lead generation and awareness. Email campaigns provide an easy, cost-effective and measurable way to reach B2B and medtech prospects. Today’s email and marketing automation platforms, from MailChimp and Constant Contact to Eloqua, HubSpot and Pardot, equip marketers with sophisticated capabilities for targeting, personalization and tracking.
But, even digital campaigns have their limits. That’s where integrating outbound calling with email marketing can help.
Benefits of a multichannel approach
Combining outbound calling and email marketing doubles down on lead generation results for medtech and B2B marketers.
Targeting the same audience with email and outbound calling is the perfect way to:
- Increase brand awareness
- Boost response rates
- Generate qualified leads
- Keep your sales pipeline full
Calling can support a multichannel marketing strategy with outbound calling before, during or after an email campaign.
Four ways outbound calling supports B2B email campaigns
1. Expand your list.
Before your email campaign begins, use outbound calling to expand your B2B or medtech list with new opt-in email addresses. Calling can also verify names, titles and roles to make sure your message and offer reach the right individuals within the organization.
This is a smart practice whether you’re using a purchased list or working from the names within your existing CRM or sales database. B2B data decays quickly without regular maintenance as individuals change jobs and contact info. A professional call center can tackle this type of project with a quick turnaround so you can keep your in-house sales team focused on closing sales.
2. Gather market intelligence.
The more you know about your audiences and their day-to-day challenges, the more you can personalize and target your approach. Instead of one generic email, for example, you can customize several email versions that speak to various audience segments or pain points.
Outbound calling before your campaign can provide this market intelligence. Callers gather information by asking smart questions to profile the companies in your list, from purchase timeframes and key pain points to competitor products in use. This data fuels stronger email marketing efforts and improves your results.
3. Generate more leads.
During your email campaign, you can use outbound calling to boost response rates and generate more qualified leads. With calling, you create a multichannel sequence of touchpoints. For example, your customers and prospects receive an email on day 1, a follow-up call on day 3 and a successive email on day 5. This multichannel communication helps break through the clutter of a busy inbox and reinforce your message.
We used this approach recently with Trane, a major HVAC manufacturer. Our B2B outbound calling substantially increased both their campaign ROI and the number of qualified leads produced. Only 1 in 3 customers recalled receiving the original email; our follow-up calls made sure the manufacturer met its sales goals.
4. Support account-based marketing (ABM) initiatives.
ABM initiatives combine online content, email marketing and occasional outbound calling, all to nurture relationships with key accounts. The best ABM programs feature tailored messages based on each individual’s digital behaviors, as well as prompt responses when prospects reach certain stages.
Often, it’s challenging for in-house sales teams to juggle all these activities along with their regular sales duties. An outbound calling program can reach out proactively when these important accounts reach certain stages. These warm conversations about the company’s needs can quickly produce qualified opportunities for the internal sales team to move to closed sales.
Start small and scale up quickly
Getting started with a combination of outbound calling and email campaigns is not difficult. It can be as simple as creating a pilot program with a specific product or across a single sales territory. Once you demonstrate results with a small proof of concept, you can expand your calling program across more customer and prospects segments.
Leveraging the talents of an outsourced, professional contact center provides a springboard for your efforts. Companies like Volkart May which specialize in B2B and healthcare calling not only provide experienced resources at the ready, but can share tips and techniques honed from decades of outbound calling experience.
Best practices for email and calling campaigns
As you combine outbound calling with your next email campaign, follow these best practices:
- Align your message across your email and phone channels for a consistent and memorable approach.
- Integrate all your responses into the same CRM or sales database for efficient campaign tracking.
- Create a two-way conversation in your calling by making sure callers never “read” your email content or sound scripted.
- Start planning several weeks before your email campaign deploys to allow all partners time to coordinate their efforts.
- Maintain regular communication between outbound calling and email marketing teams across the full lifecycle of the campaign.
Ready to optimize results with your digital campaigns? We can help. Contact us to near more about our proven process and 30 years of exceptional results.
