While advances in technology have streamlined many of the processes we use on a day to day basis, marketing remains a challenging activity, one which requires a human touch to produce truly effective results. There is no fully-automated, one-size-fits-all method of lead generation; working with a strong agency partner via outsourcing, therefore, has manifold benefits for just about any business, particularly those dealing with the already fast-paced world of IT. So why should you consider outsourcing your lead generation?
The Top Ten Benefits of Outsourcing Lead Generation
According to Marketing Sherpa, seven out of ten businesses find generating leads challenging—so much so that they say it’s their top challenge. Marketing Sherpa also found that outsourced lead generation yields 43% better results than in-house. The numbers speak for themselves, but why is this the case? The ten points below paint a clear picture of why outsourced lead generation is so beneficial to a company:
1. Outsourcing leads to a more cohesive, organized effort. Companies who try to handle these activities in-house often have many different people responsible for different aspects of the lead generation process. These people don’t always communicate with each other effectively, leading to many missed opportunities.
2. Outsourcing leads to better follow-up. Companies often attend various online and offline events to generate leads, but as there is no true strategy for the businesses to use when following up on their efforts there, many of the contacts they make at these events never develop into true leads.
3. Outsourcing relies on much more diversified channels for lead generation. Often in-house lead generation is funnelled through just one channel, such as telemarketing or direct email marketing (often through the exact same channel as that which is used by the competition, creating a lot of “static”). If a company is using multiple channels, they often fail to deliver the same message across all of them. By contrast, when you outsource, you will generate leads through multiple channels in a focused, cohesive way.
4. Outsourcing certain lead-generating activities, such as telemarketing and appointment setting, greatly improve the morale of your employees (most people absolutely hate to cold call, for instance). Forcing the people who work for you to do something they hate doing is a fast way to plummet morale in the workplace. Likewise, people are seldom effective at doing something they cannot stand to do, meaning that you will have much better telemarketing results if you outsource the activity.
5. Outsourcing lead generation actually saves your business money. It frees up more time for your teams to do what they are best at and focus on the business itself, and on working with existing leads. Likewise, people won’t be wasting their time going to fruitless events and pointless meetings with the wrong prospects. This results in better efficiency overall and higher profits. On top of that, better lead generation leads to more revenues, and outsourcing the work means that you don’t have to hire on a full-time specialist to handle these tasks. Outsourcing lead generation pays for itself, and then some.
6. Outsourcing means that lead generation will be handled by someone with experience. In-house lead generation is often unloaded onto someone who lacks a great deal of experience, such as a junior salesperson.
7. Outsourcing means better research and more correct targeting. When you outsource, the lead generation team will research each potential lead in-depth, ascertaining whether they need what your business offers or not, and ensuring that your company will wind up talking to whoever makes the buying decision in the other firm. You will always have access to the latest, more relevant data.
8. Outsourcing lead generation gives your business the freedom to scale up or scale down its lead generation activities easily, without becoming disorganized in the process. Your business can adapt to do more or less lead generating, depending on its needs at the time.
9. Outsourcing means a better content strategy and campaign creation. As the saying goes, “All great marketing starts with a conversation.” A dedicated agency can help you develop the content of that conversation, creating meaningful strategies to guide prospects down the path to becoming verified leads. Agencies will also create clear campaigns and ensure strong campaign execution from beginning to end.
10. Outsourcing frees up space. Because your lead generation activities are taking place off-site, you’ll have more room on-site to use for other purposes. As space costs, this also saves your business money over the long run.
