In part one of this two-part blog series, we explored the benefits of using multiple channels to increase marketing ROI. From increased engagement, and higher conversion rates, to the misconceptions and advantages of telemarketing, we delved into how multiple marketing channels can work together to nurture potential customers, build trust and ultimately generate revenue.
 
Now we’re going to look at how telemarketing can be integrated with other marketing channels to maximise opportunities. Let’s dive in…

Deeper customer engagement

Telemarketing alone can be a powerful tool, but integrated with other activities, it can accelerate your business’s marketing efforts, deepen customer engagement and increase sales. Though often seen as an invasive channel, speaking to a decision maker on the phone can help build trust and rapport, ensure you fully understand your prospect’s pain points, and make an authentic human connection. All of this ensures that your potential customer is actively engaged, and therefore more likely to take action.

Accelerated lead generation.

A very simple way to integrate telemarketing is by using a phone call to follow up on an email, social media, or direct mail campaign. A phone call is harder to ignore and provides the opportunity to address any issues or concerns the prospect may have, smoothing the path to purchase. Through an early conversation, you can also glean additional information and insights to influence the customer’s journey going forward. With a clear understanding of their interests and pain points, you can then tailor your proposition and message across future communications, highlighting benefits that are most relevant to them.

Strategic sales development

A data-led channel, telemarketing can be targeted strategically to extend your reach into new markets and deepen existing market penetration. Perhaps you sell software that’s best known for its use in the healthcare sector, but you’re branching out with a product designed for retail. It can be hard to change perceptions, and it can take a long time to nurture new customers. By bringing telemarketing into your marketing mix, you can target your outreach strategically and use the dynamic nature of a live conversation to position your brand and present a tailored proposition.

Data and insight

We all know the importance of good data because, after all, there’s no point marketing to the wrong target audience. By integrating telemarketing within your marketing strategy, you can be sure that the data you have is accurate and up-to-date, and you can gather insight into what that your customer is looking for. You can cleanse your data, validate decision maker contacts and enhance data records, capturing email opt-ins and deepening prospect insight, for example. With a solid data foundation and a clearer understanding of your prospect, you are better placed to target the right audience, with the right message across all your marketing channels.

Lead qualification and nurture

Digital marketing strategies often generate a large volume of leads, which is a great starting point. But you really need to get to know those leads to ensure your marketing efforts aren’t going to be wasted. The insight gleaned through a phone conversation helps you identify which prospects are the right fit and ensures that you are actively marketing to qualified leads, increasing your chances of conversion and long-term sustainable business.
 
There are many potential customers reading your content, downloading whitepapers and engaging with you at different points in the buying cycle. Telemarketing can bring your best prospects to the surface, nudge them in the right direction and encourage them to take the next step. It is an excellent tool to bridge the marketing to sale journey.

Lead management

Similarly, if you’re overwhelmed by leads and enquiries at the very start of the marketing funnel, initial telephone qualification can quickly tell you how engaged each prospect is and ensure your best prospects are prioritised. With limited resources internally, a specialist lead management agency, with bespoke systems and a systematic approach, can quickly convert large volumes of inbound leads to a steady flow of qualified leads for your team to nurture through to sale. Not only does this avoid lead backlog and wasted sales resource, but good prospects also receive a timely and complete response, which is more likely to lead to conversion.

Data-driven marketing

To truly measure success, you need to track and analyse data across all marketing channels. The granular insight provided through phone qualification can help identify your best lead sources and ensure you are making data-driven decisions for future marketing activities. Using phone surveys also you can drill down to understand what is behind the trends and behaviours you see in large volumes of data from your digital sources, so you truly know your audience. This qualitative data and anecdotal evidence can help build a solid picture of your organisation’s target markets and personas to inform your future targeting strategy.

If you’ve got questions about how to integrate telemarketing into the mix, or whether you think it’s right for your business, get in touch with us today.

For more tips on how to integrate telemarketing within your multi-channel marketing strategy, download our ‘How To Guide’

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