Lead generation is a primary goal for every marketing team. Every marketing channel either falls into the bucket of inbound or outbound lead generation, but it can be confusing telling the two apart. You should understand the key differences between inbound and outbound lead gen just as a basic marketing principle.
In a nutshell, the difference between inbound & outbound lead generation is who approaches who first to form a relationship between buyer and brand. This article will help you learn about the difference between inbound and outbound lead gen by covering the essentials of both.
Inbound lead gen involves a prospect coming to you organically and seeking to engage with your sales team.. Inbound leads actively engage with your brand by visiting your site, providing information, filling out a form, or otherwise taking steps to learn more about you.
If you’re wondering about SEO, it plays a large part in Inbound lead generation, as many of these leads will find you via Google Search. One of the best ways to increase inbound leads is by improving SEO. Strategically ranking in Google searches and improving your organic search performance will help you attract inbound leads to your site.
Outbound lead gen is when your brand reaches out to buyers first to form a relationship. It’s a more proactive method of generating leads compared to inbound. Outbound lead gen interrupts the person’s day and grabs their attention to encourage them to look further into your brand. In this scenario, you are doing the asking and trying to get prospects to respond.
Outbound gen aims to get prospects engaging with your brand. When done right, outbound gen can increase your chance that a prospect will seek a sales demo or opt to interact with your brand in a deeper way.
Generating leads through both inbound and outbound lead gen is essential to help your brand reach your target audience. If you are ever confused as to whether a lead generation channel is inbound or outbound, ask yourself if the buyer has to perform an action in order to engage with you. If they have to fill out a form, click a button, or do anything else in order to get in contact with you, then that’s an inbound lead generation channel. Remember, the difference between inbound and outbound lead generation is who approaches who first.
Some buyers are actively searching for solutions, and building inbound channels helps you appear where those buyers are looking. Other buyers aren’t actively searching, or they’re searching in the wrong places. That’s where outbound channels help you target those buyers and steer them towards your solution.
