While we’re huge proponents of content marketing, we also believe in a holistic approach to marketing. After all, every business is different. The marketing tactics that work for one business may not work for yours (and vice-versa).

Believe it or not, but there is definitely still a time and a place for telephone marketing when it comes to lead generation. It’s important to recognise that this is not the “buy a list and cold-call” telemarketing of the 90s and early 00s. Instead, you’ll use telephone-based lead generation as part of your overall lead generation strategy.

Here are some ways you can use the phone to generate leads for your business:

Talk to Business Prospects
Cold-calling has a bad reputation thanks to a number of companies calling customers at home at inconvenient hours. However B2B telephone marketing can help you achieve many different goals. You can use it to build your prospect list, generate leads, and even close the deal.

Many business people are receptive to getting on a call as long as you can prove that you’re offering something beneficial and relevant to their business. Staff training and preparation is key to maximise the chances of success for telephone-based lead generation.

Provide a Human Touch
We all know that digital marketing is fresh, exciting, and effective. But many prospects still welcome a human connection. Getting on the phone can help make a potential client or customer feel valued, which can give your business an edge in a world where most people are communicating via email.

Enhance Content Marketing
Using the phone is a good way to enhance your other marketing techniques. By combining a number of methods, you can increase the overall effectiveness of your lead generation campaigns.

While telemarketing may sound like a dirty word to many content marketers, it integrates well with a number of other channels- including email marketing. When used in conjunction with a great landing page, content offer, and email, it can help you create a relationship with prospects and convert more prospects to leads.

Think Outside the Box
You don’t necessarily need to be speaking to prospects to convert them to leads. The average adult spends almost three hours on their smartphone each day. SMS marketing can be an excellent option, especially for B2C businesses. There are a number of platforms which allow you to see who’s opening your messages, who’s ignoring them, and which links they’re clicking.

Close Qualified Leads
Your sales funnel is designed to qualify your leads and move them through the buyer’s journey. Once they reach a point where they’re qualified, your marketing team can send them to your sales team who can call them at a time that suits them.

If this will be a part of your funnel, it may be worth consulting a paid telemarketing company. This allows you to try telemarketing to see if it’s a good choice for your business without the need to onboard and train staff for this purpose.

If you’re hoping to generate more qualified leads for your business, we can help. Get in touch today, and learn how we can create a lead generation strategy for you.