According to research by the DMA, 17% of marketers are not using telemarketing. You may be one of them. But have you ever wondered why almost 90% of your competitors use the phone in marketing programs?
So here’s the top 5 reasons your rivals use B2B Telemarketing:
1. To collect consent (opt-in) for further marketing
Currently just 19% of your rivals use telemarketing to get consent. But as the EU Data Regulation makes opt-in a legal requirement next year, this figure is surely set to rise.An online ‘tick box’ consent form will get anything from 0.5% to 3% opt-in. Your competitors use telemarketing and get up to 15% opt-in. The reason? Objection handling. A good telemarketing agent can convince a prospect of the benefits better than any tick box.
2. To broadcast content marketing
Why limit yourself to distributing your white papers, blogs and infographics just through email? Currently 64% of your competitors use telemarketing to update prospects on relevant and interesting knowledge material. Are you one of the 35% that don’t? Content helps position your rivals as experts, giving prospects greater confidence and respect in their opinion – and therefore in their proposition.
3. To generate leads and appointments
Telemarketing requires greater investment than some digital channels, but the ROI is impressive. This research shows that it delivers $11 worth of revenue for every $1 spent. So there is little surprise that 84% of marketers use it for lead generation and 79% use it for appointment setting. This takes them as far as confirming the prospect has Need and Authority, but how do they check Budget and Timescale?
4. To BANT qualify sales leads
BANT qualified leads are people who have Budget, Authority, Need and Timescale. The best way to confirm BANT? Telemarketing. A resounding 79% of B2B marketing executives said it was either effective or very effective for BANT confirmation.
Just 9% said it was either ineffective or very ineffective for BANT, which begs the question “Are they doing it right?”
5. To nurture leads until they are ‘ready to buy’
So what do your rivals do if their prospect doesn’t have budget or timescale? They nurture. Over two-thirds of marketing departments use the telephone to nurture leads. It’s not difficult to understand why. Telemarketing has human interaction, so it makes prospects feel valued – an important part of the nurturing process.
Now that you have seen why and how your competitors use telemarketing maybe it’s time to review where it’s placed on your marketing schedule.
GET out there. We can help. Grindstone, Inc. B2B Telemarketing