While some execs consider telemarketing as a rather unimportant spoke in the marketing wheel, organizations looking to make a splash in their markets know better. With right execution, telemarketing services can bridge the gap between company and customer in ways that have only recently been realized.
Telemarketing Services: In-house or Outsource?
For businesses struggling with telemarketing department resource expenditures, some consider outsourcing the entire process to a third-party vendor. Folio blogger Jill Ambroz takes on the eternal question: should telemarketing services be kept in-house or outsourced to specialized telemarketing companies?
- More Activities, More Personnel. There's just not enough help in-house to run a successful campaign
- Too Much Overhead. Staffing, recording software, hiring costs, training, QA, and floor management--it all adds up
- The Control Factor. Outsourcing removes some level of control over campaigns, but that could be a good thing
Telemarketing in the Numbers
One way to create a savvy telemarketing strategy is to look at the industry as a whole. Statistics, trends and "what the other guy is doing" can provide valuable guidance. Marketing Profs Research Insight's report B-to-B Marketing in 2008: Trends in Strategies and Spending questioned C-level executives about the part telemarketing plays in their total marketing strategies.
- 23 percent increase in internal telemarketing
- 42 percent increase in public relations
- 55 percent use telemarketing tactics
Top Telemarketing Tips for 2009
Because the telemarketing industry is in a state of constant flux, new trends and best-practices continue to materialize. Getting in on the latest operations enables businesses to meet the needs of their customers in unique ways. Isogon Marketing Ltd. discusses several new techniques that telemarketing companies will utilize in the coming year to improve success rates.
- Customer Profiling. Using CRM to create an avatar of the customer for custom messaging
- Unified Strategies. Putting employees on a level playing field with respect to communication tools
- Encouraging Interaction. Giving customers reasons to contact the company unsolicited
Telemarketing Services Meet Social Media
There's little doubt that the social media buzz is affecting every aspect of marketing--telemarketing included. But just how does social media marketing fit into the puzzle? Louis Columbus, CRM Buyer columnist and former senior analyst with AMR Research, reveals how the power of social media marketing can energize a telemarketing campaign.
Columbus believes that the "thin and wide" approach to reaching customers is no longer a viable option. With social media, telemarketing companies can get a clearer picture of the personality and buying habits of the clients they court. As a result, "focused and deep" has the potential to yield significantly improved results across the board. Social media marketing technologies are user-generated, a sure sign of the personal interaction that customers desire.
Telemarketing companies offer B2B and B2C companies a collection of unique communication opportunities. The key to taking advantage of them is to determine total market strategy and designate the activities that telemarketing services can fulfill.
Sources
CRM Buyer
Folio
Isogon Marketing Ltd Network
MarketingProfs (PDF)