Businesses are about people. What incentivizes, motivates, and attracts them, and solves their pains?

With that said, businesses can be only successful if they are capable of inspiring and attracting individuals.

However, the process of attracting people toward your product and service and then converting these interested visitors into paying customers is called lead generation.

Leads are of two types, outbound leads and inbound leads. To generate both kinds of leads the methods are different.

As a business owner, marketer, or salesperson knowing about both types is necessary as it shapes your lead generation strategy.

Today this blog will give you the proper understanding of inbound leads vs outbound leads, their examples, and key differences. So that whatever you choose will benefit your business according to your goals and budget.

What is an inbound lead?

Inbound leads are prospects or potential customers that find you organically. Unlike outbound leads, customers reach out to you through various online channels including social media and business websites.

The main difference between outbound and inbound leads is, that inbound leads do not require outreach efforts.

Recommended: 9 ways to generate leads from social media

Example of inbound lead

Assume a potential customer in the United States searches online for "blog writing services" and comes across your blog article with recommendations for how to increase traffic from SEO-optimized blogs. This person, intrigued by your knowledge, fills out a contact form on your website to learn more about your services, and there, an inbound lead is formed.

A must-read: How to increase your organic reach?

What is an outbound lead?

On the other hand, outbound leads require outreach efforts. It's like you reached out to the potential client and provided some value to initiate communication with them.

Your sales team without waiting for the potential customers to come to you, contacts the qualified leads through cold emailing, cold calling, targeted advertisement, cold DMs, and direct emails.

Learn more: Why should you outsource cold emailing tasks to virtual assistants?

Example of outbound lead

Assume you manage a digital marketing agency that targets small businesses in the United States. You decide to send out a targeted email campaign giving a free consultation on increasing internet exposure.

The recipient of the email, impressed by your personalized approach, reacts positively and indicates interest in learning more about your services. And Bingo, an outbound lead is formed.

Well with above mentioned examples it’s clear that both outbound and inbound leads are different, but understanding the key differences will help you in generating more leads.

Inbound leads vs. Outbound leads. Key differences

Both inbound and outbound methods are here for you to generate more leads, that can be converted into paying customers. But they both have different approaches and are different in many aspects.

Let's discover the key differences between both of them.

Origin

The first and basic difference between inbound and outbound leads is their origin. An inbound lead is initiated by the potential customer organically. However, in the outbound lead generation, you or your marketing virtual assistant team outreach to the potential prospect and try to attract them by giving pure value.

Quality

If we compare the quality between outbound leads vs. inbound leads, the latter is higher in quality as the organic things are always best. The inbound leads are already interested in your product and offerings so there are more chances to convert them into customers.

On the other hand, outbound leads require more effort and nurturing for conversion.

HubSpot research indicates that inbound leads convert at a rate of 14.6%, compared to just 1.7% for outbound leads.

Cost

The cost of inbound vs outbound leads is the main difference. Inbound leads are less costly as they are generated through organic ways. Whereas outbound leads require constant outreach efforts, more labor, and tools. Like in cold emailing you need specialized virtual assistants for cold DMs, cold emails, and cold calling.

Recommended Reading: How to maximize your cold calling efforts?

Timings

Inbound and outbound leads also have different timings. Organic and inbound leads are mostly coming at prospects convince and schedule whereas outbound leads are scheduled according to the company’s timing.

However, companies should research potential customers' schedules, and timing and convince them to get the most out of the outreach efforts.

Targeting

Another difference between inbound and outbound leads is the scope of targeting. Inbound leads usually have a wider target audience whereas outbound leads require more research to identify the companies and CEOs that you want them to become your customer.

Inbound leads generally appeal to a larger audience based on common features or interests.

For example, a fitness equipment manufacturer may generate material about wellness, workouts, and nutrition to attract new fitness clients.

While this content may appeal to a diverse group of people interested in health and fitness, the corporation may have little direct control over which individuals or demographics engage with it or become leads.

Factors to consider when choosing between inbound and outbound lead

Well, when choosing between inbound vs outbound leads, some factors can affect your business strategies. However, for all kinds of businesses, the mix of the approach is beneficial for growth and revenue.

Industry or Target Audience

Your industry trends or business niche decides what to choose between inbound and outbound leads.

Businesses that are in B2B mode can rely on inbound marketing. While construction companies will get more benefits from outbound outreach.

It is co-related with the target audience. Construction companies have an audience usually homeowners, contractors, offices, or building owners. This kind of audience is less active on online platforms and has some concerns that should be communicated at a personal level.

Whereas some businesses have audiences that are highly active online, they become satisfied when they are educated and entertained through online content.

Related: Types of content marketing. What should you choose?

Budget

Budget is the most crucial factor when choosing between inbound vs outbound leads.

Inbound marketing requires long-term investment in content marketing, social media marketing, and SEO of the website. You need to capitalize to nurture the inbound leads through educational, entertaining, and inspirational content.

Whereas outbound leads require more budget at once to reach the prospects who don’t know about your business. Methods like direct mail, advertising, cold emailing, cold calling, and organizing events require more budget upfront as they require more labor and tools.

Relevant: How to maximize your cold calling efforts?

Goals

Business goals would also decide whether to choose between outbound vs inbound leads.

If your main objective is to build connections inspire the audience, and generate leads and sales gradually, then inbound leads are made for you.

But if you want to generate more leads quickly then outbound leads generation methods are the best option.

Conclusion

Inbound leads and outbound leads are two different approaches to acquiring more sales. Inbound leads can be captured through blog posts, valuable content, eBooks, and newsletters.

However, outbound leads focus on direct tactics like cold emailing, cold calling, direct messages, and email marketing.

Both inbound and outbound leads have their own benefits for the businesses when considering various factors and do in the right way.

Whether you want to generate quicker leads or invest in the long-term game of lead generation, you need a focused and expert team to build your business strategy from scratch.

A professional team will conduct market research and audience analysis, then develop a strategy for lead generation methods tailored to your specific needs. Remember, the key to both types of lead generation is personalization.

So if you are ready to generate leads with the tailored approach, then book your free consultation here.