Outbound Marketing: Inbound’s Ugly Uncle

Has the glory and glitz of gorgeous websites, viral podcasts and vanity videos distracted us from the proven promise of outbound marketing?

Inbound Marketing’s Appeal

Inbound marketing feels good! It’s permission-based and non-invasive, meaning people choose to interact with us. And it makes us all stars — who doesn’t get a boost seeing their perfectly filtered headshots on brilliant ads and invitations?

Inbound marketing is sexy. It lures customers to us through platforms, content and experiences, making us feel attractive, desirable. Close your eyes and conjure your favorite websites, reflect on your recent social media interaction, or imagine yourself speaking at a convention podium. It’s all heady stuff.

Inbound marketing takes many forms (blogs, ebooks, whitepapers, etc.), surfs various channels (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn) and appears at popular events (trade shows, podcasts, webinars, etc.) but it essentially serves one purpose — to attract people to us.

Constant Contact compares inbound marketing to a guest at a party who “gracefully joins in with an easygoing nature, serving refreshments, and slowly works to build trust with everyone present before engaging in conversation.”

Underrated Outbound

Outbound marketing, however, was described in that same article as a partygoer who “interjects into conversations, disrupting the light-hearted atmosphere.” If you had to choose, the article continues, you’re probably more likely to engage with the “graceful” partygoer. Ouch!

Outbound marketing is a strategy where you proactively reach out to prospects — often through traditional channels — to get them interested in your product or service. The goal is to push your message to prospects, rather than to pull them to you.

Outbound marketing can feel more challenging and uncomfortable than inbound, but done right, it can make you a popular partygoer.

Let’s reconsider that “interjecting” partygoer. How many times have we been at an event where we felt disengaged, perhaps even bored with meaningless conversation and superficial interactions? But then the life of the party walks in, locking eyes with us, connecting with us about topics that matter, making us feel like we’re the only person in the room. That’s what outbound done right feels like.

Get Personal

When you invest in learning a person’s circumstances you can have meaningful conversations. That’s one of the reasons referrals so often convert to clients: you know that prospect’s problems before you meet them and you show up with custom solutions.

Retail marketing has known this secret for years. Retail giant Target made news more than a decade ago when it successfully predicted which customers were pregnant and sent coupons on related items. Urban legend has it some of these women discovered they were pregnant because of Target! And, of course, since then we’ve all happily shared enough personal data with Amazon that it can tell us when to repurchase our vitamins and suggest the pant size that will fit us best.

What might have seemed creepy to GenX is an expectation for younger generations. In a 2024 article, Forbes reported that 81% of customers surveyed prefer companies that offer a personalized experience, and 70% say it’s important for a company to know who they are and their history. According to Hubspot 94% of marketers say personalization boosts sales, and 72% of them use AI for personalization.

Advanced Tech for the Personal Touch

It might feel counterintuitive, but the best tech creates opportunities for personal interaction. Because it can quickly and accurately assess data, AI can suggest people who match everything from your hiring criteria to your love connections. And because AI efficiently and painlessly performs tedious tasks like these, it keeps your calendar clear and your attitude positive so you can pleasantly engage with those people.

Today’s wealth tech features impressive platforms that identify and profile ideal prospects for financial advisors. Advanced tools, including artificial intelligence and machine learning, are capable of scraping and analyzing vast data sets and delivering them in digestible formats. The power of prospect development was officially recognized earlier this year on Kitces’ tech map with the addition of WEALTHAWK. It was deemed so revolutionary “it pushed us to create a new category on the map,” said Craig Iskowitz as he introduced the new Prospecting category on his Wealth Tech Today podcast.

WEALTHAWK uses AI to assess, sort and make sense of big data because algorithms are more efficient at this task than humans, and, importantly, most people dislike this type of work.

We give financial advisors a great place to start, but where you go is up to you.

While we can connect you with someone who needs your help and even suggest the best way to approach them, people make decisions about their financial advisors based on trust and rapport. Your job ​​requires a high degree of personalization and customization; a deep understanding of the individual needs of your client.

So let WEALTHAWK connect you to the data so you can connect with the people who need you.