Telemarketing Calls and Internet Marketing Are a Profitable Combination

Telemarketing has earned a bad reputation, but its gained a powerful ally: the Web. Using Internet responses to generate lists for telemarketing calls can freshen up those old call lists and help businesses reach a relevant audience. Together, telemarketing calls and Internet marketing make a powerful team, one truly greater than the sum of its parts.

Modern technology has increased the range of outreach options available to marketers. E-mail, instant messaging, and Internet offers are part of the new generation of techniques that have joined the ranks of established methods such as direct mail and telemarketing. Rather than rendering the old methodologies obsolete, these new techniques can work hand-in-hand with them. For example, the Internet is a great source for telemarketing leads.

Using Internet response leads to generate a telemarketing list can help overcome some of the challenges inherent in both telemarketing and Internet marketing, making each one more effective.

Teaming Internet Offers with Telemarketing Calls

The Internet is great at generating short-term interest. By linking advertisements, offers, quizzes, and polls to related topics, Internet marketing can find a relevant audience and elicit a spur-of-the-moment response. Where this can come up short is in follow-through. With just a click, the Internet audience can easily move onto other things, so turning casual interest into buying behavior is a key challenge.

As for telemarketing sales, the traditional value of getting a customer speaking one-on-one with a salesperson remains. However, the barriers to having that kind of conversation have been raised. Do-not-call-lists, call screening, and consumer wariness in the face of increased telemarketing volume have all made it more difficult to find a receptive audience.

Internet offers and telemarketing calls work well together because each addresses the others weakness. Following up an Internet response with a phone call can help focus passing curiosity into genuine consideration of a value proposition. At the same time, having an audience that has actively expressed interest in a subject, product, or service via the Internet can provide the interest needed to connect with a subsequent telemarketing call.

Pros and Cons of Making Telemarketing Calls Based on Internet Response Lists

There are two sides to every coin, even with a winning marketing combination like this.

Pros:

• Freshness. Having a list of people who have recently expressed an interest in a related area is certainly more promising than making telemarketing calls to a completely cold list of names
• Relevancy. Depending on the type of response elicited, and where it was placed, marketers can define the list around relevant audience characteristics
• Permission to call. Internet responses that are structured to include a permission to make follow-up calls help overcome legal restrictions and customer elusiveness
• Introduction of new data. Any telemarketing list can quickly feel stale and picked-over. Information received from Internet responses can add new data, often not available from public directories

Cons:

• Limited shelf life. A response to a specific offer or subject matter may be very time-sensitive. The more time that passes before a follow call is made, the colder the lead will become
• Inaccurate data. Internet responses are made up of self-reported data, and thus highly susceptible to inaccuracies

Longer-Term Benefits of Using Internet Response Lists for Telemarketing Sales

While far from perfect, Internet response lists can help identify a potential audience and pave the way for subsequent telemarketing calls. Besides capitalizing on an immediate opportunity, using Internet responses to freshen up and hone telemarketing lists can provide an even more productive foundation for future calls.

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