Outbound Marketing: What It Is and When the Strategy Is the Best Option
Outbound Marketing might often be seen as synonymous with “traditional marketing,” but that doesn’t mean it’s obsolete today.
“If I’m already using Inbound Marketing, why should I care about Outbound?”
This is a question asked by many since 73% of marketing professionals use Inbound as their primary approach.
Let us show you why Outbound Marketing is crucial for filling gaps that other strategies leave unmet, besides generating faster results.
If you want to understand why this strategy is still necessary in 2025, see examples, and learn how it can be implemented, keep reading this article!
What is Outbound Marketing?
Imagine this situation:
You are walking through your city center, and suddenly, someone hands you a flyer about a lead generation company.
Later, when you get home, you come across a billboard advertising a Conversational Marketing company.
A few days later, while at work, you receive a phone call: “Good morning! This is Gustavo from Leadster.”
This is what Outbound Marketing is all about—also known as “Traditional Marketing” or Active Prospecting.
Outbound is an active process of searching for clients who fit the ideal customer profile.
Let’s explore some elements that encompass this strategy:
The 6 Steps of the Outbound Process
Contrary to popular belief, Outbound isn’t just for B2C companies aiming to drive consumers to stores with flyers.
B2B businesses can significantly benefit from this process due to their longer and more complex sales cycles.
Instead of focusing on billboards and flyers, B2B companies prioritize paid media and lead generation lists as active prospecting tools.
Here are the six steps of the Outbound process:
- Researching the lead;
- Active prospecting via phone, email, or social media;
- Connecting with the prospected lead;
- Qualifying the lead through filters and segmentation;
- Negotiating, if the lead matches the ideal client profile;
- Closing the deal.
What is the Difference Between Inbound and Outbound Marketing?
The key point that differentiates Inbound Marketing from Outbound Marketing is the “how”—not the “what” or “why,” but how the strategy to attract customers is developed.
Let me tell you upfront: neither strategy is inherently better or worse. They are complementary, as they address different needs of a business.
While Inbound Marketing, also known as Attraction Marketing, is a process designed to attract potential consumers through the dissemination of relevant content tailored to the brand’s personas,
Outbound Marketing is a more active process that interrupts the content being consumed by the user to present solutions and opportunities.
Check out more differences between these strategies in the infographic below:
The Y-Shaped Sales Funnel
You may already be familiar with the traditional sales funnel, which outlines the customer journey and shows how leads progress through education and maturity levels. In this model, all leads are treated equally, but they aren’t, right?
- Outbound Leads: Those who haven’t heard of your company but fit the buying profile identified by your sales intelligence team.
- Inbound Leads: Those who have engaged with your company (e.g., consuming content) but need qualification regarding their profile and buying stage.
This is where the Y-Shaped Sales Funnel comes into play.
Through it, you can tailor the sales pitch to each of these situations, until leads from different sources are aligned and ready to proceed with the sales process.
In the case of an Outbound lead, you will need to highlight the problems they already recognize, linking them to your company’s solutions and addressing any potential objections related to your brand.
On the other hand, Inbound leads may not even be aware of what they are going through, so it’s up to the salesperson to present the situation they are in, nurturing and educating the lead until the right moment to present the solutions.
Examples of Outbound Marketing
Here are some activities included in an Outbound Marketing strategy:
Active Prospecting: client prospecting is the foundation of many other Outbound actions. Through it, you seek out leads that fit within your Ideal Customer Profile (ICP). With contact information in hand, you can proceed with sales cadences (calls, emails, social media messages, etc.). Important! When collecting data for sales prospecting, always ensure your methods comply with LGPD regulations. Avoid practices such as purchasing lists, for example.
Cold Calling or Telemarketing: Cold calls are the classic telemarketing approach. With this action, you establish a closer and more personal connection with the client. Despite being a more traditional method, many people underestimate it, but a study by InsideSales found that 54% of B2B buyers stated that their last purchasing or service meeting was scheduled through a phone call.
Cold Mailing or Email Marketing: Cold mailing follows the same principle as cold calling but through email. For this approach to deliver results, you need to personalize, optimize, and make your messages unique—a generic template won’t suffice. To assist in this process, you can gather data from previously sent emails and analyze what works and what doesn’t. For example, an internal study by Reev revealed that emails without images or links convert better than those with them.
Social Selling: This involves building relationships with clients through social media. In this channel, you engage with consumers, nurture them, and simultaneously create brand recognition. The best platform to connect with clients is LinkedIn, especially for B2B, as the channel is already business-focused. However, it’s also important to be present on other platforms, such as Facebook and Instagram, particularly if your audience is active there.
Sales Through WhatsApp: A 2022 Statista survey showed that Brazil is the second country with the highest WhatsApp usage, with 147 million users. This means keeping your business active on this platform—prospecting, building relationships, and selling—can yield significant results. So, have in mind which articles for WhatsApp sales you can use!
Paid Media (Digital or Traditional): Leverage advertising to your advantage. You can reach users through traditional media (radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, etc.) or digital media (social media, Google, display networks, and more).
When and Why Should You Use Outbound?
Still not sure about Outbound Marketing? Let’s explore situations where this approach can benefit your business:
To Reach a Broad Audience
As we’ve seen above, the examples of Outbound Marketing aim to reach a larger audience, as it already operates in channels with more qualified leads. For this reason, the process of building relationships and improving brand recognition becomes easier and more effective.
Outbound Marketing excels in targeting larger audiences. For awareness campaigns, it’s an excellent choice.
When Starting an Inbound Strategy
Inbound Marketing strategies will attract users to your website and social networks, but they can take months (or even years!) to deliver concrete results.
To truly drive these leads and prompt them to take action, use Outbound Marketing in parallel.
For example:
Imagine your company has been running Instagram campaigns to educate your audience about B2B prospecting. That’s Inbound.
To drive results faster, integrate Outbound: invest in paid media to guide educated users to your products or services.
When You Need Quick and Predictable Results
The Outbound strategy, even though it requires a higher investment, delivers short-term ROI. This is because its actions target consumers whose ideal profile has already been identified by the company.
In other words, campaigns can bring in qualified leads in the short term and offer greater predictability compared to Inbound Marketing actions (in paid media, you can predict that an X investment will generate a Y result; in Inbound, this logic is not always so straightforward).
When You Have a Strong Sales Operation
Working with Outbound Marketing demands a well-structured sales team, equipped with the right tools to leverage sales opportunities effectively.
If your sales team is already established and understands the target audience well, Outbound is an excellent alternative to close more deals.
When You Have a Complex Product or Sales Process
If your sales flow is complex—meaning the lead doesn’t follow a straightforward, linear path but rather a winding one—Outbound Marketing might also be the best alternative.
A good example of a complex journey is B2B sales, which involve multiple decision-makers, simultaneous evaluations of various options, and a consultative approach.
In such cases, a more elaborate qualification process combined with a more active sales team approach can significantly enhance your commercial flow.
When There Is High Competition in Your Market
If you’re just starting in a highly competitive market with well-established players, reaching customers will be challenging, especially since competitors have likely been investing in SEO, organic traffic, content marketing, branding, and other strategies for a longer time.
Outbound can be a game-changer for your strategy. With it, you’ll reach consumers more assertively, build brand reputation, and generate results faster while working to gain traction in organic channels.
Companies Using Outbound Marketing – 3 Success Stories
To inspire you and demonstrate Outbound Marketing in practice, here are three success stories showcasing excellent results achieved through this strategy.
Stone
The fintech Stone has been introducing more and more innovations to the market through its Outbound strategies. But before we dive into their actions, let’s understand the company’s context.
Stone entered a highly competitive market with well-established players—the card machine industry. Competing against giants like Cielo, PagSeguro, Rede, and Getnet, Stone operates in a complex and consultative sales environment with multiple decision-makers and extensive research involved. To stand out, Stone invested in Outbound.
One notable action was its 2019 TV advertising campaign, “Pergunta pra quem tem” (Ask someone who has one), featuring a popular soap opera star. The goal was to increase brand awareness by reaching a massive audience.
Check out the 30-second ad here.
In 2021, Stone launched its largest marketing campaign yet, “Menos banco, mais negócio” (Less bank, more business), which aired during the debut of Domingão com Huck and the Fantástico show.
This campaign featured comedian Fábio Porchat and reached diverse audiences through traditional TV and digital platforms.
With this, we can observe that this campaign reached a large and diverse audience, as it spoke to people who watch more “family-oriented” programs by airing on Domingão do Huck, those who watch the news by appearing during Fantástico‘s commercial break, and also those coming from social media and YouTube by featuring the comedian.
This campaign aimed to highlight Stone’s differentiator by presenting less bureaucracy and setting itself apart from other fintechs, as seen here:
In 2023, Stone continued to innovate by sponsoring Big Brother Brasil 2023, replacing PicPay and reinforcing its presence in traditional media like television.
To meet the demand generated by awareness campaigns, product placement, and sponsorships, Stone also relies on an external prospecting and commercial relationship team operating across the entire country.
Alright, we’ve seen a lot of innovation and Outbound here, but what about the results?
Well, in the third quarter of 2022, Stone reported a net profit of R$ 162.5 million. This result marked an increase of 90.5% compared to the same period in 2021.
Following the release of these numbers, its shares surged by more than 12%, and its total revenue reached R$ 2.508 billion, showing an annual growth of 70.7%, surpassing the previously established plan.
Gympass / Wellz
Gympass, a corporate fitness platform, recently introduced a mental health service called Wellz.
The challenge here is to make companies recognize the value of this new service.
Mental health is a pressing issue for employees across various industries, but awareness and decision-making often lag.
Gympass employs an Outbound strategy to generate demand for Wellz, managing active prospecting contact lists and identifying gaps in other strategies to apply additional Outbound actions like cold mailing.
The results speak for themselves: during its pilot launch in April 2021, Wellz achieved an 11% adoption rate in its first month.
Doctoralia
Doctoralia connects healthcare professionals with patients in the digital space.
Outbound Marketing efforts include close negotiations with decision-makers via phone and WhatsApp, presenting services directly to healthcare providers.
Additionally, the company invests in in-person actions targeting clinics and practices unfamiliar with its platform.
Remember that Doctoralia is the largest healthcare platform in the world.
The platform operates in 13 countries and serves 53 million patients, in addition to facilitating over 7.5 million appointment bookings per month.
In Brazil alone, there are already 18 million unique users.
Outbound Strategies to Leverage in 2023
It’s clear that Outbound Marketing doesn’t have to be “traditional,” right?
To enhance your sales process further, here are five Outbound strategies worth investing in for 2023:
Omnichannel Approach
Think about it: if you, in your personal life, consume content and make purchases across multiple media channels, why should your company stick to just one?
It doesn’t make much sense, right?
That’s why the omnichannel approach is among the top marketing trends for 2023.
This strategy will help you connect with leads on their preferred channels and where they are most active.
Additionally, by investing in multiple channels, your reach expands, allowing you to target a larger audience and generate even greater results.
For example, there are people who communicate very effectively on LinkedIn but never access or respond to email marketing.
Account-Based Marketing (ABM)
ABM is a strategy focused on pre-defined accounts.
In other words, it is a process that first selects potential clients and then runs attraction campaigns to build a relationship with them.
With account-based marketing, you reduce the risk of showing your campaign to unqualified leads and act strategically to target the best clients.
Commercial Intelligence and Smart Leads
Commercial intelligence is essentially a team dedicated to collecting data on your entire market segment and product, which also provides your sales team with a list of smart leads—pre-qualified leads that fit the ideal customer profile.
Through this strategy, you actively prospect only the most qualified leads, increasing your conversion rate.
SPIN Selling
The SPIN Selling methodology was created in 1988 by Neil Rackham in his book “SPIN Selling: Achieving Sales Excellence.”
This strategy guides salespeople on the best questions to ask to understand the client’s situation and use the most effective sales approach.
With this guidance, the salesperson conducts negotiations gradually, helping the consumer conclude that the offered solution is the one they need.
SPIN stands for:
- Situation (the situation);
- Problem (the problem);
- Implication (the implication);
- Need-Payoff (the need).
AI to Assist Sales Cadence Flows
Imagine optimizing your sales cadence flow by creating email templates and approaches with an artificial intelligence chatbot.
With tools like ChatGPT, this is entirely possible.
Check out the email examples below, generated by the tool for sales cadence:
Example 1:
Subject: Boost Your Sales Efficiency with Our Marketing Automation Tool
Dear [Client’s Name],
I hope you’re having a great day. As you know, marketing and sales strategies are constantly evolving, and staying ahead of the competition is crucial for your company.
I’d like to introduce our marketing automation tool, which will help your team achieve sales goals more efficiently. It automates repetitive tasks like follow-up emails, contact list segmentation, and report generation, allowing your team to focus on more strategic activities.
Additionally, our tool offers advanced analytics to track campaign performance and adjust strategies based on results.
Would you like to schedule a meeting to see how our tool can help your business achieve its sales goals? Please let me know your availability, and I’ll arrange the meeting.
Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to speaking with you soon.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
Example 2:
Subject: Generate More Leads with Our Innovative Solution
Dear [Client’s Name],
I hope you’re having a great day. Generating qualified leads is essential for any company’s success, and we’re here to help you achieve that goal.
I’d like to introduce you to our innovative lead generation solution, which has already helped many companies significantly increase the number of qualified leads. Our solution combines digital marketing techniques such as SEO, content marketing, online ads, and social media to attract potential clients to your website.
Additionally, our solution includes an advanced tracking tool to monitor campaign performance and identify the most effective lead sources. This allows you to allocate your marketing budget strategically and maximize results.
Would you like to schedule a meeting to see how our solution can help your business generate more qualified leads? Please let me know your availability, and I’ll arrange the meeting.
Thank you for your attention, and I look forward to speaking with you soon.
Best regards,
[Your Name]
Think about how much time you could save using this strategy! 😉
How to Build an Outbound Structure in Your Company
Earlier in the article, we explored the stages of an Outbound strategy, but how are they implemented—and by whom? Author Aaron Ross addressed these questions in his book Predictable Revenue.
According to Ross, if you want to build an Outbound Marketing process, you need a team with Hunters, Closers, and Farmers.
Let’s explore these roles further:
- Hunters – Responsible for research, prospecting, and lead nurturing. In many companies, this role is performed by SDRs.
- Closers – Handle sales, presenting solutions, negotiating, and closing contracts.
- Farmers – The post-sales team ensures customer success, maintains engagement, and prevents churns.
What Are the Best Tools for the Outbound Process?
There are many strategies, stages, and tips for an Outbound Marketing approach.
Having the right tools to assist your company in this process is essential.
Here are five of the most recommended tools for your Outbound process:
Prospecting
Prospecting tools are software that automate the process of identifying potential buyers, capturing them, and converting them into clients.
Recommended: LinkedIn Sales Navigator and Econodata.
Data Enrichment
Data enrichment tools not only identify and capture lead data but also enhance it with additional information, turning them into smart leads.
Recommended: Hunter and Clearbit.
Email Validation
Email validation tools ensure addresses are genuine, enabling you to proceed with prospecting.
Recommended: Proofy and Sales Navigator for Gmail.
Sales Automation
Sales automation tools integrate various strategies within a company, making sales processes more efficient.
Recommended: Snov.io and Ploomes.
Sales CRM
Sales CRMs organize lead information, making data visualization easier and tracking contact development through a sales pipeline.
Recommended: Fleeg and Simply CRM.
That’s all for now on Outbound Marketing. I hope you now feel like an expert in this strategy! Let us know what you think of this material in the comments!
