Today, businesses operate in very competent and fast-paced markets. Advertisers are developing more and more strategies to keep up with the increasingly heterogeneous market in order to generate high sales, shares, and eventually earn more profit.

While the Internet and its various communication platforms are the primary reason for this surge, there still remain some old strategies that many successful companies continue to use in the digital age. Such a method is telemarketing, which although dated is just as effective as modern methods of marketing.

Understanding telemarketing

Business telemarketing is the process of gathering market information, sales, and leads using a telephone. This marketing strategy is oftentimes more cost-effective compared to other traditional methods like direct contact or personal selling, which incur a surfeit of expenses like transportation fees.

Telemarketing targets not just potential customers, but also the entire niche of the company. Besides advertising and marketing, telemarketers may also gather useful information like purchasing behaviour, customer feedback, and more.

In general, there are two types of telemarketing: outbound and inbound.

Outbound telemarketing occurs when the company reaches out to a customer via phone, usually with the intention of selling a product or service. On the other hand, inbound telemarketing happens when a customer initiates the phone call and connects with the company to take orders, answer questions, and the like.

The benefits of telemarketing

This method of marketing is particularly useful for small to medium-sized enterprises. Telemarketing is not particularly expensive and only requires a telephone unit to connect to a company’s market. A business minimises the need to send a team or a representative to generate leads in person.

Because of the minimum capital needed for telemarketing, many opt for this method. However, besides being a more practical and economical choice for companies, telemarketing accomplishes certain feats that other modes of marketing do not.

For one, since telemarketers do not need to be physically present in a place to generate leads which translate to sales, the company is guaranteed to have a wider market reach, including those potential customers who are in inaccessible places.

Another advantage of telemarketing is that a sense of intimacy between the company and the customer is maintained to a certain extent. A telephone call is a one on one conversation between a company’s representative and a customer, which may prove to be more effective than showing advertisements that may easily be ignored.

The bottom line

Telemarketing is a flexible and interactive way of getting in touch with a company’s prospective clients. The flow of communication is two-way; it goes both inward and outward. Being able to ensure that your message comes across and know the feedback of your market regardless of if they accept or decline is an indispensable tool for both small and large companies.

Moreover, because clients have a means of responding and contacting, the company gives off a sense of credibility and accountability, which other modes of marketing may fail to accomplish.

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