Telemarketing and its benefits

As a consumer, there is perhaps nothing more annoying than answering a call only to realise someone is trying to sell you something. We often choose to disconnect and go about our day, wondering why companies opt for telemarketing when digital marketing is a booming industry.

The reason sales support services like telemarketing are still very much in practice is because an impressive number do engage with telemarketers. Despite the increase in internet usage and the amount of advertisements an internet or social media user is met with within a short period of time, phones continue to be a device every individual uses.

This is why telemarking is still a popular marketing tactic and is used by a range of companies, whether they are selling IT products, kitchen appliances, loan schemes, or insurance policies.

A look back

While telemarketing is still a popular marketing strategy, with many businesses investing in it along with call centre outsourcing and digital marketing, telemarketing was most popular in the late 1900s. The term was first used extensively in the 1970s and the rise of the concept is often traced back to switchboard operators.

Telemarketing, traditionally, was also a field mostly operated by women. This could be because women’s labour was cheaper but also due to the fact that women were seen as being more polite and well-mannered.

There are two main types of telemarketing; business to business and business to consumer. The subcategories of telemarketing are lead generation, which is the gathering of information and contacts, sales, outbound or proactive marketing, and inbound, which is the reception of incoming orders and requests for information.

According to outsourcinginsight.com, a 20% call to contact ratio was seen in 1998, but currently, this ratio is at 10%. Despite this drop in number, telemarketing is still in use and call centre outsourcing and customer service outsourcing play a huge role in this marketing strategy.

What are the benefits of telemarketing?

Telemarketing’s continuous use, despite the popularity of social media and digital marketing tactics, is mostly due to its many benefits. These benefits are why many companies use contact centre outsourcing to maintain their telemarketing strategies.

Target audience

Customer service outsourcing is a worthy investment because, instead of mindlessly calling lists of individuals, the outsourcing company will focus on the target audience of the product or service. Part of a telemarketer’s job is weeding out unresponsive numbers and dead ends. With a refined list, telemarketers and even other sales support services can focus on the target audience.

Added to this, telemarketing can be used to create loyalty among existing customers while creating a new customer base. This is one of the key benefits of telemarketing that convinces many businesses to invest in contact centre outsourcing.

Human voice

Giant strides have been made in technology and AI and machine learning are slowly turning into buzzwords where not many have an understanding of what they are but are certain will be the future of marketing. Chatbots, for instance, can guarantee a 24/7 service that is quick and efficient and requires less manpower.

While such emerging tech may be beneficial to businesses and increases the number of services that fall under customer service outsourcing, consumers or customers react differently when a human being is at the other end of the line.

Telemarketing makes call centre services personal. They add emotion to a conversation, even if that conversation is regarding a faulty product or delivery delays. A telemarketer can also sense emotion in a customer’s voice and react accordingly. This also makes telemarketing extremely flexible.

This human aspect to telemarketing is perhaps why it is still a popular and preferred marketing strategy.

Measurable

An important aspect to any marketing strategy is the measurable data collected through them. Telemarketing creates a direct line of communication between the business and the customer, thus direct and immediate results can be seen. Added to this, telemarketing gives measurable results, which businesses can use to evaluate their marketing strategies and use to analyse the benefits of contact centre outsourcing and other sales support services.

The data collected via telemarketing will paint a picture of how successful the telemarketing team is. Which tactics show greater results? How does a tone of voice affect the interaction? How successful are your email marketing efforts?

The answers to a range of questions can be collected via telemarketing, making it an essential tool for collecting data not only on customers but also the success of your own marketing strategies.