Remember outbound marketing—reaching customers with targeted approaches such as cold calls, email marketing, direct mail, advertising, print and account-based marketing (ABM).

It was sidelined when inbound marketing strode in but it is still a valid and powerful marketing tool when it comes to growing your business.

Outbound tactics still work. Used in conjunction with inbound it further helps build brand awareness, drive traffic, lead generation, conversions and return on investment (ROI).

Even HubSpot, the coiners of the term inbound marketing, have changed their stance on advertising:

If you’re not using ads in your marketing mix today, you’re likely not doing everything you can to provide customers with helpful, relevant content at every stage of the buyer’s journey.

— Nicholas L. Holland, VP of Product at HubSpot

Here at Breckenridge we have seen marketing trends come and go in our 35 years + in the industry, and we can state, without doubt, that outbound still has a place in an effective marketing mix.

Proof that outbound works

StannahTalk

Our client Stannah has been with us for our lifetime and on the strength of our outbound and digital marketing services and support Stannah Stairlifts chose Breckenridge to write, design and produce a bi-annual magazine for stairlift users throughout the UK.

8 1/2 years later, we’ve just completed and mailed out the 17^th issue. The contents continue to keep the readers informed, involved and entertained and the feedback is consistently excellent—which is exactly what the original purpose was: to encourage advocacy amongst its readers so that they champion Stannah and its products. And the facts and figures support its success, with a response rate that rose by 80% over several issues.

For the full story, read our case study here.

Stannah Stairlift’s Head of Group Communications, Fiona Neil, comments:

Although the production is overseen by the UK marketing department it is put together for us by Breckenridge, our Group PR agency who have worked with Stannah for many years.

As soon as one edition goes out, the whole team starts working on ideas for the next edition. We start receiving replies from readers almost immediately and log all their responses. Proofreading takes several weeks and ensuring that the database of customers is up to date is a major task requiring the help of a data cleaning company.

Lots of decisions need to be made on things like images, cartoons and articles to include. There is one final meeting just prior to issue going out where the UK marketing team get together with Breckenridge and read through the printer's proofs for the last time. Once that's done everyone breathes a huge sigh of relief, the magazines are printed and we look forward to hearing from our customers again.

StannahTalk is a good example of how outbound works with marketing automation—a printed publication delivered by snail mail bit boosted by digital channels such as blogs, social media and online page-turners.

Breckenridge is a great creative partner for us on StannahTalk and make the whole process of producing a quality customer magazine that is welcomed by our clients a really easy, enjoyable process. They understand what interests our customers and we are happy for them to take the lead on this project, knowing they will deliver first class output.

Breckenridge Presentation Book

Here’s our latest example of outbound marketing, a presentation book for Breckenridge that showcases who we are, what we do, how we do it and with proof that it works.

It is proving an invaluable support at networking events and with clients—circumstances when a screen is not available and in-person explanation is needed.

Both StannahTalk and our presentation book showcase outbound’s true strength—the importance of human-to-human contact in relationship building and business success.

…If you would like to discuss your outbound marketing activities and how these will support your online marketing to drive business growth

Outbound Marketing Lives! And helps your business grow