Catching a buyer’s attention is hard work. Over half of marketers put at least half of their budget toward lead generation, and about half call it their top priority. But there’s a smarter way to do it.
Lead generation outsourcing means handing some or all of your lead attraction and nurturing to another party, such as an outsourced sales team. Done right, it cuts costs and brings in prospects without sacrificing results.
Below, we cover what lead generation outsourcing can do and how to find the best fit for your business.
- You can outsource the whole lead generation process or just parts of it, including content creation, analytics, data management, and web optimization.
- Businesses outsource to cut costs, boost efficiency, and free internal teams to focus on their core roles.
- Best practices: choose the right model and provider, target multiple channels, and optimize your full funnel.
- Mistakes to avoid: skipping the planning phase, and working with a vague customer profile or weak lead scoring.
The Benefits of Outsourced Lead Generation
Outsourcing lead generation delivers the same wins as outsourcing other business functions: lower costs, greater efficiency, and internal teams that can focus on what they do best. It’s also a fast track to talent, new technology, and more refined processes.
What Can You Do With Lead Generation Outsourcing?
Lead generation services cover a lot of ground, from building interest and sharing information to creating content and optimizing web platforms. You can outsource the entire process or hand off specific pieces.
Here are three ways to decide what to outsource:
Outsource Stages of the Funnel
Hand off specific stages. For example, hire a virtual assistant to generate interest with TOFU content and ads, or contract an agency to build MOFU lead-nurturing workflows.
Designate Specific Tasks
Maybe your team writes great content but struggles with web optimization. Outsourcing lets you offload specific lead generation techniques (prospecting, B2B cold calling, or optimizing pages for search and performance) to a virtual sales professional.
Manage New Channels
Buyers expect a multichannel experience: your website, social media, email, ads, and more. Learning each platform takes time, so outsourcing one or more channels saves you serious time and money.
Customize Your Virtual Team Based on Your Needs
Lead Generation Outsourcing Best Practices
Quality leads start with a strong setup. Here’s how to get your outsourced services off to a good start.
Choose the Right Outsourcing Model
There are three main ways to approach outsourcing:
- Traditional setup: Hand one or more processes to a lead generation business. Billed by hours or task volume, with minimal involvement from your team.
- Managed service: Arranged around results (backed by service level agreements), but requires closer collaboration.
- Outsourced team: Freelancers or virtual assistants offer the most flexibility, but need you to oversee ramp-up.
Before you sign, assess your objectives and constraints and pick the model that fits. Some companies prefer a pricier contract with a lead generation firm; others want the flexibility, affordability, and scalability of a modern outsourced team.
Outsource for Omnichannel Marketing
Buyers like to gather information at their own pace, across channels. How they interact online should shape how you outsource.
For example, outsource top-of-funnel content creation or distribution to capture leads early, then use a provider to run targeted ads across social networks, pulling prospects deeper into your funnel for follow-up by email, chat, or call.
Have Your Funnel Ready
However you outsource, every step of your funnel should be ready to take in leads. Here’s what to have in place when analyzing your marketing funnel:
- Lead magnets: Incentives you offer in exchange for contact info, like white papers, survey results, or templates.
- Landing pages or capture forms: Simple pages built to collect a lead’s details. Give each lead magnet its own landing page; use a capture form for general-purpose magnets.
- Retargeting: Most leads won’t return on their own. Use search, display, and social ads plus email marketing to bring them back.
- Lead scoring: Qualify leads by how well they match your customer profiles. Strong analytics and CRM tools make this work.
Short on budget or time to manage these stages? They’re easy to outsource to a dedicated team.
Focus on Website Optimization
Your website determines who arrives and who converts, so don’t overlook it.
Start with page load speed. It’s part of Google’s ranking algorithm, and slow pages get buried and bounced. Google research found that a 2-second increase in load time raised bounce rate by 32%, and a further two seconds pushed it up 90%.
Beyond speed, design for conversions: a clean interface, smooth user experience, and information that’s easy to find.
Common Mistakes When Outsourcing Lead Generation
Now for what not to do.
Not Being Prepared
Failing to prepare is preparing to fail. Set aside time to guide your provider through the adjustment period, just like you would a new hire, then keep up with regular evaluations and realignments.
Poor Lead Qualifying
Knowing who to target is everything. A vague customer profile means wasted resources on low-quality leads.
Define what makes a marketing-qualified lead, a sales-qualified lead, and, just as important, a negative persona. You won’t have every detail up front, but refine your targeting as you learn more.
Related Topic: What is Lead Qualification? A Beginner’s Guide
Only Relying on One Source or Channel
A single lead source is risky:
- You can’t control changes to that channel. An algorithm shift could make those leads harder to reach overnight.
- One channel limits your reach. Prospects who prefer other channels simply drop off.
Use Smart Outsourcing to Gain an Edge
Outsourcing lead generation balances exploring new sources with optimizing what you already have. That flexibility lets you offload work and access new opportunities while you focus on growth.
Want to see how Magic can help you outsource your lead gen and grow your business? Book a call now!
