You’ve heard about inbound marketing. You’ve heard about outbound marketing. While these strategies are popular for a reason and still have their place within marketing initiatives, more and more customers are beginning to make their purchasing decisions based on recommendations from networks they know and trust, rather than simply relying on company information.
That’s where Nearbound marketing comes into play. Let’s take a look at what it means to use a Nearbound strategy, how you can use it in your own marketing efforts, and the benefits of implementing it into your initiatives.
Nearbound marketing is a strategy that focuses on using existing trusted relationships to drive new business opportunities. Unlike outbound marketing’s broad approach or inbound marketing’s content-driven tactics, the Nearbound strategy taps into the power of your current network.
The Nearbound approach recognizes that some of the best leads are often already within your reach through your relationships with customers and industry partners. Nearbound leads are the customers or prospects of your partners. On average, they yield 41% better win rates and can increase the size of your deals by 43%.
What does it look like to use Nearbound marketing successfully? Here are a few factors:
The next step is execution, which begins with a network audit. In the past, you developed and then pursued an ICP—Ideal Client Persona—and now you’ll build upon that by following the ICE model, created by Mark Kilens, Isaac Morehouse, and Jared Fuller. First you’ll identify your target accounts, and then you’ll determine who they trust as well as their partner overlap.
Next, you’ll collaborate by engaging with partners to help you in connecting with your ICP. You’ll want to prioritize partners based on how closely linked they are to your ICP.
Finally, you’ll execute: you’ll continue to implement your typical marketing strategies, while also keeping your messaging tailored based on the partner data that you’ve collected.
One of the biggest benefits of a Nearbound strategy is that leads generated through existing relationships frequently come pre-qualified, and as a result, have a much higher probability of conversion. Acquisition of these leads is also typically much more cost effective when compared to traditional strategies.
There’s also the time that you save when you deploy Nearbound. Kolleno, an accounts receivable management software company, reduced their time to close by 50% when they implemented a Nearbound strategy. Even better? When their sales and partnerships team had access to ecosystem data and partner intelligence, they were able to cut up to three hours of prep time per discovery call.
Finally, successful Nearbound marketing also leads to organic network expansion by creating a ripple effect. As you cement partnerships and take on co-marketing initiatives, you also continue to expand your network through referrals and word-of-mouth.
As we move from an economy of “how” to an economy of “who,” it’s more important than ever to start implementing strategies like Nearbound marketing. If you’re thinking about utilizing Nearbound in your own marketing efforts, reach out to WEBITMD.