Our company offers a solution to a problem many business owners don’t even know they have. Would it be smart for us to reach out to businesses to let them know they have the problem rather than waiting for Customers to hit the awareness stage and come directly to us? I know that’s not an Inbound strategy, but inbound may be cutting us off from a much wider target market. Your thoughts?
Hey @SBrentari0, thanks for reaching out! Just a heads-up that I’m not sure if your post will get the most visibility here (you posted in the HubSpot Academy forum, but the Marketing or CRM & Sales forums may be more relevant).
You are not alone in offering a solution to a problem that your target audience may not be actively aware of (and maybe not until it becomes an emergency). I think that your approach will depend on how urgent the issue is, how beneficial it is to act now vs later, and, of course, whether or not the contact is expecting to hear from you.
The dangerous part about reaching out to leads before they’ve felt the need to reach out to you is that you’re contacting someone who’s not expecting to hear from you. I don’t condone cold outreach unless the value it provides outweighs the annoyance of getting an unsolicited email (and if you need to abide by GDPR or other privacy laws, you should definitely factor those into your outreach strategy).
That said, for your target audience, think about the consequences of not taking any action, the rewards of being proactive vs reactive, and how you can quickly and clearly alert them of the problem they have (or at least provide enough info to get them interested). If you haven’t already, you should create this awareness-stage content that ties symptoms your target audience may be facing to underlying problems/challenges that should be addressed. A lack of awareness about the problem probably results in a lack of searches for solutions, but publishing this content will:
- Help you win those searches if awareness of this problem rises (first-mover’s advantage)
- Help you build a library of resources that you can promote across paid and unpaid social, paid search, and email
I’m not sure what you’re trying to sell or who your target is, but it could make sense to distribute this content on social or through ads that target your ideal customer. Spreading the word organically with some social proof could help generate buzz for you. Consider joining private LinkedIn groups and becoming a part of the conversation to both learn more about your target audience and provide ungated value to them.
Lastly, don’t get too caught up in what’s truly inbound vs not inbound. Your end goal should be providing unmatched value to your target audience no matter how you’re reaching out to them. In an ideal world, customers would come right to you when they’re ready to buy or follow a nice linear path through their buyer’s journey just how you designed it! However, it’s rarely that simple. I definitely wouldn’t recommend cold calling or cold emailing with the same old pitch that’s already flooding inboxes, but the point is providing value to your target audience in a convenient way for them. Since it doesn’t sound like your target audience is actively searching for your solution, you will need to interrupt them a bit to get your message across and raise awareness (with the hope that, eventually, there will be more awareness around your solution and active searchers who find it organically). As long as you’re out to be helpful and provide value to your target audience in a human, respectful way, you’re upholding inbound principles in my book.
Hope this helps at least get you started!!