Business Development: The Playbook Has Changed Outbound versus Inbound Media

The purpose of Business Development is having a Playbook that is strong on offense to increase business with new customers, new products and/or services while seeing revenue growth. Of course, you need to have a good defense in your Playbook too. As well developed as your offensive plays are, your strategy is steady and leading your business to growth in customers, products, services and revenue; things happen to disrupt the game plan. Sometimes a small disruption requires a substitute play from the Playbook. A larger disruption might mean its time to pull the offense and bring on the defense. Time limited of course, according to the designed strategy in your Playbook. The defense utilized will have been well thought out to ensure it can address the problem timely and successfully so that the offense can resume.

Now, there exists parity between offense and defense. Previously, your offense could handle the strategies set forth for successful business development on a regular and familiar playing field. Now, the offense is flat, decimated because of an unfamiliar playing field. The opponent today is not your competition; ironically they are on the same unfamiliar playing field. The Coronavirus has forced business development to use a new Playbook. The Coronavirus or COVID-19 has shown that a business with a strong offense is NOT safe from losing.

Adjustments that are being made today are related to implementing your defensive plays toward rekindling your business development strategies for the future. It might seem like a daunting task but with parity between offense and defense it is a bit easier. Your business can begin to develop new plays, study those plays, and coordinate into the New Playbook. As this practice occurs, achieving appropriate business development activities for a new normal for any business, the Playbook becomes more complete and more defined. The time has come, it is Game On for business development in order to survive and thrive as a business in this time of discovering a new normal for both, our communities and business environments.

Your business development Playbook had served you well until the pandemic. It has designed plays that allowed you to create your BRAND IMAGE while communicating your businesses UNIQUE STORY. Previously, your Playbook entrusted the offense to be successful in business development. It consisted of a media mix: Outbound and Inbound Media. A balance of this is what made businesses successful prepandemic.

Outbound media is focused on reaching out to your customers, new customers and prospects. It involves using a variety of media: TV, Radio, print, billboards and telemarketing including contextual banner ads, and annoying pop-up and pop-under ads. It seeks out its customers with no focus on relationships.

Businesses constructed the offensive plays with ad campaigns aimed at keeping existing customers satisfied, while hoping to attract new customers. Not very relationship oriented but it worked. However, outbound media begin losing its luster with consumers. Their expectations became more sophisticated. Consumers were gaining knowledge and more power with the rise of on-line accessibility. It was becoming clearer that relationships were becoming more important to the consumer.

Outbound media was less relationship-oriented and consumers were noticing. Plus, it was over saturated, too. Business owners soon realized it was time for some new plays for the offense. The premise of new offensive plays would be toward establishing relationships with consumers.

Inbound media is less intrusive than outbound because it focuses on content that’s meaningful to the audience. It initiates engagement of the consumer throughout the “buying cycle”. If the content, such as a blog, monthly email newsletter, info graphics, is interesting to the consumer, they will consume it. The inbound media has successfully brought in that consumer. New business and more loyalty because of the relationship they have with that business. This impacts the consumers acceptance of the products and/or services too. The game plan is working: New Business, a key component in business development.

Business owners and marketers realized that inbound media was less expensive too. The Playbook is changing already. Inbound marketing was added into the offensive plays of The Playbook. The new plays were making a difference until the Coronavirus. The pandemic has forced businesses to have a “Game On” mentality as they navigate and attempt to get to some level of normalcy. This unfamiliar playing field is very scary.

The vitality of the changes in your Playbook will require greater dependence on defense until the new normal is well defined. This will help it be less scary. The defensive scheme must be BOLD. It will be intertwined with all facets of inbound media with less use of outbound media.

Post pandemic business development will remain on an unfamiliar playing field. However, as time goes on, the field will gain a perspective. The Fear will lessen. Every business will be more like-minded. Clarity in the messaging to your audience, developing relationships that adhere to a New Normal with defensive plays that use inbound marketing strategies. Finally, less fear on the unfamiliar playing field. The new plays seem to be working; they are cultivating the relationships necessary for business growth, including revenue growth.

The dynamics of how every business will operate has been forced to change. How it once acquired its customers and how it handled business development prepandemic now requires a new Playbook post pandemic.

Over time, the defensive plays put into the new Playbook will begin to look like a new hybrid offensive scheme. In their implementation, it will be a natural transition because these plays will be responsive to the post pandemic playing field. The relationships they will form with consumers will be the catalyst for this natural transition.

Be BOLD by understanding the need for a new Playbook through the BOLD content using Inbound media will make sure it is Game On for successful Business Development. Although the new normal of what the playing field will look like post pandemic remains uncertain, we know the changes being forced draws the conclusion that The Playbook for Business Development has Changed; it’s Game On with Inbound Media.

About the writer:

Becky Blaesing owns Blazing Kiss Media. She grew up in an entrepreneurial family. Business Development is what she loves!