Hey there, we’re glad to write to you on another exciting topic. In this article, we’ll cover some essential touchpoints centered around inbound marketing and outbound marketing.

Meanwhile, if you haven’t read our article on inbound marketing, we advise you to start there by clicking on this link. For proper context, we’ll give a basic introduction to inbound marketing and then dive into the differences between inbound vs outbound marketing.

Let’s dig a little deeper.

WHAT IS INBOUND MARKETING?

Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy that’s centered around attracting customers by creating valuable experiences and content tailored to them.

It’s focused on attracting customers via helpful and relevant content and also incorporating value at every stage of the customer’s buying journey.

The inbound marketing strategy is based on a series of non-intrusive techniques, and it help brands to: attract traffic and visitors to their site, convert these visitors into potential customers and also automate their marketing process.

With inbound marketing, potential customers find you via several channels like search engines, social media, and blogs. When you create content that addresses the needs and problems of your ideal customers, you can attract qualified prospects, while building credibility and trust for your business.

We’ve given an introduction to inbound marketing. Now, let’s discuss another form of marketing: outbound marketing.

WHAT IS OUTBOUND MARKETING?

Outbound marketing also referred to as push marketing, is a disruptive form of marketing that’s centered around reaching out to potential customers.

It consists of several marketing techniques and strategies that simultaneously targets a large group of people. Some of these techniques include cold calling, cold emailing, content syndication, and trade shows.

Outbound marketing is traditional, and brands use it to initiate contact with potential leads or customers. When compared to inbound marketing, outbound marketing is presented as stale and old with an emphasis on “pushing products and/or services on customers.”

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EXAMPLES OF OUTBOUND MARKETING

Here are two examples of outbound marketing that you can draw inspiration from:

RIP OFF THE BAND-AID HULU ADVERTISING:

After a very long day at work, all you want to do is to watch an excellent old Hulu TV episode while curling up in your bed.

Yeah, this surpasses all the frustrating TV commercial blocks. Even all the commercial blocks on Hulu tries to be as painless as possible.

For instance, with Hulu, you can decide to either be interrupted several times throughout your session or select the “get over it option,” which allows you to sit through a single elongated commercial at the beginning of your session.

Hulu advertising tends to be very grand and thematic in scale. They have a massive window for attracting your attention. That’s why they try to make it very entertaining and captivating.

That way, you’ll be encouraged to further research into their products and/or services.

AD CAMPAIGN-ORIENTED MAGAZINE ARTICLES:

A couple of months ago, Rolling Stone (an American monthly magazine that focuses on popular culture) wrote an article titled “The 25 Boldest Career Moves in Rock History” and published it around the same time as Jim Bean’s bold choices ads campaign. Coincidentally, Jim’s banner ads were all over the article.

By aligning themselves with the same themes and messages as the ads, the article gained the permission of readers. A lot of people were able to make a positive association between the adjoining advertising campaign and the article.

PROBLEMS WITH OUTBOUND MARKETING

In reality, outbound marketing makes up most of the marketing budgets for many brands. It has been in existence for years, and many people consider it to be rather expensive.

Outbound marketing, though, presents a lot of tradition, difficulties, and past mistakes that should never stop brands from adapting to changing marketing trends.

Below are some problems with outbound marketing:

• Low yield and high cost
• Increasing blocking techniques (Spam filters, TiVo, Do no-call list, etc.)
• Difficulty in tracking return on investments (ROIs)
• Several legislative and technological developments have weakened the long-lasting impacts of outbound marketing

According to reports from CRM Daily, about half of the brands that implement inbound marketing get a 25% ROI on those programs than brands that don’t. The report also shows that inbound marketing can deliver 30X the campaign conversion rate of outbound direct-mail campaigns.

Indeed, your next step as a brand is to increase conversions and cut costs by shifting from outbound marketing to inbound marketing.

 

ADVANTAGES OF INBOUND MARKETING

Below are some key benefits of inbound marketing:

INBOUND MARKETING IS COST EFFECTIVE:

One of the first things that come to mind when talking about business and benefits is cost. Inbound marketing is cheaper than outbound marketing, and it can generate leads to a company in a much less expensive manner.

With so many low-cost and free platforms out there, starting an inbound marketing campaign can cost you next to nothing.

INBOUND MARKETING GENERATES RELEVANT LEADS:

Another advantage of inbound marketing is its ability to generate leads and business contacts.

When you create informational content, it becomes easier to pull prospects towards your organization and website. You can also prompt them to get in touch with you to learn more about your brand, content, and services.

In reality, customers want more control in the sales process (especially with the content they consume). Inbound marketing is one great way to align with this requirement.

INBOUND MARKETING INCREASES CREDIBILITY AND TRUST:

When you’re always there to solve your prospect’s problems, it becomes easier to enhance trust and also build a good rapport with them. You are able to introduce your brand to new prospects in a positive & helping manner.

Inbound marketing is advantageous, and it allows for the development of relationships that harness trust.

CHALLENGES OF INBOUND MARKETING

Despite the advantages of inbound marketing, it still has some drawbacks.

Here are some challenges that brands should be aware of:

• Without the proper implementation of Web analytics, it can be difficult to track return on investment. That way, it becomes challenging to monitor the effectiveness of an inbound marketing campaign.
• Inbound marketing requires a diverse and robust skillset, including social media, SEO, content writing, and web design expertise. A small brand with a tiny marketing team will find this challenging because it’s relatively unrealistic to find someone with all these skillsets.
• Inbound marketing is time-consuming, and most of its strategies require patience to implement. If you want to get the best out of inbound marketing, then you need to understand that it’s not an overnight game. It’s a marketing strategy that takes time and resources to execute well.

 

SHOULD YOU SWITCH TO INBOUND MARKETING?

More than before, consumers now frown at intrusive marketing techniques because it interrupts their lives. If you want to entice the present-day consumers, then you need to adjust your marketing techniques to cater to the changes in consumer behaviors.

One way to achieve this is by embracing inbound marketing- it’s non-disruptive and permission-based.

Whether you’re a well-established business or a small startup, building relationships and trust using inbound marketing can provide fantastic and excellent results on any level.

What do you think about inbound marketing? Should brands switch entirely to inbound marketing? Please sound off your view in the comments section below.