Before answering those questions, I want to clearly describe
how I understand inbound and outbound marketing. Inbound marketing relies on
consumers coming TO the business (INBOUND) via interactive services. This makes
me think of PULL from the customer who wants to pull information from the
marketer. Inbound marketing pitches usually tend to impress or teach the
consumer about the business, product, service at hand. Outbound marketing, on
the other hand, relies on information going TO the customer (OUTBOUND). This is
similar to the marketer PUSHING information onto the consumer in a one-side,
often dry approach that is rarely well received. In doing some research on the
topic, I came across the following infographic describing the differences
between the two marketing styles.
Infographic from: http://mashable.com/2011/10/30/inbound-outbound-marketing/
It would seem as though that inbound marketing dominates in
this technology driven world, but can a business survive on inbound alone? YES,
but only with a receptive consumer market. If customers are looking for your
business, inbound marketing will be less successful, In these cases, I
personally think a combination of initial outbound marketing techniques
followed by intense inbound marketing is the optimal approach.
Consumers have shifted their paradigm to be information hungry,
independent, and in control of what advertising or marketing they subject
themselves to. Consumers today – unlike those of the past – are more aware of
the plethora of businesses offering the same services and use their own
developed product knowledge (through inbound marketing) to develop opinions
about these businesses. This shift in consumer paradigm can be attributed as
the cause of inbound marketing’s fame. Social-networking and search engines
only escalate this change as it helps consumers get better and more accurate
marketing information more quickly. The theme of instant gratification has translated
in consumer marketing in the form of consumer inbound marketing.
The infographic describes why outbound marketing has been unsuccessful
with the images below. Even with expertly crafted outbound marketing
techniques, consumer will continue to ignore sources of information that are
non-value added to them.
Inbound does not just include social-networking sites and
search engines. In fact, inbound marketing is any form of marketing where the
consumer comes to you (the business). The various forms of inbound marketing
include: blogs, ebooks, white pages, infographics, podcasts and other content
marketing techniques.
What is so interesting to me is that with all of the
advantages of inbound marketing, which companies are still using outbound
techniques to gain market share? The statistics
below will have you questioning as well with inbound marketing proving
financial wins as well as generating leads and revenue with a single marketing
source.
I completely agree with you that inbound marketing alone is not enough. A good mix of the two will pull in customers and let them know exactly what they want, without unnecessarily being bombarded with other material. I feel like most companies will attempt to use some form of inbound marketing to augment their traditional methods, even if it is simply to "keep up with the times".
ReplyDeleteWow Amanda! Where do you get all these infographics from? They are great! I think all of us agreed upon the fact that both inbound and outbound marketing are essential but I was taken aback to see how the different advertising media that can be used for outbound marketing are hardly accessed, making it unsuccessful, while on the other hand, the social media trend is growing..
ReplyDeleteAmanda , nice job with the blog. The information and stats are quite interesting. I was doing my bookings for the annual family vacation. Five years back I would just look at the hotel names and decide, but today I have to check out the reviews on Tripadvisor inorder to make an informed decisions. Goes to show how social media has permeated my life.
ReplyDeleteEveryone would agree that marketing to your target audience is an integral part of building your business.
ReplyDeletedigital marketing agency & inbound marketing services