Inbound & Outbound channels

*1.)

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing

A simple fact of the matter is that there is no “one size fits all” strategy when it comes to marketing. There are a huge number of variables that you have to consider - from the type of message you’re trying to send to the type of audience you’re trying to reach - that will all dictate exactly how, where and most importantly why you should be contacting this particular set of people at this particular moment in their life.

When it comes to exactly how you choose to spend your marketing budget, there are two main forms of marketing to choose between: inbound marketing and outbound marketing. Both essentially take you to the same destination, but the approach used to get there is wildly different. It’s a bit like choosing to take a plane to go on vacation versus driving across the country - you’ll still get exactly where you’re going, but the experience will be dramatically different along the way.

What is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound Marketing is setting up ways for customers to find you. The approach has been really successful for many marketers because it focuses on finding those customers that are already searching for their products and services. Inbound marketing actually costs less than traditional methods because it’s all set online, breaking down and narrowing in on those key interested customers. What makes up inbound marketing is simple: fresh, engaging, targeted content created to attract those online users to your business’s site where they can then learn more about you and possibly make a purchasing decision. Online research is the norm now, where it’s an automatic impulse for customers to do a pre-analysis of a company online before considering a purchase. Inbound marketing focuses on earning, not buying a customer’s attention and it’s done by the following types of strategies:

Social media marketing
Interesting, engaging content in the form of blogs, podcasts, and whitepapers.
Infographics
Podcasts/Webinars
eBooks
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Pay-Per-Click Advertising (PPC)

Take a look at the facts:

90% of consumers find custom content useful and 78% believe that organizations providing custom content are interested in building good relationships with them (McMurry/TMG).

84% of 25-34 year-olds have left a favorite website because of intrusive or irrelevant advertising (Mashable).

Companies that spend more than 50% of their lead generation budget on inbound marketing report a significantly lower cost-per-lead (Hubspot). *2.)

What is Outbound Marketing?

Outbound marketing is the type of marketing that was mentioned earlier – the old, traditional, “push” methods of marketing. This type of marketing focuses on paying to broadcast a message outward to find consumers who will listen. Outbound is blasting out as many messages as possible to capture the biggest audience in order to generate the highest number of sales. It’s a probability game: the more ads distributed out = more interested people = more sales for your business. Types of outbound marketing strategies include:

TV ads
Print ads
Direct mail
Tradeshows
Telemarketing/cold-calling
Press releases
Email marketing *3.)

Basically the difference is that in the Inbound marketing you "take care" of the customers that you already have, to respond the questions and interest of the group that you already have - to concentrate on different ways of delivering the information and developing the attention of specific group of loyal customers; and the Outbound marketing is more getting as many customers and shares as possible, sharing your product and information to the new people, new possible future users. The "modern marketing" vs the "old-school marketing", let's say.

Inbound Marketing Strategies: