INBOUND MARKETING V/S OUTBOUND MARKETING ?

Aren’t these terms looking big, but believe me you know them very clearly, doesn’t believe yourself? Let’s know how.
You may be new to this field or an existing player, you may often come across people throwing around the terms ‘Inbound Marketing’ and ‘Outbound Marketing’ but what do they really mean?

Words look heavy but when you actually get deep into these, they are literally very easy to understand.

Marketing professionals loves to make up words for every technique, here goes the same.

You may be using these techniques since a long time or have gone through the same, but now as these simple techniques are recalled with the load of heavy words upon them you just can’t recall them.

But, if your entire profession depends on convincing people, converting them from strangers to customers, to buy and use your things, these inbound and outbound marketing are just not words they mean everything to you.

These words actually mark a shift in this new field with an enhanced version of the terms being used across channels.

What is Outbound Marketing?

Outbound marketing is like the traditional method of marketing, of reaching out to audience, whether they want it or not. It includes activities like cold calling, trade shows, seminar series, radio ads, print advertisements (newspaper ads, magazine ads, flyers, catalogs, brochures, etc.), emails are all examples of outbound marketing

OR

It can be termed as pushing out your message to anyone and everyone, thought they may or may not be your target audience having one simple prospective in mind that anyone can be our potential customer who needs right persuasion with a right message at right time.

The best analogy I can come up for traditional marketers to garner interest in looking out for new customers with is that, finding out a needle in a haystack with binoculars. You’ll get result but the outcome of result is low.

In this kind of marketing you find your customers by reaching out to them in every possible way so as to convert a stranger into customer, thought the converting yield is low. Ironically, organizations spend most of their marketing budgets on outbound marketing.

Typically outbound marketing activities include:

• Pay Per Click Ads
• Trade Shows
• Direct Mails
• Press Releases
• TV/Radio ads
• Cold Calling
• Personalized Gifts(Key-chains, Pens, Pen drives)

What is Inbound Marketing?

In a very simple statement it can be termed as marketing strategy of digital age, where customers are attracted on pull basis rather than the push basis as in outbound marketing.

Definition: it is a way of marketing which focuses on being found by customers using interesting content. This kind of marketing can also be coined as content marketing with effective use of SEO, which involves creating email newsletter, blog posts, social media, info graphics, and other content which people actually want to read.

If you’re content in eye catching, this will surely help you in reaching out to potential customers whom you were targeting.

You spend a lot to get noticed by customer in outbound marketing having a very low return ratio.

It can be coined as the most effective way of marketing for generating leads, and decreasing conversion time with having a controlled hand on expense utilization. You create quality content specifically designed to cater particular section of your customer, if they needs your product they will get to you, and thus you naturally attract inbound traffic that you can attract, convert, close and delight over the time.

Typically inbound marketing activities include:

• Blogging
• Search Engine Optimization
• Content Creation
• Email Marketing
• Social Media Marketing

The inbound marketing methodology follows a 4-stage funnel approach: Attract>Convert>Close>Delight.

Attract: You know that you want anyone and everyone coming at our site. You want people who can become your happy customer from being a stranger. But how to do this? All you need is the right content, at the right place, and at right time.

Convert: once you have attracted website visitors, the goal is to convert those visitors into leads. Contact information takes the lead here – provide them with relevant content that is interesting and valuable, thus keeping that conversation going on.

Close: time has come to close the leads by transforming them into customers. Marketing tools like lead scoring, closed loop reporting, lead nurturing ensures that you’re closing the right lead at the right time, faster and easier and at the end finally giving you business.

Delight: you earned your reward of creating the business and converting a stranger to your customer, but wait…..it’s not over yet, the work has just started. And as per me, after sales mechanism is the most important thing. You don’t want to forget them, and wants to provide them with remarkable experience. After all it’s your way how you engage with them and being able to solve their issues, and turn them into promoters of your business.

INBOUND V/S OUTBOUND

INBOUND MARKETING	OUTBOUND MARKETING
Customers are sought via referrals, social media. Search engines,	Customers are sought via. Print ads, radio, banners, cold calls, etc
Customers look in search of you	You search your customers by yourself.
Follows Pull Tactics	Follows Push Tactics
Communication tends to be two-way	One-way communication
Referred to as permissive marketing	It is referred to as interrupted marketing

WHY INBOUND IS BEST?

Benefit that inbound marketing holds is its ability to reach out to those people who actually wants the product, making the product available to them as well as educating them, while providing value.

While the greatest strength of inbound marketing is long term ROI

On a key not, using inbound marketing is like planting a tree. You plant a tree and only after your continuous efforts time and care, you are able to enjoy its fruits. Same goes here, first you invest but the return on investment is long lasting, you will continue to generate returns and leads years after the initial posts, ads, were created without costing additional penny.

In this process you not only achieve the result but also end up making and identifying potential customers which could also be your loyal customer base.

WHY OUTBOUND IS BEST?

The biggest strength that the outbound marketing holds is its ability to reach out to a large no of customers in a short duration of time. You get what the business initially wants the reach, brand awareness, brand visibility.

If it is done correctly your marketing campaign can be seen by millions, and have new customers within few weeks, however results are more dependent on the money you invest in.

Where is carries a simple funda that, you have to spend more, to have a greater result, once you stop spending the visibility of the results also decreases.

Although outbound marketing is being disliked by many, but it can help your business get a kick start that it wants in the initial phase of starting a business.

AT THE END WHAT’s BETTER INBOUND OR OUTBOUND?

The two approaches are totally different form each other, you just cannot term them as one better over the other. These are used either separately or together, in an effective manner depending on the nature of business you are having.

While at the end, most business finds the combination of both the strategies being the most useful strategy in the long run of business giving them, both visibility and reward they are waiting to achieve and gain.


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