What Is Inbound Marketing and Why You Should Consider ItAs Internet usage evolves, so too does Internet marketing. One of the biggest shifts we're seeing today is in the change from "outbound" marketing to "inbound" marketing. Here's what you need to know about the two approaches to understand why companies are moving away from one and toward the other.
If you haven't heard the term "outbound" marketing, you may have heard of one of its synonyms: "old" marketing or "interruption" marketing. In this marketing model, communication is only ever one way: from the company to the consumer. This includes things like radio, print, and TV ads that appear unsolicited when a person is doing other things, like watching a show on TV or listening to music on the radio, hence the term "interruption" marketing. We also call it "old" marketing because it encompasses techniques that have been around for decades, including direct mailers and billboards. Recently, it's also taken on the meaning of all the old ways that companies used to use SEO, including creating ad-rich but otherwise meaningless content, sending unsolicited (spam) email, and paying people to write comments on blogs or social media sites.
Inbound marketing, then, is when a company creates incentive for customers to come to them organically, not because they were harassed into doing so. Customers are attracted indirectly by providing them with what they do want: quality content. A customer will come to your site if you give them a good reason to, and useful information is the best reason. Satisfied customers then turn into your biggest marketing asset, convincing others to visit your site, as well.
One of the biggest reasons that outbound marketing is failing to drive business is that consumers faced with constant bombardment from unwanted ads have started to tune out. Outbound marketing is also considerably more expensive, meaning you're paying more for fewer and fewer customers. Did you know that 86 percent of people no longer watch commercials or that 44 percent of direct mailers go directly into the trash bin? With Internet marketing, popup blockers and span filters limit the reach of these types of ads considerably and when they do get seen, consumers are increasingly turned off by them.
Inbound marketing relies on things like organic web searches that bring people to the site because of the content, and on real recommendations from real people who can tell their friends about the company and why it's good. When customers come to you willingly, they have a better overall view of the company that translates into an increased willingness to do business with your company. This type of marketing is less expensive to create and results in more, and better, leads, making it both more economical and more moral.
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