Marketing lingo is hard to follow sometimes. Digital marketing methods are all over the place, and there’s often a lot of overlap between different terms, outcomes, and methods of reaching customers.
We’re going to talk about the difference between inbound vs outbound marketing today, giving you some insight into one of the primary distinctions in marketing methods. Hopefully, the ideas below will give you some idea as to when you should employ these methods and what they’ll do for your business.
Let’s take a look.
What Is Outbound Marketing?
A good outbound marketing definition is “any method of marketing requiring you to extend yourself to meet the customer wherever they are.” For example, a television commercial extends out into the world of the customer, offering the advertisement in the context of whatever they were already watching.
The same goes for newspaper ads, YouTube ads, Google Ads, and any other advertisement that inserts itself without the user seeking it. Just take a look at any social media website and you’re bound to see a host of outbound marketing examples.
When to Use Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing is a great way to get your foot in the door. If you’re looking to develop brand awareness, a solid PPC campaign can really open things up for you.
Modern advertising methods give you the ability to reach thousands of people without much expense. If you have an urgent offering or time-sensitive deal, outbound marketing is a great way to push those campaigns as well.
What Is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing takes the opposite approach. Inbound methods seek to attract users rather than reach out to them.
Naturally, this method requires a softer touch and a little more planning. A great example of inbound marketing is search engine optimization (SEO). In an SEO campaign, a business does everything it can to rank well in search engine results pages.
That means tailoring web content to address particular keywords, back-end optimization, and monitoring various metrics to streamline pages. Keyword research queues the business in as to what users are looking for at any given time.
The job is to then create content that meets those users where their interests take them. When you create quality content and rank well, users will come to your page of their own volition.
So, you’re marketing yourself but you aren’t marketing to anyone in particular. It’s kind of like the difference between going out birdwatching (outbound marketing) and setting a bird feeder in front of your window (inbound marketing).
When to Use Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is great to use as a primary marketing method. It takes time to get results but those results compound upon themselves when the ball starts rolling.
Inbound customers are more likely to engage as well, considering that they expressed interest in your subject matter when they made the search.
It’s often wise to have professionals help with your inbound marketing campaign. Firms like https://beanstalkwebsolutions.com/ are great resources when you’re getting started.
Need More Marketing Tips?
Hopefully, the information above gave you a good idea of the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. There’s more to learn if you want to have a great campaign, though. We’re here to help.
Explore our site for more ideas on marketing, advertising, content creation, and digital marketing in general.
