Inbound or Outbound Marketing? That is the question! Outbound marketing is so called because it involves sending the message out, far and wide, hoping it will find and resonate with the desired customer. Traditional advertising such as billboards, TV/radio commercials, newspaper/magazine ads, trade shows, cold calling, direct mail, pop-up ads – they’re all examples of Outbound marketing.
Outbound marketing is an expensive marketing model; one which has become increasingly unpopular in the last decade. The average customer is saturated with the constant bombardment of outbound messages that interrupt daily life. Consumer’s mute TV commercials, ‘spam’ emails, ignore pop-up ads and are put off by ‘hard selling’. No wonder outbound marketing is also called Interruption Marketing! But that doesn’t mean that outbound marketing has no relevance today. Depending on the product, customer, market and objective, some types of outbound marketing continue to be effective. For example, for spreading awareness to a really wide audience, TV commercials definitely create a buzz, and for B2B companies, trade shows and emails are an effective way of qualified lead generation. What’s more, with evolving technologies and trends, outbound marketing can be strategically aligned and streamlined for greater impact. For example, a finance company or service can schedule their TV commercial only on business channels or those TV programmed that discuss finance, or a company targeting a specific region can choose that particular edition of the national newspaper for their advertisements. Inbound Marketing is the current trend that’s growing in popularity as it is less expensive, less annoying, and relies on drawing the customer in. You set up your website like a "hub" and then attract visitors naturally through search engines, blogging, and social media. Inbound marketing is a 2-way dialogue with the customer. Customers post on the company’s Facebook wall, comment on business blogs, or take part in contests. When they participate, they become invested and engaged.