You’ve likely heard a lot of buzz around “Inbound Marketing”. But what is it and could it could help your business?
Inbound Marketing in a nutshell:
Inbound marketing is a philosophy where businesses attract, convert, close and delight customers throughout the buying cycle using a variety of digital marketing tools and analytics.
Inbound vs. Outbound
Think of Inbound Marketing as a huge magnet with a bucket of honey at the end. We define Inbound Marketing as “A marketing philosophy that focuses on creating quality content that pulls people toward your company and product”. Examples of Inbound Marketing are blog posts, social media posts, ebooks, whitepapers, webinars etc.
Outbound marketing (also known as ‘interruption marketing’) is focused on smashing consumers over the head with a sledgehammer. It’s the kind of marketing that consumers are not expecting or soliciting – in other words they aren’t actively seeking the experience. Examples of Outbound Marketing are radio, TV, newspapers, magazines, direct-mail etc.
Why Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing started gaining momentum back in early 2006 and has become the most effective digital marketing philosophy for businesses looking to grow. Today’s consumers have become accustomed to being slapped around and with the advent of Google, they are now taking ownership for their buying decisions by doing more research and buying at their own pace.
The story of inbound marketing really isn’t that different from any other successful philosophy that addresses what people actually want – it simply focuses on the marketing industry. Historically, marketing and sales have been vastly misunderstood. Think about it. When most people ponder what “marketing” means to them, they think of “tricking” or “guiding” a consumer’s decision making so the marketer can pad their wallet.
Inbound marketing flips that mis-conception on its head. Instead of tricking people, Inbound Marketing focuses on educating them and providing helpful resources so they can make informed buying decisions.
Hungry for more?
We’d recommend that you start by creating buyer personas. You can download this free template to create buyer personas for your business.
