Inbound marketing, a term coined by HubSpot, is now synonymous with digital marketing. It’s a tactic that focuses on customer delight, conversion, and closing.

Before people knew about it, they practiced outbound marketing. Some had mastered the arts and found ways to make consistent sales, but many now find inbound marketing to be easier.

So what’s the difference between the two?

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing focuses on attracting customers and delighting them with content. It’s characterized by content creation that aligns with the customers’ needs, interests, and desires.

The main mediums for inbound marketing include blog posts, social media, opt-in emails, and SEO. These are the most effective ways to draw in customers, delight them with content, and keep them engaged.

Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing is interruption-based; advertisers place Ads in crowded places to convert a small percentage through triggers words and hyped benefits.

The main mediums for outbound marketing include display Ads, billboards, telemarketer scripts, magazines, and TV and Radio commercials.

According to AWAI, outbound marketing works for the long-term goal — getting customers to remember the brand when they want to buy a related product.

Here are some key advantages of inbound marketing over outbound marketing

Creating Valuable Content

Inbound marketing couples well with the modern market, which is very informed because of the internet. Customers can now familiarize themselves with a product even before making a purchase.

This is unlike traditional marketing where buyers only had to rely on the seller’s word, which is understandably hard. Inbound marketing helps customers get the products they desire without little work.

Two-way Communication

Inbound marketing allows companies to engage with their audience. They can receive direct feedback through emails, comments on blogs and social media posts, and direct messages.

In outbound marketing, it’s difficult for the marketer to get any feedback from the audience. This makes it difficult to craft the right message and to build trust with the customer.

Human touch

According to HubSpot, websites with blog sections receive more customers than single-page websites without content.

You should keep your customers informed with detailed blog posts, emails, and posts on social media, and PR to gain their trust and loyalty.

The research also shows that 77% of B2C companies have at one time acquired a customer from social media. This shows that customers prefer to be sold by a “human”.

Conclusion

To build a long-lasting business model, it’s wise to try inbound marketing since it has a lower cost of attaining and retaining customers and it’s not easy to mess up. Delighting your existing customers with educative content is a must if you want a successful business.

For more articles, blog posts, and emails on SaaS and Digital Marketing, feel free to contact me at content@alexmuiruri.com for more information.

An editor at Blogzine

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Louis Ferguson is a senior editor for the blogzine and also reports on breaking news based in London. He has written about government, criminal justice, and the role of money in politics since 2015.