If you’ve been following us on social media (Facebook and Twitter) it probably won’t come as a total surprise to you that here at MMM we are super excited about inbound marketing! You may be wondering, “Exactly, what is inbound marketing and how does it work? How does inbound differ from outbound, or “traditional” marketing efforts? What are the advantages to inbound marketing?”
We are glad you asked. Let’s dive in!
What is inbound marketing and how does it work?
Inbound marketing attracts prospective clients by providing quality content. Content is produced to educate customers by offering valuable tips, training or other assets that are beneficial to their business. Examples of inbound efforts are email newsletters, SEO efforts, eBooks or white papers, blogs, social media campaigns, and other forms of content marketing.
How does inbound differ from outbound marketing efforts?
The premise behind inbound marketing is that you are able to attract quality customers, versus having to go out and find them. By developing content that is targeted towards your ideal audience, your leads come to you. Outbound marketing requires you to grab a prospective client’s attention in order to make a sale. Examples of outbound marketing are television or newspaper ads, cold-calls, or direct paper mail. With inbound marketing, you attract and captivate your audience with valuable information. As Mashable puts it, “Inbound marketing focuses on earning, not buying, a person's attention.”
What are the advantages to inbound marketing?
In a nutshell, inbound marketing is more effective than outbound, costs less, and provides long-lasting relationships with quality customers.
- Inbound leads, on average, cost 61% than that of outbound leads
- Inbound better positions your company to be the solution your ideal customers are looking for by developing an online presence that speaks to them and their specific interests and needs.
- Instead of relying on traditional methods of marketing that focus on pushing messages out to your audience — things like buying ads, buying email lists, sending direct mail — and hoping for a return, inbound focuses on aligning your content strategy and overall campaign with your customer's interests in order to pull more relevant prospects toward your company.
- Once a lead becomes a customer, the process of achieving valuable brand equity is only just beginning. Continuing the positive experience with social monitoring, exclusive content, and further assistance helps to create brand loyalists, who in turn, deliver referral business.
(Source: HubSpot)
Did you know?
(Source: HubSpot)
