In this article, we talk a bit about the differences between inbound and outbound marketing and how these two types of marketing work.
Discover how the different marketing concepts work
Nowadays, on average, a person is exposed to between 6,000 and 10,000 advertising messages per day.
This includes everything from TV ads, outdoor signage to radio spots and digital ads across the Internet and social media. This is very competitive for the attention of your potential customers. It is enough for B2B marketers to ask: 'How do I ever reach the people I need to talk to?' and 'What could I say to get them to buy?'
There are, in essence, two distinct strategies that marketers use to reach the prospects they need: inbound marketing and outbound marketing (or 'traditional'). Let's first look at the essential differences between the two.
The difference between Inbound and Outbound Marketing
| Inbound Marketing | Outbound Marketing |
| Attracts interested readers | Sends messages to everyone |
| Solves consumers' needs | Writes to sell products |
| Interactive with readers | One-way communication |
| As useful content is consumed, the audience becomes Leads | Disrupts any content being consumed |
| Where they are: website, blog, eBooks, opt-in emails, SERP, social media | Where they are: TV ads, billboards, pop-up ads on the Internet, telemarketing, magazines |
Not clear? We explain better…
Do you know what Outbound Marketing is?
Outbound Marketing, also referred to as traditional marketing, uses tactics that deliver a message to a large number of people in an effort to make a sale. Print/TV/radio advertising, phone calls, direct mail, mass emails, and other methods target large audiences (the majority of which may not even be looking for the seller's product). It is a one-way conversation that typically focuses on the product and the reasons why the audience should buy it.
The problems with Outbound Marketing
Traditional marketing has a huge problem: its message has to be general because it is aimed at a larger number of people. In other words, with traditional marketing tactics, it is difficult to have a standout message for a variety of specific needs and challenges. There are other reasons why traditional marketing is not working nowadays:
- 60% of surveyed viewers would make the effort to find and download TV programmes to avoid adverts. With the growing number of online TV streaming services, television adverts can be ignored, making it harder to achieve the desired reach among the audience.
- Digital music services and satellite radio make it easy for listeners to avoid advertising on the radio. In December 2019, there were 271 million active users on Spotify. As a result, radio no longer has the same impact it once had.
- 58% of email recipients never read or open the emails they receive, especially with a whole spam folder where most advertising emails end up.
- Just like advertising emails, banner adverts are also largely overlooked, as people tend to ignore them.
Sending messages is no longer effective because your audience has options and ways to avoid and/or block them. Marketers who are still using Outbound tactics ask themselves: 1) 'How do we reach buyers looking for our solutions?' and 2) 'What will it take to turn these potential customers into customers?'. Tip: Google processes more than 3.5 billion searches per day.
What is Inbound Marketing?
While Outbound Marketing broadcasts messages to a large audience, Inbound Marketing is 'magnetic'. That is, instead of sending general messages to uninterested audiences, inbound marketing allows you to attract genuinely interested people – and those who are actively looking for solutions on the internet. When they arrive at your website, these interested individuals find help, guidance, and guides directly related to the search they are conducting online.
At the heart of inbound marketing is content: blog content, video content, and downloadable (or 'advanced') content offered on a company's website, such as white papers, guides, e-books, cheat sheets, and others. By using an inbound approach, marketers develop this content to align with specific points in the buyer's journey:
- At the beginning of their journey, a buyer is getting familiar with the problem and potential solutions.
- In the middle, they are comparing a small set of potential solutions.
- At the end of their buying journey, they are conducting the necessary due diligence to make a final decision.
- And then there is the actual customer experience, where satisfied customers can turn into promoters.
There are types of content that align well with each of these stages. By creating and offering them through your website, blog, and advanced content, you are meeting the information needs that potential customers have at every point in their journeys.
And, since much of the journey takes place online (62% of B2B buyers say they can make a purchase decision based solely on digital content), they will find relevant content when conducting searches.
In practice: an Inbound Marketing example
Imagine you are the facilities manager of a disposable fabric manufacturing company and you have decided it is time for a new conveyor for the company's XYZ product line.
Your first step towards buying new equipment is to do an online search to find out your options. So, you search Google for ‘conveyor systems with the best output’, and at the top of the results is an eBook on that very topic. You click the link, go to a supplier's blog and read what's there. It has great information. At the end of the blog post is an offer for downloadable content also related to conveyor output, so you provide your email in exchange for the content.
Now you are a Lead in that supplier's system. The supplier is able to send you additional useful content offers to further attract you into the sales funnel. As a facilities manager, you are eager to engage with this supplier, because you now have proof of this company's expertise.
Did you notice the difference?
Do you understand how it works and its differences? While outbound marketing sends general messages to a broad (and often uninterested) audience, inbound marketing creates and offers content developed specifically for distinct audiences, relevant to multiple stages of your buyer's journey.
Interested parties are attracted by this content as they conduct searches related to their challenges, and once they find it on a supplier's site, they become engaged in a conversation with that same supplier.