Difference Between Inbound And Outbound Marketing

Many marketers talk about inbound vs. outbound marketing. They want to know which type is the best for their businesses. In this post, you will learn what these two terms are and if you need to choose one.

Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing is the traditional marketing that most people can recognize. We can see it everywhere around us in our physical location.

Before the internet, most people referred to it as marketing or advertising. Today inbound marketing has created a need for two different terms. Outbound marketing sends out a message to reach potential customers. It includes the following methods:

• TV commercials
• Radio commercials
• Billboards
• Flyers
• Cold calls
• Direct mail
• Print ads in magazines and newspapers

Most of these methods send a message to a large number of people. For example, if you add a billboard in a specific location, thousands of people will see it without further actions. Outbound marketing and advertising methods have not changed for decades.

Outbound marketing is great for branding, but it is costly, and the audience that receives the message is not targeted. These methods are over-saturated over the years, so their messages are not so effective as inbound marketing.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing vs outbound marketing motivates the target audience to search for your message. It is the opposite of outbound marketing that has to send a message to a large number of people. Businesses that use inbound marketing methods provide value for free to build trust with their audience. Then, their audience search for their products or services. Here are some popular inbound marketing methods:

• Email marketing
• Content marketing
• Social media marketing
• Blogging
• SEO

The benefits of inbound marketing are quite specific. You can reach a narrow and targeted audience that is highly interested in your products. The cost is low most of the time. You can create content and share it through different channels without spending too much money.

However, you must always track your results because you don’t want to waste time and resources on marketing channels that don’t work. It is about providing value to a specific target audience. If your marketing methods don’t reach this audience or don’t get its attention, the marketing strategy must change.

The low entry of inbound marketing vs outbound marketing creates one big problem. Every competitor can start creating content and distributing it to your marketing channels. So, the competition will always be a part of most inbound marketing methods.

Do You Need To Choose One Marketing Type?

There is still room for both inbound and outbound marketing. It is quite easy to assume that something does not work based on an example. However, they both work for different businesses. You can choose the best option based on your business.

For example, if you have a business that wants to get customers online, you have to learn about inbound marketing. In this case, billboards will not help to reach your audience.

On the other hand, if you target people in your local area, you can create a billboard or a radio commercial for your business. You need to reach your target audience in any way you can. 

Many people make generalizations about what works and what you should do. However, they may lack experience or try to sell a product that fits their opinion. There is no way to know if your marketing method works until testing it.

Can You Use Both Inbound and Outbound Marketing?

If a small business wants to create a PPC campaign to promote an offer, it does not need to give up the old ways that still work. Many businesses can be benefited by adding a few inbound methods in their strategy. We need to adjust to the internet and new opportunities. When you have a special offer, you can post it on social media.

A business will gain a competitive advantage when you combine it with the things that already work for them, like flyers and print ads. The bottom line is that yes, you can use both inbound and outbound marketing.

Conclusion

Marketers need to learn about new trends and methods. Then, they can decide if they will add these methods to their marketing strategy. You can figure out if a method works by taking action and measuring the results.

Need support with your inbound marketing? We’ve got you covered. Contact us today.