Inbound and Outbound Marketing is the Ultimate Package

Take a deep breath. We’re delving into the world of Inbound and Outbound marketing. The latter isn’t dead and both should be taken as equally important.

The transition from “Visibility” into “Attraction” of the VAIRCG principles of Engagement Marketing is a brittle line because they’re so intertwined.

 

Outbound Marketing

What is it?

This is the more traditional type of marketing, one that (arguably) thinks more about the company than the customer. Think of ads that go “outwards” to the customers. Things we want to blast to the customer so they can find you.

It’s interruptive if done incorrectly (check out how to make seamless, targeted ads). However, it is still a crucial and integrative part of marketing.

Examples of Outbound

• Press Release
• Direct Mail
• Telemarketing
• TV & Radio
• Online Display Ads
• Print Ads

Pros vs. Cons

Pros Reach people who don’t know you exist 65% who receive cold calls evaluate the services Present relevant ads at the right time through remarketing Easy to setup, track, test, and reiterate People find you instead of you seeking them Faster results and shorter timelines Broader exposure

Cons Extremely costly with lower yield Customers aren’t always ready to buy when they see your message (learn about the Buyer’s Journey to make sure this doesn’t happen) “Interruptive” (make sure the ads are targeted) One-way communication Face blocking techniques (i.e. spam filter, ad blocks) Difficult to track ROI on print ads Not many SEO benefits

Why do I need it?

1. It nurtures organic leads by advertising relevant content, not just ads. If it brings value to the customer, they’ll want to click it.
2. It still works. 75% of people who received a cold call decide to make an appointment or attend an event (MarketingProfs Research).
3. People listen when they’re ready to buy. 50% of leads from cold calls are in the “interested but not yet ready” bracket (Gleanster Research). Make use of it.
4. Outbound marketing isn’t what it used to be. With technology, you can stay relevant and targeted.

Inbound Marketing

What is it?

People often associate inbound marketing with thoughts about the customer rather than the company. You earn attention organically because you offer them valuable content, which doesn’t interrupt their path.

But it can be tough to bring customers to your company with just these efforts alone. They have to know you exist. If they don’t, you’re out of luck.

 

Examples of Inbound

According to HBR’s assessment, this is what most people want from their content:

Pros vs. Cons

Pros Cost-effective Noninvasive and user prompted Opt-in Personal relationship building Brand building (with consistent content) Helps with SEO (keywords, backlinks, internal links)

Cons Extremely time consuming for effective inbound marketing Slow build up Requires a dedicated team for multiple facets of inbound marketing (social media management, content creation, copywriter, HR, etc.) Hard to get through the noise Mistakes are always noticed – and sometimes heightened – on social media Major markets are very competitive to break through

 

Why do I need it?

Because no one wants to listen to or look at ads all day. With the emergence of the internet and smartphones, 81% of customers research online for an average of almost 80 days before buying. If people spend that much time reading, you want them to be reading content written by you.

Also…

1. You become a Thought Leader. By publishing consistent, authoritative, helpful, and relevant content with great insight, you’ll be recognized as a leading presence in your industry. It goes hand-in-hand with brand awareness and building.
2. You build personal relationships. The very nature of inbound marketing is that people find you and you help them. It’s almost like becoming friends.
3. You create loyal customers. Building that sense of trust through inbound marketing will make it easier to cultivate a longer lasting relationship. They know you won’t betray them and you look out for their best interest.
4. You help people. Although inbound marketing is still marketing. It’s marketing with a purpose: to let them leave with more.

 

Email Marketing

I had to put this in its own section. Marketers often associate email marketing with outbound marketing because it’s just “spam.” In a lot of cases, yes. But that’s only through bad email marketing.

Unsolicited emails have a bad rap because they usually don’t look at the people and what they want.

I say to you, follow these guidelines so e-mail marketing doesn’t become “outbound”:

• Personalize emails. Only use emails to give them what the customer wants. This is a good time to refresh your memory on Buyer Personas and the Buyer’s Journey. Time to start thinking about marketing automation (coming soon).
• Give them good content. Think about opt-in newsletters with weekly top blogs and product updates. Everything else – consider it case-by-case.
• Target their needs and circumstances. Stay relevant by ensuring that your emails are topics of interest for the recipient.

 

Omni-Marketing

This is the ultimate formula:

Inbound Marketing + Outbound Marketing + Social Media

 

Types of Marketing

And yet another list of different marketing techniques you can explore and conquer.

Thanks to Chief Martec for this awesome list – we cut it down a bit and highlighted the ones we think you should really think about.

• Affiliate Marketing: paying affiliates to bring traffic to your business
• Ambush Marketing: using a major event as a marketing campaign without sponsorship
• Article Marketing: publishing articles
• Buzz Marketing: aka Viral marketing (making your content “big” and highly shared)
• Cause Marketing: working with nonprofits for business marketing
• Celebrity Marketing: using celebrities to boost exposure and awareness of your brand
• Cloud Marketing: using SaaS (software-as-a-service)
• Cooperative Marketing: joining with other companies to market a product, service, or brand
• Communal Marketing: engaging with the public to develop a marketing campaign
• Community Marketing: building your own dedicated online community
• Content Marketing: making content for entertainment or education
• Controversial Marketing: gaining attention by presenting controversy or conflict
• Conversational Marketing: grabbing people’s awareness through two-way conversations
• Culture Marketing: using culture to build brand
• Drip Marketing: sending pre-written messages to customers via a scheduled timeline and based on triggers using marketing automation
• Event Marketing: hosting and attending events like tradeshows and conferences
• Green Marketing: promoting products and services based on their eco-friendliness
• Guerilla Marketing: integrating usually unconventional and low-cost techniques for maximum exposure
• Horizontal Marketing: messaging similar content and ads to multiple groups and industries
• Influencer Marketing: narrowing in on influencers as the prime target audience
• Integrated Marketing: merging the use of several marketing techniques, tools, and channels
• Internal Marketing: looking at employees first and synchronizing marketing efforts within your team
• Long Tail Marketing: appeasing to several niche markets to get to the larger audience
• Loyalty Marketing: directing efforts to keep and maintain current customers through rewards
• Non-Traditional Marketing: relying on eccentric methods to attract customers (i.e. guerilla and publicity stunts)
• Offline Marketing: marketing not through the internet (i.e. flyers, tradeshows, conferences); a.k.a. traditional marketing
• Outdoor Marketing: applying physical forms of advertising (offline), such as door hangers, bus banners, and billboards
• Permission Marketing: encouraging users to want to hear from you
• Referral Marketing: giving incentives to current customers to refer others to your business
• Relationship Marketing: focusing on the long-term relationships with your customers through engagement
• Self Marketing: employing yourself to market your brand and company (a.k.a. personal branding)
• Social Marketing: influencing people’s behavior in a better way (often confused with social media marketing)
• Social Media Marketing: engaging with people through social media platforms
• Street Marketing: relying on nontraditional methods in public areas to attract prospects
• Vertical Marketing: coming up with different solutions to different industries and groups
• Video Marketing: integrating videos into your marketing efforts
• Word-of-Mouth Marketing: emphasizing the happiness of customers to push for brand advocates who spread the word of your company

 

Next time, we’ll go more in-depth on the benefits and caveats of Online and Offline Marketing (coming soong).

 

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This is a blog series outlining the details of the 6 principles of Engagement Marketing: VAIRCG.