Reasons to Engage in Inbound Marketing

If you’ve ever played hard to get, you know that the less attention you give someone, the more they want you (at least that’s the idea!). What most people don’t know is that playing hard to get works in marketing just as well as in love. I’m not talking about ignoring your customer’s calls or acting disinterested in their needs, but I am talking about adjusting your marketing habits so that your customers come to you.

Traditional (outbound) marketing focuses on attracting your prospect’s attention using techniques such as TV commercials and telemarketing calls; in essence, outbound marketing goes out into the world and tries to pitch potential prospects on your product or service – it’s what marketing mastermind Seth Godin calls “interruption marketing.”

In contrast, inbound marketing utilizes entertaining and/or informative CONTENT to educate and motivate your prospect to take a closer look. Examples of this content include blogs, webinars, white papers, and even online videos. The idea behind inbound marketing is to have someone initially visit your website in search of information, rather than a product or service. This organic discovery makes the visitor feel at ease – without the pressure to buy a product. When done correctly, inbound marketing delivers ongoing value that keep visitors coming back to your website. And, the more times a visitor comes to your website, the more likely they are to become a customer.

Here are three reasons why inbound marketing is superior to outbound marketing:

REASON #1:  Outbound marketing is rude

How would you feel if you were trying to enjoy a TV show and every 7 minutes someone screamed “Look at me! Buy my awesome product!”? You’d probably feel quite annoyed, especially if they did it right before they revealed the killer’s identity on Law and Order. This is what outbound marking does, though; it interrupts enjoyable activities such as watching TV or browsing the web with distracting advertisements. Don’t be the yelling guy; be the guy that invites potential customers to browse your valuable content at their leisure.

REASON #2:  You can get lost in the crowd

Depending on which source you reference, the average person is exposed to between 1 and 2 million advertisements per year; That’s insane! This sheer number makes it impossible to notice, much less remember, most of these ads. Even if an advertisement such as a funny TV commercial is memorable, the viewer might only remember the commercial, not the product.  Aim to stand out of the crowd by creating real value for your prospects, not by adding to the noise.

REASON #3:  It’s more affordable (and delivers a higher ROI)

Inbound marketing is not about who has the deepest pockets.  It’s about who’s willing to put the effort in to create truly compelling and useful content, and then promote that content online.  For example, you can write your own blog for free or contract the writing out for a small fee. Even posting a marketing video on Youtube (and embedding it on your website) is free. This content not only allows you to attract prospects at a lower cost per lead, it often has great “shelf life.”  The content can, and should, be reused and repurposed across your entire marketing mix over an extended period of time.

Traditional approaches like TV, radio, and print ads can all be very pricy and literally have a shelf life that is measured in seconds!  If you have deep pockets and you’re primary goal is company branding, these avenues can make sense.  Otherwise, focus on inbound marketing as your primary strategy.

If you’d like help formulating and inbound marketing strategy, feel free to reach out to us!

Hope this helps.