What is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is defined as any kind of marketing technique that is based on drawing the target audience’s attention by having valuable content that relates to the user’s needs, so they consume the information voluntarily. This marketing is characterized by being of easy access and having high-quality content.
Related reading; Inbound Marketing Strategies
Why is Inbound Marketing important?
With the pass of time, the internet has helped to change the psychology of the people and users that crawl through the web, and it is mostly the reason why TV, radio, and print are being left behind; users want to control their time and attention, they want to find specific answers to their specific questions and get it quickly without having an exterior part (a marketing company, a marketing master, etc.) decide over them. This is why inbound marketing has gained extreme popularity; it gives the users full control of what they want to consume and for how long, besides helping to find precise answers to the precise questions they might ask and in the way they prefer to.
What is the difference between Inbound and Outbound Marketing?
In outbound marketing, business and companies compete for the attention of the users and possible customers, this is often done by promotions and ads that can be presented in various forms depending on the platform and focus of the advertisement; income marketing is the opposite to this, its concept is based in letting the user reach the content by his own by offering the information and answers he is searching for, and not trying to get his attention to the material he would normally not be interested in.
These two techniques can be used together to get great results, but to do this is important to have a good knowledge and understanding of what are the pros and cons of each one, so here are their differences in different strategies and focus:
Methodology.
Inbound marketing can be compared to attentive service to the client; its principal goal is to attract him through relevant content. On the other hand, outbound marketing is centered on showing the product or service as the center of attention and trying to deliver the information to the user rather than his reaction to it.
Platform.
Inbound marketing uses the internet and digital methods as its main way of work; an example of this could be websites, social media, blogs, or search engines.
Outbound marketing is a traditional way, so it can vary from TV, radio, and print, but it can also be used in digital ways such as emails.
Results.
Because inbound marketing studies its public and how to deliver the content to them, it allows to know the results and make measurements about it; this can be done through many digital tools to determine whether the outcome is positive or not.
As explained before, the purpose of outbound marketing is to show the product to the biggest product possible, which is a massive production, so this means it is impersonal and is more difficult to track the user’s reaction to it.
Inbound Marketing Strategies.
- Public.
The public or audience is one of the most (if not the most) important parts of inbound marketing, so the first step when using this method is defining the demographic the content is intended for. This way the company has an idea of what the information should look like.
- SEO.
Inbound marketing starts with the user wanting an answer to a determined question. Of course, the first place a person goes when looking for information is to a search engine; this is why it is important to optimize the content created for search engines (search engine optimization). The goal with this is trying to attract new leads and getting them to convert.
- Engagement.
Users may show interest in the content presented by a company, but this does not mean that they will convert. This is why it is necessary to create content that engages with them. To achieve this, it is important to be able to build trust by making the brand feel familiar and make clear why it is a good decision to buy the product or service.
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