Why Inbound Marketing is Taking Over the Marketing Industry 

Marketing strategies are full of creativity and ingenuity.  For generations there have been new and exciting ways to promote products, services, and businesses.  Some of these methods have been nothing more than trends or passing fads, while others have become staples in a marketing toolbox.  Inbound marketing is one of the trends that has proven itself to be a great approach for the short term and the long term.  Arguably one can state that inbound marketing will usurp practically every other strategy.  

Here are some key reasons why inbound marketing is so effective:

• Metrics - the ability to actually measure the effectiveness of various inbound initiatives makes this marketing approach unique and also justifiable for most businesses.  Using the metrics, a company can determine whether the marketing dollars spent on particular campaigns were effective or help to choose a different approach.
• Benchmarks and best practices - there are plenty of best practice "do's and don't's" for inbound campaigns to help your business launch the most effective initiatives.
• Agility - as new online marketing opportunities become available, you can utilize your inbound marketing platform and tools to adjust and refine your strategies.  For example, if a new social media site becomes the latest buzz, you will be able to "plug in" quickly and take advantage.  Likewise, you can scale down on some initiatives that may not be as effective.  An example might be how certain Google Adwords may not be returning the highest quality leads.  You can adjust quickly and change those key words based on your particular needs.
• Variety - the idea of inbound marketing is to present your company to individuals or other businesses who might be searching for your particular products or services.  The tools available with inbound initiates can include not only a web site but also social media pages such as Facebook or Twitter, industry blogs, entertaining E-Books, search engine optimization (SEO), email campaigns, and much more.  With all of the various options available, your business can be available whenever a potential customer may need you.

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Inbound Marketing vs PPC

Pay per click (PPC) does not necessarily need to be at odds with your inbound marketing strategy.  Some businesses may view PPC as a less than reputable means of advertising.  This is actually a misconception.  While there are opportunities to exploit PPC, this option can work quite well in coordination with an inbound marketing program.

PPC is an online marketing technique where your business website can appear at the top of search results when certain keywords and phrases are used in search engines.  Depending on your choices, the business name and link can appear in the search results list, at the top in a sponsored link area, or on the side of the search results.  There is a fee associated with PPC that is incurred each time a visitor clicks your business link to get to your web site.

Some of the tactics used with PPC include:

SEO – leverage PPC to make sure your business is prominently displayed whenever your SEO keywords or phrases are searched.  This is by far the most popular reason to use PPC and is considered a very legitimate approach.

Competitors – some businesses will use PPC when a competitor name is entered the other business will display at the top.  While it is a devious tactic it is not necessarily a bad one, and is used with several online retailers.

Speed – when you need to launch a campaign or increase your web site traffic quickly, PPC can be utilized to almost immediately increase your visitors.

Another issue that businesses may have with PPC is the associated fees.  Without proper management the costs for PPC can get out of control quickly.  It is important to partner with a reliable marketing service provider that can help you properly manage your PPC and inbound marketing plans.  For more information please call us directly or click the button below and we will contact you.  Thank you.

Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing

Good old fashioned outbound marketing has been around almost since trading and selling began.  Post a sign, distribute a flyer, print an ad and businesses hope that a potential customer will notice.  In the modern era outbound marketing still exists and still brings in a respectable amount of traffic to brick and mortar stores and even with some online web sites.

But in the age of inbound marketing it is time for businesses to market smarter by allowing potential customers to find the business instead of the opposite.

Inbound marketing presents your business in online channels where your ideal customer visits.  If and when the lead needs your products or services, your company is easily found and the sales process can begin.

Does inbound and outbound marketing have to be at odds with each other?  Absolutely not.  As a matter of fact it might be a good idea to strike the right balance between the two.

The following are some ways that inbound and outbound marketing compare, contrast, and collaborate:

Compare – both techniques are designed to deliver leads to your business.  The quality of the leads can vary greatly, however.  Outbound marketing can have less quality because there is no efficient process to qualify those leads.  Inbound techniques do a lot of the lead qualification before a human ever receives the lead.

Contrast – outbound marketing can be quite expensive, and the costs do not seem to be dropping anytime soon.  Inbound services have pricing that can be extremely reasonable with better returns on investment.

Collaborate – Hanging a sign or posting a flyer is never a bad thing, but make sure you integrate your inbound activities into your outbound marketing by including your web site address, offering readers to subscribe to email lists, or joining social media pages.

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Inbound marketing is a concept thought up by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, co-founders of HubSpot. Inbound marketing is the concept of selective consumption, meaning that the old ways of marketing to a demographic and hoping that a small percentage of that demographic will warrant the marketing spend are over. Selective consumption means that people are very good at tuning out what they don’t want and the only way to profitably market and small and medium sized business is to only speak to people that have indicated they are interested in your product or service.