Inbound vs outbound marketing

Today's blog post is based on a Facebook post by Casey Eberhart:

What's the difference between inbound and outbound marketing? And is one better than the other?

From SEOPressor:

Difference between Inbound and Outbound Marketing

In their most basic forms, outbound marketing uses push tactics while inbound marketing uses pull tactics.

A big part of inbound marketing relies on creating valuable content and attracting visitors with it. It relies on the development of modern communications technology like the Internet, mobile phones and social media to attract consumers. Instead of pushing a message out onto a large population, inbound marketing attracts specific audiences that are out there looking for information.

The goal is to pull interested people toward the marketing materials and attract them to the business with valuable information. This is done by setting up a wide variety of online marketing assets are ready and waiting for interested consumers to find.

These assets include blog posts, websites and paid advertising optimized for specific Internet searches, a dynamic social media presence, mobile apps and much more. When people are attracted to your marketing content, they readily give their permission to receive more information and promotional material from you.

Inbound Marketing	Outbound Marketing
Permissive	Interruptive
Pull tactics	Push tactics
Two-way communication	One-way communication
Marketers provide value	Marketers provide little to no value
Customers come to you	Customers are sought after
Channels: Search engines, referrals, social medias	Channels: Print ads, TV ads, radio, telemarketing…

I think the main difference is that inbound marketing attracts prospects by providing useful content, plus a way of having a dialog with that prospect. This blog is an example of inbound marketing...I provide useful (I hope) content and provide a forum for people to interact with that content and my business,

Also from SEOPressor:

Today, technology has changed how people obtain information and consequently, marketing has undergone a massive transformation. Outbound marketing tactics, like television and radio advertising, are not as effective as they once were. Now comes the age of inbound marketing, driven by the Internet and social media.

Outbound marketing is just another name for “traditional advertising methods”, it is devised to contrast with the newer “inbound marketing”. It includes television and radio advertising, print advertising, telemarketing, direct mail, and outdoor advertising. 

The basic idea is that advertisers use mass media tools to push their message and products out to the public. The hope is that if enough people who are in your target audience hear the message, they will respond.

These marketing tactics used to be effective, but nowadays these ads are so saturated and so similar that people no longer pay attention to them.

Another problem with outbound marketing is that many people who are not in your target audience are also exposed to your message, which makes the cost of advertising on these mediums less effective.

Traditional marketing is interruptive. Commercials interrupt television shows. Door to door salesman and cold calls interrupt what people are doing to present a sales pitch. This push advertising worked in the mass media age, but modern communications technology has allowed people to escape and avoid these annoying interruptions.

 While:

Inbound marketing pulls visitors in, increase brand exposure, and creates brand authority through the creation of valuable content.

There's still a time and place for traditional marketing...in fact if you have millions of dollars available in your advertising budget, you can appear in the Super Bowl for advertisers. In fact these commercials are so popular they even broadcast a football game before and after the commercials!

But for most of us, inbound marketing is more effective.

Interesting days

Today - Nothing Like A Dame Day, Bat Appreciation Day, Banana Day, World Hemophilia Day, Cheeseball Day, Haiku Poetry Day, Blah Blah Blah Day and Ford Mustang Day

Tomorrow - High Five Day, Poem in Your Pocket Day, College Student Grief Awareness Day, Piñata Day, Amateur Radio Day, Pet Owners Independence Day, Columnists Day, Lineman Appreciation Day and World Heritage Day

Next Wednesday - Pig In A Blanket Day, Administrative Professionals Day and International Guide Dogs Day

May 17 - World Baking Day, Bike To Work Day, Pack Rat Day, Endangered Species Day, Pizza Party Day, International Virtual Assistants Day, World Hypertension Day, World Telecommunications Day, Shades Day, Pinot Grigio Day, Neurofibromatosis Awareness Day, International Day Against Homophobia, Transphobia and Biphobia and Work From Home Day