Get an Edge Over Your Competitors with Inbound Marketing
Marketing is a flourishing field nowadays with many marketing gurus and even intellectuals writing about what makes a certain product tick. Sometimes, the simplest of products can become immensely popular if you employ the right marketing methods. You can go with traditional means of advertising such as print ads, TV ads and billboards. Or you can go with internet marketing which can be outbound or inbound.
What Is Outbound Marketing?
What exactly is the difference between outbound and inbound marketing? All traditional means of marketing are outbound. In these, the company reaches out to the consumer and tries to catch his/her eye. When you’re driving down a street and you see a Calvin Klein underwear model plastered all over a billboard, that’s Calvin Klein trying to catch your eye via outbound marketing. The same goes for advertisements in magazines or on TV. Even on the internet, it’s possible to reach out to your customer via email marketing or advertisements on various web pages.
What Is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing involves being prepared for when the consumer reaches out to you. This is a relatively new phenomenon which started with the advent of the internet. With inbound marketing, the consumer has already heard about your product or service. Maybe someone mentioned it in passing or maybe someone “liked” it on Facebook. There are many ways in which the consumer’s attention might already be piqued. Then all they have to do is an internet search which will hopefully give them all the information they need.
Inbound Marketing with a Website, Blog and Social Media Pages
If you want to practice inbound marketing, you need to be prepared for when this search takes place. You need to have a website in place which will give your potential consumer all the information necessary about your product, from its various features to FAQs about how it works. You can also throw in a blog which is updated every few days (or at least once a week). This way, you’re likely to show up in a number of searches, since the blog will probably be talking about something different but related every time. Social media pages can also help you with inbound marketing because sometimes, consumers will be able to just follow a link from what one of their friends might have written about your product or service.
The Advantage of Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing tends to be a lot more effective than outbound marketing. Don’t you ever find yourself getting irritated with those billboards and TV ads? But if you hear something about a product from an independent source and look it up yourself, you’re not going to get irritated the same way because it was your idea to look it up. So inbound marketing gives your customer the freedom to decide whether or not they’re interested in your product rather than being bombarded by unnecessary information.
Contact us for more information about inbound and outbound marketing.
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