Once upon a time, marketing was something that was very definitely “outbound”.  Although that’s still the case for many businesses, nowadays website owners are more likely to talk about “inbound marketing“.  If you’ve ever wondered what those terms actually mean, or whether they’re even relevant to you, this article will explain the difference between the two.  More importantly, it will show you just why you need to get to grips with inbound marketing strategies.

Outbound Marketing – Dandelion Seeds

Dandelions send out literally thousands of seeds.  Most of them will get eaten by birds, or will shrivel up and die in the sun, or get washed away in the rain.  Nevertheless, one or two will find just the right conditions in which to grow.  Most of nature works on this principle.  Send enough of it out and some of it is bound to stick.

Marketing has worked in pretty much the same way for centuries – from shouting about your wares in the local market to TV ads.  The process has become more sophisticated over the years, but the idea is always the same.  Get as many people as possible to hear your message, and some will buy.

All advertising is outbound marketing, as is cold calling and email blast marketing.

Inbound Marketing – Tasty Nectar

Inbound marketing, on the other hand, works on another natural principle.  Plants depend on pollinating insects for their survival, and have evolved sophisticated ways of attracting them.  Certain orchids, for example, mimic the form of female bees in order to attract pollinating males.  Other plants give off the scent of rotting meat to attract flies.  In other words, the plant gets what it wants by offering the insects what they want.

This is exactly how inbound marketing works.  Just as a flower has evolved to attract passing insects to its tasty nectar , so websites have evolved to attract passing internet traffic.  A fundamental principle of the inbound approach is that people are already looking for what you have to offer.  They just have to find you, so the idea is to make yourself easy to find.  More to the point, your visitors have to feel that they’ve chosen to find you.  Providing information and content that your visitors wish to read is the way to do this.

Blogging, social media and search engine optimisation are all inbound marketing tactics.

This is a 180 degree reversal of traditional marketing methods.  Many business owners, including online businesses, have failed to grasp just how revolutionary this actually is.  They continue to rely on outbound marketing, the same old advertising techniques dressed up for the internet age.  Whilst there’s nothing wrong with this, as such, outbound marketing has one big problem – the vast majority of people don’t want to hear what you have to say, and have become increasingly adept at blocking it out.

There’s an old saying in advertising – only 20% of marketing works, but nobody knows which 20%.  Inbound marketing completely bypasses this, because the emphasis is on providing information, rather than delivering sales messages.  Another significant advantage, of course, is that inbound methods are much, much cheaper than the old outbound approach!

Once you understand the inbound marketing concept, and apply it to your online enterprise, you will automatically put yourself way ahead of your competition.

Remember: people are already looking for what you have to offer, they just have to find you..!

Find out more about Inbound Marketing & the Next Phase of Marketing on the Web.

Images by HubSpot.