To some people, inbound marketing might seem like a contradiction in terms. Isn’t marketing always outbound? Isn’t it up to the company to reach out to the consumer and convince them to buy a certain product or service?
Traditionally, this has always been the case. Before the advent of the internet, marketing methods functioned in this manner. TV advertisements, billboards, print advertisements and direct mail marketing all sought the prospect out in an effort to convince them to buy the product.
But inbound marketing has changed all that. This is because inbound marketing requires the prospect to make an effort. They have to fire up their computer, look up websites, blogs and social media pages. They have to read website content and social media comments. They have to be more actively involved in finding the exact product or service that will meet their needs.
Inbound Marketing: A More Interactive Method
Surprisingly enough, prospects and leads have proved themselves up to the task of researching various products and services which come to their attention. Not only do they regularly browse internet sites and social media pages to get more information, but they’re also involved in creating more social media content themselves.
They post comments on blogs, Facebook pages and Twitter. They speak up and let companies know what they want. And companies respond by tweaking their products, services and marketing methods to accommodate them.
So you need to understand, from the get-go, that inbound marketing is a much more interactive method than outbound marketing.
Inbound Marketing Equals Greater Freedom Of Choice
The one major advantage of inbound marketing for small businesses is that it gives the customer more freedom of choice.
With outbound marketing, most customers feel that they are being coerced in some way. As a result, many of them tend to block advertisements. They might mute the TV when there’s a commercial break or install an ad blocker on their computer. As this article from Entrepreneur puts it, “Customers have access to so much information every day, they’ve become increasingly resentful of marketing intrusions.”
People don’t want to have to know about products and services that don’t apply to them. Neither do they want to be coerced into buying one product or service over another simply because an advertisement makes it look good. Outbound marketing has both these disadvantages.
When it comes to inbound marketing, however, all the choices lie with the prospect. They’re the ones who make the effort to look up your product, service or company. Maybe they heard about it from a friend on the internet or a blogger who wrote about it. Their interest was piqued and they decided to find out more. They weren’t coerced into it by an advertisement blaring out from the TV.
Inbound Marketing Equals More Information and More Success
Another advantage of inbound marketing is it’s informative in nature. And, as Michel Foucault put it, “knowledge is power.” The more knowledge you have, the more successful you are.
Think about it. Reading this article about the advantages of inbound marketing might induce you to try inbound marketing for your business, which might lead into greater success. The more information you have, the more likely you are to reach your goals. And everyone wants to be more successful in life.
By providing the customer with more information about your product or service, you can help them to live a richer life. As this article from Forbes puts it, “New, insightful content is a great way to provide value to prospective customers.
With inbound marketing, you can also give your prospect information about developments going on in your field, developments in your company, ways to use your product, advantages of your service, or a comparisons between your product or service and others.
The more information you disseminate, the more successful you are at selling your product or service and the more successful your customer is in their life.
Contact us for more information about the advantages of inbound marketing and let us build a strategy just for you.
