Outbound Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing – Which is Better?

Inbound marketing is about attracting qualified leads to your company by creating content designed specifically for your target market. By being helpful and relevant, leads find their way to your site. Your content keeps them coming back for more, and they become long-term customers and brand advocates.

Outbound marketing, on the other hand, is the opposite of inbound marketing. It focuses on being disruptive and invasive, rather than helpful. Sometimes known as “interruption” marketing, it involves trying to get the company’s message out to as many prospects as possible, hoping that it resonates with a few potential buyers. Common forms of outbound marketing include cold calling, direct mail, and advertising.

Content marketing generates three times as many leads as traditional outbound marketing, but costs 62% less. – DemandMetric

In the digital age, inbound marketing is the clear winner when it comes to generating leads, winning customers, and closing sales. This is because inbound marketing focuses on being helpful – and today’s prospective buyers want to do business with companies that understand their needs and can provide real solutions. With that said, here are four more reasons why inbound marketing is superior to outbound marketing:

1. It’s less expensive. Outbound marketing is extremely expensive. You have to print and mail materials and buy TV, radio, and magazine space for your advertisements. Conversely, inbound marketing is extremely affordable and can be implemented by any company regardless of the budget. All that’s required is an ability to create high-quality content and leverage SEO, social media, and your website to attract your target market.

2. It ensures your message is heard. Today’s audiences are tuning out messages that are delivered via outbound marketing. They ignore commercials and print advertisements, and consume only the content that interests them. Inbound marketing acknowledges this simple fact, and puts your message in front of people who are interested in what you have to say. This ensures that the right prospects consume and are influenced by your content.

3. It engages your audience. While outbound marketing is about talking at people and telling them why they should be interested in your product or service, inbound marketing engages your audience. It draws them in and starts a dialogue. It encourages them to comment on your posts and participate in the discussion. This engagement means they’re more open to receiving your message, and are more likely to become long-term customers.

4. It’s more effective. The bottom line is outbound marketing doesn’t work anymore. Old tactics like direct mail, advertising, and cold-calling are simply ineffective and inefficient. In fact, according to HubSpot, inbound marketing is proven to deliver 54% more leads into the marketing funnel than traditional outbound marketing tactics. Because it’s so much more effective, inbound marketing is a much better place to invest your company’s time, money, and resources.

5. Bridges are not burned. With outbound marketing, your organization runs the risk of interrupting, annoying, and frustrating your prospects--your organization comes off as desperate, pushy, untrustworthy, and not helpful. Outbound marketing can can burn bridges with prospects. Inbound marketing, on the other hand, builds trust and credibility.

SOURCES:

Hubspot, State of Inbound 2014, https://www.stateofinbound.com/

Demand Metric, Content Marketing Infographic, https://www.demandmetric.com/content/content-marketing-infographic