There are many different approaches when it comes to establishing a marketing strategy. Choosing a strategy can depend on many factors including your organization’s goals, the industry you’re in, and the products or services you offer to name a few. Two marketing strategies that approach lead generation differently but can have an equal effect which is Inbound and Outbound Marketing.
Inbound Marketing
Nobody likes to be sold to, but everybody likes to buy. Inbound Marketing is a marketing method that attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them. Inbound Marketing focuses more on a communicative aspect and making a genuine connection with consumers.
Inbound Marketing is an effective method because it:
- Attracts the right people – By using this method your organization can attract the right people through valuable content that is relevant to them.
- Engagement – This method is about creating lasting relationships with customers, your content is heavily focused on insight and solutions that consumers are searching for resulting in higher engagement.
Outbound Marketing
Outbound marketing is a traditional method of reaching directly out to customers, the thought is the larger the audience to larger the return. Outbound marketing is associated with direct mail, cold calling, and billboards.
There are pros and cons to outbound marketing:
Pros
- Brand Awareness – As outbound marketing consists of reaching as many people as possible, you may reach people who have never heard of your organization before.
- Immediate Results – For those who you do reach and are interested they are likely to act straight away and make a purchase.
Cons
- General Targeting – Because you’re reaching out to a large number of people the messaging has to be general and not specific to a certain audience.
- Costly – Outbound marketing can be considerably more expensive than inbound because of the size of the group you have to target.
There is no right or wrong approach, both methods can lead to great success depending on your organization’s goals. If your organization is looking to create lasting relationships and returning customers, inbound marketing would be more effective while for a company wanting to sell as much as possible with one-off purchases, outbound marketing would be a better fit.
Inbound marketing costs 62% less per lead than traditional, outbound marketing.
Looking to generate more leads, traffic, and engagement?
KWSM is on your team; we develop carefully crafted lead generation strategies and campaigns that convert strangers into potential customers.
CONTACT US to schedule a complimentary brainstorming session on developing more leads and traffic for your business today!
