The term inbound marketing has only just recently started to pick up interest on Google. As you can see from the chart below it’s a term which is still rising, and it isn’t showing any signs of slowing down. With so many people searching for inbound marketing it’s important to distinguish the difference between the two different advertising methods. As an inbound marketing agency it is difficult to write an article without bias towards inbound techniques, so this isn’t a comparison of which method is better, but more of the differences between the techniques.

 

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing is a series of techniques used to attract visitors to the website through either search engines or social media. This is achieved using many different techniques of both technical SEO and content management. Some of the main inbound marketing techniques commonly used are:

SEO – This is about optimizing your content, picking your keywords and ensuring that your website has lots of useful backlinks, while removing any bad ones. You can also optimize your website fully using technical SEO although a lot of this links into good user experience, which is something your website should always aim high on.

PPC – This is similar to traditional print advertising but appears on search engines instead of the local paper. It costs far less, reaches much more people, and should be used to promote your campaigns as it is a much stronger method of advertising than in the local paper.

Content Creation – This inbound marketing technique relies on the creation of relevant content to your industry. This is then posted on your website (on the blog) and shared across multiple platforms. By using social media you can drive traffic to your website, and you can also get back links from other content creators which will improve your SEO, and your brand identity.

Page Optimization – Your website is the first place most clients will have ever heard of you so it makes sense to ensure that it is perfectly optimized to be found on search engines and improves your ranking. Inbound marketing relies on this as the first technique used to ensure that you rank as well as you can on search prior to content creation.

This list is not complete and each client needs a specific digital strategy which will we develop with you, but for lead generation this should be a good place to start.

Outbound Marketing

Outbound Marketing differs from inbound marketing because it is practically the opposite. This is the traditional form of marketing where a company will send its message directly out to an audience using a media such as print or TV. Since this method directly contacts the customer it doesn’t always get received in the best way, and can often result in your brand becoming hated (if you are sending a lot of junk mail for example). Outbound marketing is far less profitable and has a lower conversion rate than inbound marketing (although it can be hard to track it) and yet most businesses are happy to spend 90% of their marketing budgets on these outdated techniques. Some commonly used outbound marketing techniques are:

Leaflets – Print is one of the most widely used methods of advertising due to it being so cheap. Leaflets are designed then printed and send out to be placed in strategic locations (shops and noticeboards) or just posted through people’s front doors. The conversion rate for print is very low and most people will simply ignore the leaflets, often putting them right into the bin.

TV Advertising – This is a multi-billion pound industry and is very expensive but does it really work? How many people actually sit down through a commercial break? Most people avoid commercials and use the time to go make a cup of tea. The cost of a single commercial will also set you back quite a way, it’s a very expensive way to just build brand awareness as you are highly unlikely to make the cost back from the sales that you will generate.

Cold Calling – This is a method which does work, but it can also annoy people. Cold calling is one of the biggest aspects of marketing and it’s a tried and tested method which continues to bring in sale after sale, although much to the annoyance of the people on the other end of the phone. Unfortunately until your inbound marketing has really started to take off this is one of the few outbound marketing techniques that you will need to employ throughout your business.

Although the list for outbound marketing techniques isn’t complete, there is enough information above to distinguish the difference between inbound and outbound marketing, but how can you make the swap?

How to Swap to Inbound Marketing

Swapping from leaflets and print to SEO and PPC can be a daunting task for even the most senior business owner, but we are here to help. If you want to start making the change to inbound marketing then you need to start by optimizing your website and social media. Next you should start some keyword research, find what people are searching for in your local area and what you want to rank for. This data is valuable to ensure that you are reaching the correct audience and not wasting time ranking for a term nobody searches for.

The next step is to create a Google AdWords campaign. Pay-per-click will be the primary source of advertising for your company until your SEO can really start to kick in. If you are unsure of how to use Google AdWords you can find more about it on our page here. Once you have set up your campaign it is important to optimize it. If you are unsure if your campaign is optimized you can contact us and we can find out for you, you could save yourself a lot of money, or generate more leads.

Ongoing keyword research to ensure that you are still targeting the best keywords for your company. It’s now time to start generating strong and relevant content using your blog. If you want to learn about how to use a blog correctly you can follow our two part series on how to set up a blog, and how to correctly use it. It is then a case of repeating the above to generate more content, become known in your field, rank for your chosen keywords, and ensure that your PPC campaign remains optimized and targeting the keywords you want people to find you for.