Inbound Marketing VS Traditional: What’s the difference?

29 Jul Inbound Marketing VS Traditional: What’s the difference?

Inbound vs Outbound Marketing: what’s the difference?

This is Part One of a trilogy of ideas surrounding inbound marketing. Let’s start with the basics. What’s the difference between new ‘inbound’ maketing and traditional ‘outbound’ marketing.

As Brian Halligan, founder of Hubspot, says:

“Search engines, blogging and other Internet trends have fundamentally transformed the way people and businesses purchase products. But most small businesses still use outdated and inefficient marketing methods – like print advertising, telemarketing & trade shows – that people increasingly find intrusive and screen out.”

Hubspot is the world-leader in inbound marketing, which it defines as ‘any marketing tactic that relies on earning people’s interest instead of buying it. The system involves four easy steps:

1. get found online

2. convert visitors to leads

3. convert leads to customers

4. analyze and improve

If you’re a small business owner, you’re probably  unsure of just what kind of marketing is most effective these days, there are so many options. Well now is probably the time to make a radical transformation; to reframe the very way you think about attracting and keeping good customers. Old school advertising is a controlled, one-way message from the marketer to the consumer. The Internet has turned this into a real-time dialogue among millions of people.

People no longer wait to hear marketing messages on TV or in a magazine to find out about a new product. They simply conduct their own research online. Immediately. That’s well over 80% of Internet users. You’re probably one.

And over half of these folks read blogs at least monthly. Note that companies that blog get 60% more website visitors! And the majority of these businesses say they’ve acquired customers through their company blog.

But wait, there’s more: Inbound marketing costs way less than the old school way – about 2/3s! Inbound is proven to be far more effective, at far less cost. It’s a win-win, especially for small to medium sized businesses.