There has been a major change taking over the marketing over the past few years. There is a big shift in how products were marketing in 20th century and now. We are moving away from hit and trial methods of marketing to more customer centric and analytics based approach towards marketing.
With time focus on Inbound marketing strategy is growing compared to outbound marketing. Is this gradual shift good for the companies? We will try and understand the difference between inbound and outbound marketing. Traditional method is the outbound method which used to be there for marketing.
Reaching the Target Audience
Traditional: In this reaching, the target audience would be by mass communication throughout the day. Since, you are reaching out to customer it is also called outbound. This could be through a variety of actions:
- Watching television
- Listening to the radio on their way to work
- Advertisements while reading news on website -Banner Ads
The analytics that might go into this lower than what go. Traditional marketing is more about creating a brand image so that when customer needs it he might need you
Inbound: In inbound marketing strategy, we reach the target audience when we realize the customer is in need of product/service. We try to bring them onboard when they are in early stage to make a purchase decision.
This guidance and help provided helps you to convert this lead into a customer.
Interest Generation
Traditional: In this generating interest is done through mass medium like TV advertisements, newspaper advertisements. It is focused on a group rather than individual who might need it.
Inbound: In this methodology focus is only on individuals who need that service rather than mass or group targeting. It is a more targeted approach. For this kind of approach a persona must be created as to who and how you want your ideal customer to be like.
After we are sure who we want to target, we only approach these people rather than a mass audience. Thus, conversion rate and effectiveness of this strategy is much higher than that of traditional marketing.
Lead Generation
Traditional: The method used in traditional marketing is a shot gun method. This means we target the audiences at large. The medium used for the same could be
- Telemarketing
- Referrals
- Newspaper Ads
The conversion rate is pretty low in this kind of campaign. Even though you are targeting a large audience
Inbound: In inbound marketing strategy, lead is obtained by educating the customer that you are adding value to the customer. Then, it is a two-way communication thing unlike traditional where you are the one pushing the product. If the prospect fits into the persona it is a lead
Tracking Results
Traditional: Result tracking is difficult to estimate in traditional marketing as we are targeting masses. Suppose, if our medium is television or newspaper advertisement. It would be difficult to get the exact number of converts till that advertisement is circulating.
Inbound: Tracking Results of an Inbound campaign are comparatively easy as we know which individuals we are going to target. There are various tools which are there to track the success of the campaign. Some of them are Google Analytics, Hub Spot and Crazy Egg
This makes it easier to track results
Optimizing for Returns
Traditional: In this you are never sure if you would be able to reach the right people or not. Since, you are targeting masses you can just hope it reaches the right audience. This proves to be must costlier than inbound marketing.
Inbound: In this, data drives everything. You know the kind of persona and individuals you are going to target and even if the campaign doesn’t goes well you can alter your campaign to optimize returns.
Conclusion
There is no doubt, inbound marketing is the future of marketing. Not only being cost effective, it also makes sure it reaches audience and analysis becomes easier.
For more learning you can read our free inbound marketing certification course. For any help or query regarding inbound marketing strategy you can contact the The Buzz Stand team.