Sometimes I long for the good ole’ days when marketing was just called marketing.
It wasn’t segregated into categories – it was just marketing, plain and simple.
In today’s business world, we now refer to direct mail, TV ads and billboards as “outbound” marketing and creating a social media presence, utilizing SEO and engaging in online groups and forums as “inbound” marketing.
Inbound marketing is said to be the more passive approach, as people find you through your company’s efforts to reach out to others by building relationships, giving information freely and educating consumers on “how to” utilize a product they’ve purchased. Let’s say your company makes and sells blenders. Mrs. Jones buys your blender because she wants to make Pina Coladas for an upcoming holiday. In the past, Mrs. Jones bought a blender and that was that. She brought it home, maybe read the instructions on how to use it and then made something.Today, Mrs. Jones wants to be educated on how to use the blender (watch a video on YouTube), what ingredients to buy to make the best Pina Colada (suggestions and recipes) and what to serve with them (more recipes and is directed to your company’s blog or free e-book for this).Your company needs to be able to deliver an “experience,” not just a product.Outbound marketing on the other hand, is void of the “touchy, feely” approach and hands off. It’s hard to put emotion into a postcard or a coupon inside the newspaper.It’s also much more intrusive in terms of getting the word out about your company and what you do. How many people do you know that like to be called at 8 p.m. in an effort to get them to buy something that they don’t want or need because they have no way of knowing whether they do or don’t because they’re not familiar with your company.With inbound marketing, your company engages with the public through social media. You build relationships with potential consumers, you ask questions, you try to solve their problems and offer solutions. You slowly but surely ingratiate yourself into their lives because you’re not just a company, you’re a friend.Are you beginning to see the difference?Through inbound marketing, you now have the ability to make people aware of what your company does and generate interest at the same time.It’s not to say that a blending of the two marketing approaches won’t work but it definitely bears careful consideration. 
