Inbound and outbound marketing : two marketing strategies that are complete opposites? Not really…
If the two marketing strategies seem like polar opposites, they can nonetheless complement each other.
If you want to set up an effective digital marketing strategy, it's useful to work with both of these marketing levers. Here's why!
Inbound and outbound marketing: definitions
To find out whether the two digital marketing strategies can be complementary, let's start by defining them…
Outbound marketing: the traditional marketing strategy
Outbound marketing, or outgoing marketing, is the marketing strategy used by salespeople and marketers since time immemorial. You analyze the market, target potential customers and go where they are to bring them to you. Outbound marketing operates through large-scale marketing actions, often invasive, since the consumer generally didn't ask for them. The processes are often the same: email campaigns, cold calling or door-to-door canvassing, sponsored links, TV and radio ads…
It's also called push marketing, which perfectly describes the strategy since the company pushes its product toward the consumer to prompt them to act.
In short: outbound marketing aims to create the need.
Inbound marketing: the lead magnet
Theinbound marketing or inbound marketing is the opposite of outbound. In inbound marketing, companies publish content on their website, on social networks, on partner sites, etc., to draw consumers to them. In this strategy, it is the consumer who decides to take the first step.
In short: inbound marketing answers a need.
Also read: Inbound marketing: 5 examples and tips
What are the differences between inbound and outbound marketing?
As you have probably already understood, the difference between the two strategies is huge: outbound marketing pushes, while inbound marketing invites.
Here, point by point, are the differences between the two digital strategies:
The sales approach
In outbound marketing, the salesperson does the prospecting; in inbound marketing, the future customer takes the initiative.
Concretely, the benefit for the company is significant:
- The customer arrives with purchase intent. They already know the product or service: its benefits, price, features...
- Consequently, the sales cycle is very short and the conversion rate is excellent.
- Your salesperson has more time to devote to closing, and can therefore finalize the sale under better conditions.
Information dissemination
Outbound marketing simply sends promotional messages or advertisements to a potential customer base that ends up being invaded and overwhelmed by all these marketing offers. By contrast, inbound marketing provides informative, high-value content that the internet user enjoys reading. This gives them time to compare different offers objectively, without pressure and without often intrusive or sometimes misleading sales pitches.
Customer relationship
In outbound marketing, the salesperson targets potential new clients and contacts them. Whether by email or by phone, the approach is always the same: intrusive. Target customers often don't need the product or service at that moment and the reception is generally commensurate with the disturbance… Conversely, in inbound marketing the customer decides to contact the salesperson, they are ready, and the client relationship starts on much better terms.
Collection of personal data
If, in outbound marketing, the prospect consents to give you their email address, it is often just to end the conversation. That does not make them a future customer; on the contrary… In inbound marketing, the lead is highly interested in your offer. They will therefore give you all their contact details (email, phone, website…) to be sure of being contacted.
Inbound and outbound marketing: why is it beneficial to combine the two strategies?
Despite all the criticisms leveled at outbound marketing, the strategy has some advantages and it would be a shame not to make use of them…
- Outbound marketing is an effective way to make a brand or a new offer known quickly and at scale.
- Digital strategy also allows you to share marketing information with very specific targets, provided the ads are personalized and shown at the right time.
- This way you obtain leads quickly, which also allows you to measure your ROI (return on investment) rapidly.
However, this lead acquisition only generates ROI in the short term and the leads are often poorly qualified. Not to mention that marketing campaigns must be renewed regularly, which ends up becoming costly and time-consuming.
By contrast, with inbound marketing you obtain a long-term ROI. The strategy is more profitable and the leads are better qualified.
So, concretely, outbound marketing is useful for launching a product or service, but inbound marketing should then take over for a sustainable, high-performing strategy. Used wisely, the two approaches are complementary, so don’t hesitate to do everything you can to get your brand noticed!
Also read: Inbound recruiting: using content to support your employer brand
Inbound and outbound marketing: digital levers to implement
Each of the two strategies has its own marketing levers; here’s an overview:
Actions to implement in outbound marketing
Among the actions traditionally used in outbound, emailing and digital advertising remain the main distribution channels.
Paid advertising can be on TV or radio, but it most often takes place online. Unless you are targeting an exclusively B2B audience, the best advertising platforms are Google and Facebook (LinkedIn for B2B). Facebook Ads campaigns will allow you to target a specific audience.
As for Google AdWords campaigns, they have the advantage of placing your website at the top of the search engine results in the Ads section. This quickly increases your visibility in the SERP and therefore your conversion rate. However, once the SEA campaign ends, you disappear from Google’s results.
Finally, outbound marketing also relies mainly on two other marketing techniques:
- Cold calling consists of contacting potential customers who have never had prior contact with your salesperson.
- Retargeting, which—thanks to cookies—allows you to re-engage a visitor who came to your website and left without making a purchase. When they visit another site, a retargeting banner will appear, inviting them to complete their order or view other products.
Actions to implement in inbound marketing
Inbound marketing is based on four marketing methods: attract, convert, sell and retain.
Attracting visitors
The success of this first step lies in developing a relevant persona profile to target your visitors and draw them to your website. The objective is to generate quality traffic, which requires creating high-quality content with the right keywords. Your content should be informative and capture their attention. The tools used include blog posts, web page content, social media posts, etc.
Turn the visitor into a lead
Your visitor is interested in your offer; now it’s time to keep them! You must encourage them to leave their contact details by offering premium content, such as a white paper or an ebook. The tools used are call-to-actions, optimized landing pages, relevant contact forms, etc. Pop-ups can also be effective, but sparingly.
Convert the lead into a customer
You now have a well-stocked list of potential customers; all that remains is to guide your prospects throughout the buying journey. To do this, publish personalized blog articles and send targeted newsletters using lead nurturing and marketing automation techniques.
Build customer loyalty and turn them into an ambassador
You have succeeded in winning over your visitors and turning them into customers — great! However, there is one last step: turning your customers into ambassadors, because nothing beats a satisfied customer’s recommendation for attracting new clients. The goal is therefore to maintain ongoing contact with your customers to retain them. For that, producing high-quality content is essential if you want to build an active community around your brand.
Our tip
As you may have noticed, the two strategies inbound and outbound marketing can be perfectly complementary. But beware: the foundation of both strategies remains content marketing. So if you want your marketing strategy to succeed, you must emphasize the quality of your SEO content.
For that, only one solution: order your texts from Redacteur.com !
