Marketing is the meat and potatoes of a company, as it’s what brings customers to your products. Traditionally, marketers used a strategy known as outbound marketing to capture the attention of their audience. However, a new form of marketing has been taking the marketing industry by storm: inbound marketing. So, what’s the difference?

What is Outbound Marketing?
Outbound marketing, or traditional marketing, involves a a type of marketing activities that companies “push” onto customers. Business use outbound marketing to reach the largest amount of consumers by “interrupting” their daily lives. This includes advertisements on mediums such as radio, television, print publications, billboards, and event sponsorship. There are also a few digital applications of outbound marketing, such as email blasts and banner ads. While outbound marketing is exposed to more consumers, most don’t take the time to look at the advertisement. As consumers become more accustomed to outbound marketing efforts, they’re able to ignore the advertisements, rendering the money spent a waste.

What is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is a newer style of marketing activities that seeks to “pull” customers in, rather than “push” their content out to them. This is done by aligning the content provided with the interests of the target audience. With an inbound strategy, consumers will naturally find your product, and are more likely to seek out a lasting relationship with your business. This is known as a ‘permission-based’ attempt at marketing, rather than the more aggressive ‘interruption’ model seen in traditional outbound marketing. Inbound marketing activities include webpage optimization, keyword targeting, and content/blog strategies.

Which is Better?
As technology continues to advance, customers are now finding ways to ignore or tune out advertisements that are forced upon them. Rather than force unwanted content on consumers, inbound marketing companies seek to lure customers in. And the benefits show. Inbound marketing generates 54% more leads than traditional paid marketing, and those leads costs about 60% less. Inbound marketing ROI is impressive, and a majority of marketing experts say inbound delivers a below average cost per lead compares to outbound methods.

Which marketing method do you prefer, or would you go with a combined approach? Let us know in the comments.