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Outbound marketing is how many companies used to find new customers. With these methods, a business would reach out to a massive audience knowing that at best, a small percentage of the people would choose to respond. Statistics say that the response to outbound marketing was in the 1-3% range meaning that most of the advertising dollars were wasted. The hope was that these marketing tactics would grab a consumer's attention, hold it until they could get their message across and then move them to action by becoming a customer of the business. Outbound marketing earned the nickname "interruption marketing" because the only way to hold your attention was to interrupt you from something else and then flood you with their information.
We are all very capable of tuning out this type of aggressive advertising. A perfect example of this is the effect that the DVR has had on television advertising. Many households today rarely even see commercials thanks to the record and fast forward features on these machines. There are many companies that still use outbound marketing techniques such as direct mail, trade shows, and print advertising with some success. However, this is not where the bulk of marketing budget should be focused these days.
Today's shoppers are more in control of what information or products they want and how they get this information. Search sites like Google and changed the way people not only look for things but how they purchase them as well. A consumer sits down at their computer and in seconds can have endless options for information, products or services that they are looking for. In this case, "inbound marketing" the customer is finding you instead of you finding them.
When the customer finds you instead of you finding them, you are in a much better place with them. These customers are already interested in what you have because they came looking for you. They are already farther along in the sales process and are much more likely to actually purchase. SEO (search engine optimization) for website content, paid advertising such as Google Adwords, social media sites like Facebook and Twitter are all among the most quickly growing areas of inbound marketing.
Most consumers are much happier to be in control of what information they get and use through inbound marketing channels. Using SEO strategies, websites can be improved so that they are more readily found by those who are searching for them. Through social media channels, customers can view what the public has to say about a product harnessing the power of testimony and referral. Many companies also use blogging to keep consumers in the know about their company and allow for interaction between the customer and company through commenting.
So, it seems the days of targeting the broad audience are being replaced by inbound marketing strategies which target a narrower, more specific audience. Overall, it's a much more cost effective way to get leads and the leads you will get using inbound techniques are likely better quality leads. What more can a business ask for?
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