Digital Marketing

An Overview of Marketing: Inbound and Outbound Marketing.

To begin with, Inbound and Outbound marketing is not a digital marketing hack but a technique that most businesses use nowadays. It is an innovative and efficient way for marketers to promote their services, but each has its benefits. “Marketing” is not marketing. There are various aspects to it. Every technique marketers use to get their services or products out in this world is beneficial. You have to be a step ahead of your competitors in the business world, or they will leave you behind in the dust. You have to be smart with the way you market. Your goal is to gain people who will use your products and services. At the same time, your other purpose is to have your name out there but be as efficient as possible. This is where Inbound and Outbound Marketing come into play. You decide if you want the customer to find you or if you see them.

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There are four significant market types; each market is different. You can’t make an inference about one and assume the other :

• Perfect Competition,
• Monopoly,
• Oligopoly and Monopsony.

A Perfect Competition Market is a type of market that everyone wants to be in. It is a market where everyone is well informed on everything, but nothing is a monopoly. But since the playing field is extensive, our products that people are selling will be out of an average consumer’s reach. Then comes a market where Monopoly is a big thing. It takes control of everything and kills smaller companies. We can take Amazon as an example; it drove companies out of business today. It is hard to stand out and survive in this market since the shark already kills the smaller fish.

An oligopoly market is straightforward. There is no monopoly, but whoever has the most sales in a specific sector, like selling cars or providing internet services, has their name out there. A monopsony market is a market that no one would like in today’s world, but it exists; it is a market where there is only one buyer, and no one else can access the services. It is a monopoly but in buying products. Everyone wants perfect Competition in this current era, but it is easy for more prominent companies to become a monopoly. Within these Markets falls the strategy of how you want to market.

Do you want to use the inbound or outbound marketing strategy?

Inbound Marketing

According to most people and how they view Inbound Marketing, including me, it is very efficient. It attracts people to you because of the experiences you show them or your company’s characteristics when selling them a product. “Inbound Marketing builds trust. It is there to build trust and be cost-effective.” Inbound marketing has valuable content. It attracts people to you. People usually come across the company through social media or friends through word of mouth. It forms connections when someone is looking for a solution to a problem. Inbound Marketing does not get promoted by unwanted ads and other content.

You can take Apple as a prominent company example. Apple tries to establish a consumer relationship that someone can easily relate to. They do not force people to watch their events, but they link to them on big social media sites like Twitter and Instagram or see an ad for it on YouTube. However, they do not reveal their product in their ad. Their customer service is friendly when you go to an Apple store. Apple’s attributes attract people to buy their products year after year, or it may cause someone to switch from Android to an IOS phone.

Outbound Marketing

Outbound Marketing is a unique strategy that is not good or intelligent. Suppose you want to attract customers. It is not efficient. It involves a lot of “emailing, calling, and cold-calling” to promote services. This is an easy way to land on a permanent block list. It’s sort of like how people have a no-soliciting sign on the door of their homes, and people still ignore it and knock on the door to promote their services.

It is a strategy where you go to the customer. The customer does not come to you. This is not cost-effective. If someone is a small business owner, this is not effective. They will spend more on going out and promoting their services than getting money for their promotions and business. If nothing else works, business owners call and discuss what a person does not like about their product and try to collaborate from there. Stores like Costco send out flyers or a coupon book every month so people can buy new products while saving money, or car manufacturers send out emails or promote by TV ads that they are releasing a new model. In these types of Scenarios, big companies like Costco and Car Manufacturers do not mind putting a little money into what they are doing because they will get a higher return than what they will put in.

Differences

Overall, there is a big difference between the two marketing techniques. One technique is more efficient, while the other is not so much. Inbound marketing is, in a way, becoming friends with the customer, while Outbound Marketing is, in essence, forcing your way to the customer. In today’s world, everyone likes having a bubble. Everyone wants to be in their own space. No one is interested in face-to-face interaction because of the pandemic.

Most people like having the flexibility of coming across someone’s services. Everyone looks at the reviews. People don’t like having someone in their faces, telling them, “Hi, you should use my services.

“Outbound marketing seems a bit too pushy, “it often is costly, it targets fewer people than inbound marketing, and the audience may be less receptive to them” (LaMarco, Rachel).

Most things like these promotions end up in the recycle bin or your email’s trash. Or getting called about a specific service being released seems like a scam call. A lot of people, including myself, do not like door-to-door services. It is annoying that you do not want someone to know where you live. You don’t feel safe when you do not know them as a person.

Strategies Small Businesses Use

By combining the two, small businesses mix outbound and inbound marketing. Small companies do not have ample opportunities like big companies to get their name out there. They use business Instagram and Twitter accounts to promote and attract customers to showcase their products. While also responding to inquiries in a timely matter. This is viewed as an inbound marketing technique because it draws the customer. They are not going to the customer. Sometimes they even go door to door to post the services they provide, people may not like that, but that is how most businesses are willing to get their name out there. Sometimes, you need to pour some water into a water pump to get it running, which is what they do. The more opportunities they see like this, the more they get out and promote who they are. Establishing who you are and what you do as a small business owner is essential. Inbound Marketing techniques help establish a connection with the customer.

Business owners have sometimes become good friends with their customers over the years. Most importantly, most customers are loyal. They look forward to coming back to good businesses. Over the years, every good company has established pathos with some clients, making it hard to take their business elsewhere.

Risk of Marketing

Furthermore, as with almost anything, there is little risk involved. Sometimes, you have to put in more than you get out. With outbound marketing, there is high cost and low yield sometimes. You have to put in more money than you make because you are going out to the consumer and promoting your services. Outbound Marketing is as invasive, “it is invasive and often not disliked by customers, because often the products/services are not relevant to the customer.” Because you are pushing the client to try something or use your services, they may start using blocking techniques like spam filters if you email a possible future client. When you are pushy about something, people don’t like that.

Fast Inbound Marketing will not be the strategy for an impatient business trying to get results. Inbound Marketing is a slow and patient process. It revolves around the aspects of the term. It focuses on building relationships, building trust, and using strategies to gain more people. Building trust and a good relationship are the focus of inbound marketing. It is more like focusing on the future return than on the present. For some business owners, this may not be fitting to their discretion. Everything takes time with Inbound Marketing. Outbound marketing may be quicker, and you will probably be reaching a lot more people, but the number of people you will be reaching out to will not be all of them will use your services; only about a quarter will use it.

Final Thoughts

Inbound and Outbound Marketing are two very unique techniques. Every innovative Business company uses these in some way. Most use a combination of these techniques. In today’s world, many people understand the space a person needs. Going to a person is not valued these days; it is how a person comes to you. People like coming across services and new products by themselves. They don’t like having products shoved in their face. The comfort zone of having someone show up at your door and provide services is not there because most people hear stories - for example, fake salespeople with different intentions. People do their research. The choice is there, whether it’s influential, video, or reviews. However, inbound and outbound marketing are strategies that can help in the final say.