Inbound Marketing: A Primer

There’s a lot of talk about inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing these days.

At the heart of the discussion is that inbound marketing historically translates in better ROI than outbound.

Here’s the reason: inbound marketing means that prospects and customers are reaching out to YOU, as opposed to you reaching out to THEM through more traditional marketing, like print, radio, TV and direct mail.

The tried-and-true method of marketing shows us that with frequency, advertisers will achieve success in the form of some prospects taking action. But that formula means that advertisers will have to "buy" consumer actions via a media spend.

With inbound marketing, you’re more likely to experience a better ROI, a more loyal customer following, and better word-of-mouth promotion. Another important difference: your customers will engage on a more personal branding level when they FIND you as opposed to being accosted by advertising at all turns.

Inbound marketing allows you to deliver personalized, consistent information across all channels through social medial and content marketing.

So the question is: when will your brand be “hitting on all cylinders” for inbound marketing?

And the answer is…when your brand flexes its “social media” muscle through Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Pinterest; when you offer content marketing in the form of white papers, blogs, podcasts and develop a community of followers; and when your website offers search engine-rich, meaningful content that speaks to each of target markets as individuals.

Last, remember to measure your results through analytics, website form submissions, and other feedback mechanisms.