Inbound VS Outbound Marketing: 5 Key Differences

In the past few decades, digital marketing has taken the business world by storm. It has transformed the way sales and marketing are done in a way that many people didn’t expect. Many people know the advantages of inbound and outbound marketing but very few understand the difference between the two marketing strategies.

Inbound and outbound marketing has many benefits that every business would want to take advantage of. It doesn’t matter whether you have heard of it or not, chances are high that you have encountered these two approaches of marketing.

If you have watched an online video, viewed an ad, or read a blog post, then you have participated in some form of inbound or outbound marketing strategy. Unfortunately, many people don’t seem to understand the differences between inbound and outbound marketing.

Here are five key differences between inbound and outbound marketing:

1. How customers find content

The major difference between inbound and outbound marketing is the way through which customers find content. As far as outbound marketing is concerned, content is pushed to them. This includes things like magazine ads, ads on TV, billboards among others. You get to see adverts whether you like them or not.

But with inbound marketing, you draw or pull customers to see your ad or ads. A good example of inbound marketing is when you create an educative blog post with the aim of luring potential customers into buying products from you.

2. Offering value before vs after

Another major difference between inbound and outbound marketing is the point at which value is offered to customers. With outbound marketing, the objective is to ask customers to purchase from you immediately. This type of marketing provides value after a customer buys the product.

This is contrary to inbound marketing where value is offered to a customer prior as a way of making them interested to buy your product. For instance, a potential customer watches an educative video and decides to buy from you.

3. Disruptive vs permission marketing

Outbound marketing is generally disruptive in nature. This means that your target audience gets to see or read your content without their permission. For example, you are forced to watch a TV ad without your prior permission. This is different from the outbound approach where the targeted audiences are the ones who inadvertently seek to see or watch the ad.

4. When you see the outcome

The outcome or results of outbound marketing are normally seen much faster compared to the inbound strategy. This is because adverts in outbound marketing are displayed before the audience and they have a right to decide whether to watch or ignore.

5. Lifespan of content

Lastly, the other key difference between inbound and outbound marketing is the time they take before expiring. Outbound ads are normally run for weeks or months depending on the budget. But blog posts and YouTube videos can last for as long as the website or YouTube channel exists.

Every marketing strategy has its own merits and demerits. It is up to you to choose one that will attract more customers. For more information on the above, you can always reach out to places like SharpSpring.