Inbound marketing by definition is having your information in front of customers when they are looking for the service or product that you offer. This is accomplished through many means of communication and exposure online, most notably through some great SEO (Search Engine Optimization) and PPC (Pay Per Click) ads. The idea is to have customers who are searching for the type of product or service you offer be able to find it directly with their search, called an organic search, and therefore be more likely to choose your site.
Inbound marketing differs from outbound marketing in the directness of the marketing. With inbound marketing the consumer is already choosing to search for the type of product or service you have, conversely in outbound marketing the consumer is not necessarily even interested in your product or service. The difference is similar to the difference between telemarketers calling your home at dinner time to offer you a service you may not even be close to interested in, and a consumer shopping around for a service they really need.
Some of the benefits of inbound marketing, other than the fact that the consumer is already shopping for your products or services, is the ability to reach a more direct customer base than the broad base of outbound marketing. With the organic search sending consumers to your site, they already show and interest in what you have to offer and now you have the opportunity to bring your information directly to them with landing pages, and calls-to-action information. This will help you get your product or service story in front of your potential customer where you get to make the all-important personal connection with them.
Another great benefit to you of inbound marketing is the ability to create, manage, and track reports for visits to your site, your blog or clicks on your ads , Facebook likes , Twitter actions . Sure there are going to be plenty of reports you can create with outbound marketing as well, but when utilizing inbound marketing as your strategy, the reports will be quite a bit shorter and easier to manage. In addition to the smaller amount of follow up needed for the shorter reports, you are assured the names and companies on your inbound lists are genuinely interested in what you have to offer.
One way to use the reports that are generated from your inbound strategy would be to offer the potential clients on the lists some form of a promotion to help sway their decision your way. That is the goal with any marketing anyway, to grow business with more customers and inbound marketing is a fantastic way to do this.
Inbound marketing has a ton of benefits when used instead of outbound marketing. It is more direct, ensures the consumers who are searching for products and services you offer are steered in the direction of you page. More direct and interested consumer searches will result in more business and greater success for you.