Inbound marketing is dialogue marketing, instead of (more classical) pressure marketing.
According to Wikipedia, it is a set of activities that seeks to bring in a visitor who will become a satisfied customer, but does not push advertising, but gains the attention of potential customers primarily through the creation of useful and interesting content.
Personally, I’m a big proponent of this approach (as you may have noticed) and believe that for smaller businesses and projects, this is the only meaningful kind of marketing to pursue.But for my own:
- Capital-efficiency,
- long-term sustainability,
- efficiency.
However, you may be intrigued by inbound just for the ways in which it differs from traditional marketing.
Differences between traditional (“outbound”) and inbound marketing
Classic marketing (also “outbound marketing”)
- Advertising (TV, billboards, Google and Facebook Ads)
- Pressure to buy (discounts, limited offers)
- One-way relationship
Inbound marketing
- Content creation (blog, newsletter, videos)
- Interaction with “fans” (comments on social media, responding to newsletter)
- A mutual relationship
Are you comfortable with inbound?
How can you get started with inbound marketing?
The easiest way to get started is to start a blog or start writing a newsletter, if social networks are more your thing, you can start your inbound activities there.
Fantasies are boundless.
First and foremost, though, it’s about the philosophy of inbound. How it differs from traditional marketing. And if you’re comfortable with it (and have a suitable project where you can use it), you can easily find a way to get started.
Word in conclusion
You may have been doing inbound marketing for a long time without really knowing it.
You may have heard the term for the first time today and found it intriguing.
Either way, let me know in the comments how inbound affects you?
