Inbound and Outbound Marketing

Which activities do you find you focus on the most?

Column A

• Direct Mail
• Email
• Advertising (online & off)
• Tradeshows
• Networking
• Telemarketing

Column B

• Facebook
• Blogging
• Search Engine Optimization
• LinkedIn
• Twitter
• Constant updates to your website

If you chose Column A, congratulations you are a control freak. You ight be exhausted and stretched monetarily, but at least you know that if you ramp up these activities you can usually see immediate results. If you chose Column B, congratulations you are king or queen of inbound marketing – efficient with your time and money, but if you are trying to get sales tomorrow, you might be finding yourself at a loss of what you can do.

With the newest statistics from Universal McCann showing that over 90% of people are now searching online for products or services, it’s impossible to ignore the power and allure of Column B (Inbound Marketing). But be careful about putting all your proverbial “eggs in one basket” just yet. The problem with focusing all your energy into Inbound Marketing is the lack of control. It takes time and commitment before these activities see results, and every time you introduce a new product or service or enter a new marketplace, you will again experience a lag time. It’s also harder to predict results.

Now before you outbound marketers rejoice (Column A’s) – being a complete control freak has its own downsides. While these activities if measured, revised, and re-implemented, can provide more predictable results and help when you are new to a market or launching a new product or service, you can’t ignore the buying patterns of 90% of the population. Inbound marketing is much more affordable and over time, is usually much more effective.

So where is the answer? It’s in balance of course. Don’t throw away all of what are commonly termed traditional forms of marketing (Column A’s) for Inbound Marketing Techniques (Column B) – make sure you have a nice amount of both and you will start to level out those peaks and valleys in your sales cycle.

Source: Hubspot 2