The social media and other network are all agog with the discussion centered on B2B inbound marketing. Is B2B inbound marketing all that attractive? Is the hype about the lower cost leading to high quality sales justified? How do inbound and outbound marketing differ from each other when they are compared with each other?
Decline of outbound Marketing
With exploration of the market by electronic media growing by leaps and bounds, the traditional outbound marketing is only to be expected to see a decline. Consumers are not all that naive any more. The tendency these days is to get onto the internet to diligently pick up relevant information about anything they want to buy. They are more or less not impressed by the outbound marketing techniques even if they are genuinely innovative. In short, consumers are wiser than the marketers.
The most perfect example to this, which clearly defines that the concept has seeped into every age group would be of my friend’s grandfather. The family was planning on buying an LED TV. The grandfather was the first to go through the various options within their budget while scrolling through various blogs on his tablet. After spending an hour on analysis he came up with a very strong surety of buying Panasonic tx-l60dt65b LED TV . To be honest, I could not have expected this off a 70 year old man and definitely cements the importance of strategy for every age group as well.
If you thought that they stop at reading about the product in the manufacturer’s website and do not do anything more before buying, you could not be more wrong. They read reviews, even write them, and ask the peers on and offline before making the purchase.
The overkill of email marketing and telemarketing that inundated the cyberspace has produced an averse to things that are being marketed by these methods. Advertising, whether in electronic or print media, are looked at cynically. Is it any wonder that B2B outbound marketing is seeing a slide down?
Enter Inbound Marketing
If outbound marketing had lost its sheen, it could not be that it would not be replaced by an alternative method of marketing. Inbound marketing had taken its place. Increasingly, outbound marketing does not even get a mention in discussions on marketing. The points that are taken up for consideration talk only of pull marketing and its effectiveness. The ways to deliver the various elements is the next agenda in talks. Is it any wonder then that hype is perceived here?
The Independence of Buyers
Inbound marketing puts to use the delivery of useful, engaging and valuable information to the target audience. It lets the recipient of the information decide for himself of what to purchase. The trick works best when the prospect does not feel that he had been deliberately driven to read the ad. A strategically placed ad subtly makes its point to find a favor from the reader. Sales pitch is rather absent and in its place information that looks and feels helpful is put out.
Keeping Privacy Intact
Inbound marketing is utilized to inform as well as build credibility which shall come into the mind of the consumer when he is about to make a purchase. The element of invasion that marks the outbound marketing is not discernible in inbound marketing. The reader immediately feels a relief that his privacy is not being invaded.
Inbound marketing may at times call for a training schedule for the staff that are to be taught the new marketing techniques in place of outbound marketing they were employing till then.
Adam Prattler is a consultant for search engine optimization ny and has been working since the last 6 years. With a degree in engineering and a graduation in design, he believes he has the ability to look at from every aspect, be it technology, content or design. You can connect with Adama on LinkedIn, Google Plus, Facebook and Twitter.
