Inbound Marketing is a methodology focussed on getting found by clients, rather than Outbound Marketing which is about searching for clients.
The problem with outbound marketing tactics like advertising, direct mail, email and telemarketing is that it is getting harder because of increased compeition and barriers like better trained gatekeepers, spam filters and voice mail let alone Telephone Preference Service. This means it is getting more expensive to get a lower return and there is far less less or no long-term value compared to Inbound Marketing.
Take for example an advert in your local newspaper. Once your advert has run it is fish and chip paper - there is no long-term value. On the other hand Inbound Marketing, which includes link building as part of Search Engine Optimisation, is more of an investment.
As well as being low or no cost, Inbound Marketing has a key benefit of reducing the amount of sales resource needed to handle a lead. When clients find you they are ready and willing to buy!
Now, as the saying goes "good things come to those who wait" and you will need to be paitent with your Inbound Marketing efforts because it can take time to kick-in. So, as far as I am concerned there is still a place for quality Outbound Marketing.
For example, I will be using telemarketing as part of our launch to promote Webinars and Resources on our Website. Even if a prospect does not fancy the Webinar or the specific content they may want to go on our database to make sure they do no miss out!
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