Inbound vs. outbound marketing: What's the difference?

Most marketing initiatives fall into one of two categories: inbound and outbound.

Both strategies incorporate similar goals, but they require vastly different approaches.

If you're new to marketing or interested in improving your business's prospects, it helps to understand both initiatives and how they differ.

What is inbound marketing?

Think of inbound marketing as a giant magnet:
You're drawing potential customers toward your business.

Inbound marketing focuses on bringing your potential customers to you. Inbound approaches rely on creating content that is specifically designed for your target audience. Inbound tactics and strategies then help you to share that content via the formats and platforms that your potential customers are most comfortable with: blogs, podcasts, social media, emails, and more.

The content developed by inbound marketers doesn't focus on delivering a sales pitch to potential customers, but rather providing useful and informative material that will engage the reader. It allows interested prospects to choose which mediums and messages they interact with.

A carefully-planned inbound marketing strategy is one of the best ways to increase sales, improve brand loyalty, increase brand awareness, and generate new leads. 

The goal is not to attract as many people as possible to your business, but to attract the right people at the right time. It involves personalizing content to suit the buyer and his or her stage in the purchase cycle.

What is outbound marketing?

Think of outbound marketing as your attempt to have the loudest voice in a crowded room.

According to WordStream, nearly 90 percent of businesses still use outbound marketing as their primary approach to connecting with the public. Outbound marketing involves traditional advertising and marketing strategies, such as broadcasting commercials on television and sending email blasts to unqualified leads.

More and more organizations are finding it's an ineffective way to market their businesses. It's extremely difficult to track the results of an outbound marketing campaign, which means you don't know how far your advertising dollar stretches. Furthermore, it's an extremely expensive method that doesn't always yield profits for businesses. If you're hoping to get as much value out of your marketing strategy as possible, you might want to avoid outbound campaigns that don't deliver quantifiable results.

Where do inbound and outbound marketing differ? 

The difference between an outbound and inbound marketing strategy is rooted in the approach taken to reach the consumer. Inbound marketing tools and solutions are highly targeted and personalized. The communication is interactive and two-way, leading your audience to come to you via search engines, referrals, social media, and other methods.

Inbound marketers then provide value through entertainment and eBooks, blogs, white papers, and other interactive content. This content allows inbound marketers to collect contact infromation from interested visitors via website forms. 

Outbound marketing, on the other hand, is more disruptive. Communication is one-way and outbound tactics rarely seeks to entertain or educate. Customers are sought after by pushing products and services via print, TV, and radio ads, as well as cold calls and mass email blasts. But with today's average consumer encountering more than 3,000 mass media messages per day, it's easy to see why many potential customers are accustomed to finding ways to block out these impersonal messages.

As a result of all the advertising clutter facing modern consumers, new inbound strategies that revolve around the collection and analysis of user data to inform and serve up relevant content to visitors are becoming mainstream. 

These strategies allow you to collect data in a number of ways, from surveys to website analytics tools. Once you have the data in hand, you can create content that speaks to your target consumer and avoids annoying the people who don't fit the criteria of your buyer personas, also known as your ideal customers.

Should you switch?

If you've tried outbound marketing and it's not providing the results you need, consider switching to an inbound approach. Inbound allows you to tie every dollar back to revenue, and connects you with consumers who actually need your services, which is an ideal solution for small and large businesses alike.

Inbound marketing is a complex strategy, so it helps to work with an established agency that has a track record of helping companies grow. You won't have to experiment with tactics that don't work; instead, you can rely on professional guidance to help you choose the strategies that are most likely to work with your business model.

Want to learn more about how B2B companies can use inbound marketing techniques to attract more leads and build better connections with their audience? Get your free copy of our eGuide: The B2B Guide to Inbound Marketing.

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