What Is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing is essentially a new way to think about content marketing. It uses the some of the same principles as traditional marketing, like attracting your audience, capturing qualified leads, and converting them into customers.

However, instead of focusing on pure sales tactics, this strategy takes a more nuanced approach to digital marketing. Instead of simply trying to push products or services on a customer, the company offers helpful solutions and informative content. The goal is not only to attract the customer, but to engage them as well.

Think of it this way. Traditional marketing involves one-way communication with a potential customer; in most cases, the only way for the customer to respond is to either purchase or not purchase the product or service.

With inbound marketing, on the other hand, it’s a two-way street when it comes to communication. The content is designed to be interactive, encouraging potential customers to give their feedback, voice their opinions, and share their experiences. This helps to develop stronger relationships between companies and their customers, which naturally leads to an increase in sales.

Outbound Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing

To really understand why inbound marketing is so effective, it helps to review what’s usually involved in outbound marketing. This is the more traditional method of content marketing that involves a wide variety of classic lead generation tactics, such as:

  • Radio ads
  • Television ads
  • Print ads
  • Cold calling
  • Telemarketing
  • Billboards
  • Direct mail
  • Pop-up online ads
  • Paid search ads
  • Tradeshow booths
  • Buying email lists

All of these forms of marketing are designed to appeal to an unsuspecting prospective customer. That’s why the tactics used in this method of advertising are generally quite flashy in nature and, in some cases, have a pushier message.

Outbound marketing ads can take a lot of time and effort to produce. They also require a very broad strategy since they need to appeal to an especially large base of potential customers. Inbound marketing can produce a better ROI, and it’s geared toward a more specific customer base that’s already likely to be interested in the company’s offerings.

The key thing that differentiates outbound marketing vs. inbound marketing, however, is how it approaches the target audience. While outbound marketing involves pushing a message out to the audience, inbound marketing focuses on pulling the audience in.

With inbound marketing, the focus is not on disrupting the audience to get them to pay attention to your brand. Instead, this method uses smart, data-driven marketing tactics which naturally attract potential customers to a company’s quality content, which may include:

  • Blog posts
  • eBooks
  • Websites and web design
  • Social media posts
  • Opt-in email newsletters
  • Search Engine Results Page (SERP)

Everything about inbound marketing is designed lead to a higher rates of conversion. Based on detailed research, prospects are captured where they naturally are online, so the content can be tailored to their interests and needs. In addition, the company is able to deliver real value by helping to solve consumer problems. The content engages and entertains, which keeps consumers interested much longer than outbound marketing strategies.

Inbound Marketing Examples

You might be wondering what inbound marketing looks like in action. Check out these examples which illustrate why this digital marketing strategy is so effective.

Pre-Purchase Research

Today, most consumers go online for information before making a purchase. This is true for a wide range of scenarios, including making major purchases like kitchen appliances and airline tickets as well as smaller investments, like buying new shoes or choosing a restaurant for dinner.

Let’s take the example of kitchen appliances to demonstrate how inbound marketing can come into play. Imagine a consumer who is looking to buy a new refrigerator. They do a Google search online and come across an appliance manufacturer’s blog post entitled “5 Ways a Smart Fridge Will Make Your Life Easier.” They click on the post and read about the benefits of smart refrigerators, from conserving energy to making grocery lists to keeping track of food freshness for each item inside.

At the end of the post, the reader provides their email address to get a free eBook about smart appliances. The company follows up by providing the eBook along with a discount code for one of their products, which results in the consumer purchasing a smart fridge.

This example highlights a few key principles of inbound marketing:

  • Providing useful content
  • Assisting the consumer on their journey
  • Converting leads to sales

Beginning with a simple blog post, this company has demonstrated their value and their expertise, developing a level of buyer confidence that likely wouldn’t result from a traditional digital advertisement.

Social Media Engagement

Consumers today expect to be able to engage with companies online. They want brands to be responsive and accessible. In fact, HubSpot reports that 48% of customers make a purchase with a brand that is responsive to current and prospective customers on social media.

This is another way that inbound marketing can improve your sales metrics. It’s not enough to simply have an online presence with a website and basic social media profiles. Companies need to be active online while also knowing how to strategically interact with customers.

A comparison of two hypothetical companies can help to demonstrate how this strategy works. Consider Company A, which has Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram profiles. All of the brand’s posts look like traditional ads, and they don’t respond to customer comments or direct messages.

Company B sells the same products as Company A and has profiles on the same social media platforms. However, they offer a diverse lineup of social media content, including how-to videos, sharing customer posts, asking for feedback, and replying to comments and DMs. They post entertaining, informative, and helpful content rather than just spamming their followers with ads.

When it comes time to make a purchase, a customer looks at the social media profiles for both Company A and Company B. The difference in content will be immediately noticeable. When they reach out to both brands, only Company B actually responds. They decide to purchase a product from Company B as a result.

This example demonstrates several important values of inbound marketing:

  • Creating engaging content
  • Encouraging interactive communication
  • Informing customer decision making

These strategies lead to a better ROI when investing in inbound marketing over outbound marketing.

Why It’s Time to Try Inbound Digital Marketing

Outbound marketing has become outdated in some settings because consumers have different expectations when it comes to advertising and brand promotion. That’s especially true online, where people tend to seek out more approachable and accessible branding that feels personalized and authentic.

It’s easy to see why inbound marketing solutions can be more effective when you think about how consumers interact with companies today on social media. We expect to be able to leave comments on Facebook posts, DM anyone on Instagram, and reply directly to Tweets. Anyone with an account on these platforms is accessible, from family and friends to celebrities and Fortune 500 companies.

Many companies are finding that outbound marketing simply doesn’t work as well in some spaces anymore. Consider these common scenarios:

TV viewers using streaming services can often skip advertisements entirely.

More listeners are using digital music services instead of tuning in to the radio.

Spam filters allow many internet users to bypass emails from companies marketing to them.

Ad blockers are more widely used than ever before, preventing many online ads from ever being seen.

This isn’t to say that outbound marketing is dead. There are still plenty of opportunities to use a traditional marketing strategy effectively, whether it’s brochures, TV spots, or direct mail.

The key is understanding not only when outbound marketing simply isn’t a good fit, but also how to implement an inbound marketing strategy effectively. Fortunately, you don’t have to do all that on your own. An inbound marketing agency can help you reel in customers with effective online content marketing.

Benefits of Working with an Inbound Marketing Agency

Inbound marketing reaches potential customers where they already are online. This is one of its biggest advantages; instead of developing vague ads to appeal to a wider audience, the content can be tailored to qualified leads who are actually the most likely to spend money on a company’s products or services.

When done well, companies can boost their ROI significantly with inbound marketing. But finding the right customers and figuring out where to market to them online is tricky. That’s why it’s so important to partner with an inbound marketing agency that can provide a data-driven strategy that’s customized to your business needs.

Here are some of the key benefits of working with an inbound marketing agency instead of trying to do it on your own:

Experience

A good agency will have a staff of specialized professionals who have years of experience developing successful inbound marketing strategies.

Software

HubSpot (the leading inbound marketing software) is highly effective, but it’s also expensive and requires experience to utilize effectively. Fortunately, companies can simply partner with a certified HubSpot agency partner.

Savings

Hiring and training a team of inbound marketing experts and purchasing expensive software to develop data-driven campaigns requires a massive investment. Most companies find that partnering with an inbound marketing agency is the most budget-friendly option.

Results

Your chances to getting a more impressive ROI are increased when you work with an experienced inbound marketing agency. If you want to see a big payoff for this digital marketing strategy, leave it to the experts who know the ins and outs of how to connect with consumers online.

How to Choose Between Inbound Marketing Agencies

There are countless digital marketing agency options out there today. You can find all kinds of experts in everything from social media to SEO to Google search traffic. But having experience in these areas doesn’t mean that a digital marketing agency is capable of running your inbound marketing campaign. This is a complex and detailed, data-driven strategy that requires niche know-how when it comes to digital marketing.

Therefore, one of the very first things you’ll want to look for in an inbound marketing agency is what kind of results they’ve been able to deliver for other companies. They need to have the experience, talent, and tools to make your inbound marketing campaign work.

Quaintise is a digital marketing agency with a proven track record for successful inbound marketing. We make all of our case studies and work projects easily accessible so that potential clients can see exactly what we’re capable of. And we don’t just give you vague overviews of our past success; our case studies feature real numbers like these:

400%

400% increase in leads acquired by utilizing HubSpot and other tools for a ketamine infusion therapy clinic.

67%

A search engine marketing strategy that increased call volume by 67% for a women’s healthcare provider.

25%

A 25% increase in brand awareness and 15% increase in overall revenue for a kidney healthcare practice.

62%

A 64% increase in mobile traffic, 62% increase in web traffic, and 226% increase in blog visits for a family medical practice.

35%

More than doubling website visits and increasing new patients by over 35% for a women’s healthcare provider.

In addition to these impressive results, Quaintise also offers the tools and the talent to get the job done. We are California’s only Certified HubSpot Partner, and when you choose one of our inbound marketing packages, you’ll get the following:

  • A dedicated HubSpot channel consultant
  • An experienced inbound marketing strategist
  • A full implementation team of graphic designers and web developers
  • An account coordinator to implement your digital marketing strategy

Are you ready to grow your business? Contact Quaintise today to find out how our inbound marketing professionals can boost your sales, increase customer loyalty, and enhance brand awareness.