The Difference Between Inbound and Outbound Marketing

I've had lots of conversations with potential clients and clients alike this week in relation to both inbound and outbound marketing and how to implement both effectively. 

In truth, if you can combine them together (as we're currently doing to brilliant effect within our own business, as well as with several clients) then the results can be incredible but of course we understand that budgets don't always allow for this. 

So I thought I'd use today's post to outline the differences between them and how they can potentially work for yourself and your business when implemented effectively. 

Let's start with inbound - this is essentially making it easy for people to find out about you when they're searching for your business or the services that your business provides. 

So if you own a dog-grooming business in Guildford called 'Pampered Paws' - you'd want to be found by anyone searching for 'Pampered Paws' but you'd also want to be found for search terms such as 'Dog Groomer in Guildford'. 

The first part should be easy enough if you've got a unique business name - however the second part will involve you either making sure that your website is set-up correctly and contains relevant content for Google to understand exactly what you do and the services that you provide. 

I met somebody at a networking event a few years ago who was running a recruitment agency in Teddington, but complaining that his website couldn't be found for the search term 'Recruitment Agency Teddington'. 

However not once on his website were the words 'recruitment' or 'Teddington' used! 

It's your job to tell Google who you are, where you are and what you do, otherwise it has very little way of knowing and will show your competitor websites to the searcher instead!

Inbound could also apply to traffic coming from your social media followers, or someone you've given a business card to in the past - and as per previous posts from us to this effect, it's also vital that your website is answering the questions that these people might have, and giving them every opportunity to then take action or get in touch. 

The great thing about inbound marketing is that the leads are warmer as they either know you exist already, or if not, they're proactively looking for the services you provide - they're effectively in 'buying mode'. 

You can use SEO techniques as detailed above, or if you want to dominate a larger number of keywords then Google Ads also work brilliantly - you can show an ad for your business to someone who's searching for the services that you provide. 

Outbound marketing works slightly differently, in that you're aiming to put your message or offer in front of an audience who might not know that you exist, or might not be thinking about using the services that you offer at that point. 

It can also be more traditional in its approach - for instance using TV or Radio ads, but from a digital marketing perspective it's more based around using digital display ads (for example within the Google network, or social media advertising) or cold email approach, offering something of value to the recipient. 

Outbound marketing can be very successful when utilised properly but will deliver lower traction than inbound, and can take longer in terms of lead nurture and persuading the audience to take action. 

Where we've been seeing the best results, is to combine the two approaches in order to have as rhythmic a lead generation strategy as possible. 

By relying on just one or two revenue streams, you open yourself up to the 'feast and famine' cycle that most businesses experience - you're not sure where the next lead is coming from, and then suddenly you might receive two or three at once.

And then nothing for a month! 

By opening up both inbound and outbound channels, and having a content-rich website and great nurturing / follow-up processes, you're creating a consistent flow of leads coming into your business day-in, day-out. 

Since we started doing this for our own business at the start of 2023 - it's been a genuine gamechanger. 

I'll be happy to personally guide you through our exact process and the success we've been seeing with this approach - just hit reply or schedule a free, no-obligation strategy call with me here.