Inbound marketing is a marketing methodology used to attract customers by approach, content and relationship, earning their attention and loyalty. It has focus on organic and spontaneous interest of new consumers as a way to engage and retain them, who will become spokespersons of the brand, contributing to its consolidation in the network.
Inbound marketing also has an integrated strategy which permeates between online and offline campaigns, offering relevant content to ensure that customers are going to be reached with the best and close approach from one brand.
On a usual way, we can say that Inbound Marketing is the “Marketing that everybody loves”. We say that because it has the purpose of enchant, involve and convert the users. The tone of the communication is soft, so that the consumer doesn’t think that he/she is reached by a marketing action. The objective is to make the clients feel welcomed and well cared by the brand, having personalized treatment, problems solved, and solutions offered to facilitate their lives. It is not about selling products or services, but more related to offer solutions and contents that will make difference for them, either by the quality/usefulness of the products or just by the differentiated services and experiences they had with that brand.
It is the opposite of Outbound marketing which is more related to business sales, usually pushing products or services to customers or potential customers, through traditional media and advertising.
Inbound X Outbound Marketing
If we compare Inbound and Outbound Marketing, one visible point is the type of media that they usually explore. Inbound is focused on owned and earned media, which contemplates channels that can be controlled by the business, choosing what will be published, when and how (blog, website, social media, landing pages), and the coverage that results from its efforts, such as spontaneous media on newspaper or magazines, PRS published, hashtags campaigns, interactions on online forums, etc. On the other hand, Outbound marketing is usually associated to paid media, such traditional offline advertisings, PPC and display advertising, paid emails, social media advertisings, etc.
With professionally used Inbound Marketing through Content Publishing, you will reach more customer trust and word-of-mouth communication, instead of paid ads and paid publishing.