If you’ve been around this e-commerce or digital marketing-related business for a while, then you have heard the terms outbound and inbound being used in conversations related to marketing and advertising. But what are they? These are the two core paths that a marketer takes to achieve the sales objective set for the brand.
But how does one identify what works better for their brand? For that, we have generated some main differences between these 2 key terms that will help you decide which method to adopt.
Before we do that, let’s first understand what Inbound and Outbound marketing really is!

Outbound Marketing
This traditional marketing method is one where marketers put out their messages in the open. What this means is that the messages are put out to everyone in the hope that whoever has to connect with it, basically will.
Billboard ads, newspaper ads, telemarketing, radio ads, TV ads are all forms of outbound marketing where the product and its features are put out to everyone in general. The idea of identifying audiences and promoting to them doesn’t exist.

Inbound Marketing
In the recent future, most marketers have shifted towards Inbound Marketing – a more targeted approach that is not displayed to anybody and everybody. The message is tailored for people who will resonate the most with the brand, its products or services, and values.
Google Ads, Facebook Ads, SMS marketing, email marketing are examples if inbound marketing.

Now, let’s explore differences between these 2 methods that will help you better identify which one you need to follow:

1. In outbound marketing the message is spread out to everyone. The message goes to people.
In Inbound, the message is sent out to a targeted audience base that is interested in the product. Thus, we can say, people go to the message.

2. Outbound strategies tend to take more time and effort while inbound strategies allow you to directly hit potential customers that are the most likely to convert into customers.

3. Outbound is like finding a needle in the haystack. Inbound is knowing exactly where in the haystack the needle is.

4. Outbound can come off as intrusive. People tend to complain about too many ads and invasion of privacy. On the other hand, inbound marketing makes sure that the message is sent out to people who are looking for it.

5. In outbound marketing, there are no set tools and measures to track the success of how well the ads are doing. Whereas in inbound there are parameters and metric that act as key performance indicators that tell you exactly how the marketing efforts are being spent. These also create room for tweaking and adjusting campaigns according to what works best.

6. In the former there is only one-way communication. It doesn’t allow the customer to interact. With the latter, the conversation is both ways where they can dig in deeper in the most convenient way possible.

To sum it up, Inbound Marketing is a pull tactic whereas Outbound Marketing is a push tactic. Many advertisers are straying away from inbound marketing and its lack of tools that do not allow advertisers to engage with the correct audience. Money is spent without understanding where it is spent.

Inbound or pull marketing, as the name suggests pulls customers that are identified after much research and study. It is the method that is widely used for its convenience, understanding of expenditure, how to spend wisely and how to improve the efforts.

If you have any questions as to which marketing strategy works for your brand, get in touch with our representative who will guide you and recommend the best method that you could follow to achieve your sales objectives.