What do you think is more important to a successful business: inbound and outbound marketing? Is one more important than the other? Do you have to choose? While some companies may choose to focus more on one over the other, both inbound and outbound marketing have their significant benefits in the digital marketing world.
Let’s take a look at inbound and outbound marketing in 2019, and why both are important for your business.
Inbound Marketing
Inbound marketing is all about driving customers in when they need you the most, but without actually reaching out to them and providing any pressure. Inbound marketing is not about posting ads – quite the opposite. It’s about making sure that when a user researches your topic, that they’re being directed to your webpage, where you are providing quality content that they can trust.
Your content and your search engine optimization skills are going to be so on point that customers are flocking to you, not the other way around. Here are some of the top ways in 2019 that digital marketers are performing their inbound marketing tactics:
SEO optimization. Dare I say it, but SEO optimization may always be the queen of inbound marketing techniques. It sounds a bit contradictory to say that putting a lot of effort into your SEO techniques is the best way to organically grow your results, but it’s true.
When users are organically finding you on their own, they are much more likely to check out what you have to offer, rather than clicking on a paid advertisement. Paid advertisements can come off as both intimidating and pushy to your potential new customer, which is the last thing that you want.
Optimization for mobile use. This is incredibly important for your inbound marketing strategy, for more than one reason. Let’s start with the obvious – as of 2019, over 63% of mobile users will be using their mobile phone to surf the internet. As of January 2018, that was 3.7 billion people worldwide. So, if you haven’t already put the pieces together, making sure you have a website that is mobile friendly is essential for your business’s online success.
Not only does this drastically improve the user’s experience, but did you know that keywords actually rank differently on mobile compared to desktop? You are going to need to make sure that your website is optimized for mobile use, and fast.
Social media. Social media is a fantastic way to organically reach your digital marketing goals. A company’s social media page often comes up in search engine results when a user is looking for a product or service, which is one more great way besides your company’s actual website to get your business out there.
You can also rely on social media for additional reviews, as well as backlinks from other social media pages, including already satisfied customers that want to share with their friends.
Optimize your website for local SEO. Think about how often you have reached for your phone to find information about a local company or business. Whether you’re looking for business hours, looking for a business address, or trying to find a business that suits your needs in the first place, the odds are that you would benefit from this.
Make sure that your NAPW (name, address, phone number, website) is listed the same across the board so search engines can be sure of your location. Making sure your keyword research is on point to optimize on the “near me” Google searches, as well as encouraging local customer reviews. If you are a business that primarily relies on its local customers, this may be the number one form of inbound marketing you should be focusing on.
Outbound Marketing
Now, what is outbound marketing, and why do I need it as well as inbound marketing? An outbound marketing strategy is a littlepushier than inbound marketing, but it can be incredibly beneficial to your company to apply both strategies so that you’re covering all bases.
Outbound marketing efforts are about reaching out to potential customers but doing so in a way that does not seem in any way aggressive. Some of the top ways that digital marketers are performing their outbound marketing are:
Account-based marketing. This is one of the primary ways that a company engages in outbound marketing. Sometimes it involves customers that the company already has and can access information about, and sometimes it involves subtly reaching out to potential customers. Think about how many times you’ve clicked on an ad because it’s popped up on social media because it so happens to be incredibly well suited to what you’re looking for.
Social media ads are also not pushy or in your face – a lot of users seek them out because they tend to be targeted towards products or services that they will like and use. When it comes to social media platforms such as Facebook and Instagram, this is usually achieved by the fact that they can target their demographic – and it can get pretty specific.
Companies can specifically choose to advertise their product to social media users based on age, exact location, gender, likes and interests, etc. When it comes to customers a company already has, they will target specific people based on the same demographics on social media, but this time they already know exactly what kinds of products or services they want. Knowing this information, they can send out specific messages, offers, coupons, etc. to attract these customers, and keep them coming back for more.
Email marketing. Email marketing is an easy and effective way to send out your current services, offers, and promotions without seeming too pushy. Unless the company in question is flooding my inbox with promotions, I have never found newsletters or promotions to be anything but helpful.
This is of course achieved by customers or potential customers that have already signed up to your newsletter or have given you permission to send them information on products, services, and offers. If a user is looking for a deal on a brand, they will often check their promotion folder to see what companies they already like and believe in have to offer.
As you can see, it’s certainly beneficial to combine both inbound and outbound marketing for your business in 2019. By using and combining these marketing tactics, you are well on your way to getting your company’s name and message out there to your audienc. Just be sure to optimize your content, and be consistent!
