Outbound marketers spend ample amounts of time and money on advertising that may or may not reap monetary consumer rewards.
Some prefer to constantly advertise to the customer pushing their different sales and hoping for the best. Others play the long game, understanding that word of mouth is one of the best marketing tools out there. In the latter, marketers focus on building relationships and trust with their customers for longtime consumer satisfaction rather than the short-term pay-out that outbound marketing relies on.
There are two differentiating factors between inbound and outbound marketing: push vs. pull and gambling vs. the long game.
Push vs. Pull Marketing
When thinking of push marketing and pull marketing, the image of the “pushmi-pullyu from Doctor Dolittle” often comes to mind. This strange animal that looks considerably similar to a llama, has one head in the front and back, making it impossible for this animal to go anywhere. Similar to this fairytale animal from a fantastical world, if you do not know what style of marketing your company is focusing on, your company will not go anywhere.
Outbound marketing is a form of push marketing, while inbound marketing is a form of pull marketing. Push marketing sends information to the consumer, whether they requested it or not. These are the often annoying pop-up ads that will not go away on your laptop anytime you open a website. They “push” their advertisements into your view, trying to interest you in making a purchase. Push marketing is typically referred to as direct advertising. While this type of advertising may work for short-term gratification purchases such as candy or clothing, it often does not work for larger purchases.
Conversely, pull marketing invites customers to interact with their company. Pull marketing focuses on encouraging customers and promoting a safe company environment. Instead of bombarding their customers with unwanted advertisements, pull marketing attracts customers through interaction, trust, and customer satisfaction. This is the company that builds relationships often through good return policies, social media listening, follow-up interactions, and great reviews. By attracting customers, companies are able to engage with them and delight them by establishing them as brand ambassadors.
Gambling vs. The Long Game
Outbound marketing is one-way communication, while inbound marketing is two-way communication. This strategy involves large amounts of emails, telephone calls, pop-up advertisements, and spam mail being sent out to potential customers. Bulk advertising similar to this provides little opportunity for direct contact with customers.
Outbound marketing is a gamble because sometimes only a small number of customers are drawn in by this pricey method of advertising. While some customers may flock to a new product, if trust and relationship are not there, they will just as quickly scatter. This method may have short-term results in sales but oftentimes does not have long-term benefits.
While outbound marketing requires less time, inbound marketing reaps more benefits. Inbound marketing outlets include blogs, SEO (search engine optimization), and social media. The main point of inbound marketing is to create relationships and spread brand awareness through those relationships. Instead of only focusing on ROI (return on investment), this method sees the benefit of ROR (return on relationships).
Inbound marketing is more of a two-way conversation than one-way advertising. Though it takes more time to develop relationships and trust, the long game in marketing is worth it. Inbound marketing builds better relationships with customers, helping word of mouth to naturally spread from one person to another.
Which one works?
Unlike the “push-me-pull-me” from Dr. Dolittle, you can use both push marketing and pull marketing at the same time and still end up where you want to go. However, marketers often focus their resources on one of the different styles aforementioned, which leaves the question: which one works better?
Try looking back on the last moderately large purchase you made. Did you buy it because of an advertisement, or because of reviews you saw from other customers online? What pushed you over the edge from considering a product to clicking “ship” to your house? Was it the advertisement, or was it trust in the company through reviews and relationships?
Chances are, if you are thinking of the last semi-large purchase decision, you probably checked on reviews, asked a friend, or heard about the product from another individual. These are all forms of pull marketing used by the inbound marketing strategy. Each marketing strategy has its place, but here at Bridge Leadership, we are strong advocates of inbound marketing and its ability to reach the target audience.
For more information on inbound marketing core concepts, be sure to check out our blog for weekly new content. Like us, let us know! We would love to hear your thoughts on outbound vs. inbound marketing and which one you think works better in the comments section below.
About:
Bridge Leadership is a consulting company that exists to bridge the gap between companies and their target audience through inbound marketing thought leadership. Run by Boyce College students Ana Lee, Lara Tanner, Maddie Gardner, and Cassidy Cornett, this company is created by students for a class group project.
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