Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing: What's Best for Your Business?

What's a better marketing strategy for my business: inbound marketing or outbound marketing? It's a debate as old as, well, what? The term 'inbound marketing' was first used in 2006, though some say the concepts of both 'inbound marketing' and 'outbound marketing' date back to the 19th century - or even further. Were town criers the original outbound marketers?

Whatever the case, the question's still a pertinent one today: what are the advantages and disadvantages of inbound and outbound marketing? Which marketing strategy stimulates more growth? How can I incorporate them into my business? What even are inbound and outbound marketing?

To answer your burning questions about inbound marketing and outbound marketing, we've collated some data to help you evaluate different marketing strategies and figure out the best way for your sales team to reach prospective customers.

What are inbound and outbound marketing?

Marketing tactics are marketing tactics, right? Well, not exactly.

Before coming up with a comprehensive marketing strategy, you need to establish what exactly you're trying to achieve with it; are you trying to reach as many people as possible or would you rather nurture leads with relevant content and focussed customer engagement?

The type of marketing strategy you opt for has a big impact on your brand's message and overall marketing success, so it's essential your you to know what your goals are.
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Outbound marketing: in-depth

What is outbound marketing?

Of the two, outbound marketing may be closer to what you envisage when you think about 'traditional marketing'. The key word is 'out'; an outbound strategy involves spreading your message far and wide in the hope of reaching potential customers through sheer volume and activity.

It's a simple enough concept to get your head around: scatter the digital landscape with your brand's message through digital marketing and at some point you'll meet enough potential customers within your target audience and begin to drive sales.

This is why we call it 'traditional marketing'; in some ways it's the most instinctive way to boost lead generation and kickstart your sales processes. And done right, outbound marketing can get huge results.
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Common outbound marketing strategies

Most outbound marketing relies on getting your voice out there - in other words: traditional advertising. That's why ads, in all their forms, make up a huge part of of any outbound marketing strategy.

• TV ads and radio ads
  
  • Although the internet is now arguably a bigger player than TV (and certainly bigger than radio), both TV and radio advertising can be effective outbound marketing tools; TV commercials, for instance, have a reach of about 70% and the potential to engage certain demographics more effectively.
• Social media ads
  
  • In 2024, spending on social media advertising will reach over $219 billion. That alone is testament to the ROI potential. With billions of people worldwide using social media every day, targeted ads, combined with smart target audience research, should form a fundamental part of your digital strategy.
• Direct mail
  
  • For many marketers, direct mail feels like a thing of the past. After all, about 44% of direct mail goes straight in the trash. That's no reason to despair, however, as direct mail has a much higher 'trustworthiness' rating than other forms of cold outreach, with over 70% of Americans saying direct mail is more personal than email.
• Email marketing
  
  • Email marketing automation is a core component of all outbound marketing. It's cheap, quick, and easily replicable. And with email ROI a huge $36 for every $1 spent, it's no wonder so many marketers rely on it. With professional outbound email marketing services, your business could see incredible returns within a short space of time.
• Cold calling
  
  • With highly trained cold calling experts by your side, outbound marketing can give you a real boost. Your business could reach thousands of potential customers within your target audience and gain an advantageous 4.8% success rate.

Advantages and disadvantages of outbound marketing

While outbound marketing still makes up a huge proportion of many marketing successful strategies, it's not without it's drawbacks.

• High cost
  
  • Kickstarting an effective outbound marketing strategy with traditional marketing methods and paid ads can seriously dent your marketing budget. In fact, lead generation through outbound strategies costs 39% more than inbound leads.
• Low yield
  
  • People are generally adverse to advertising. Success rates - meaning engagement that leads to sales or meetings - tend to be low with outbound marketing; the average clickthrough rate for marketing emails, for instance, is less than 3%.
• Large target audiences
  
  • While casting too wide a net can have adverse effects on your lead gen, outbound marketing does open your business up to a huge number of potential customers. Low success rates matter less the more people you contact.
• Quick results
  
  • PPC ads, google ads, and social media ads can start generating traffic almost instantly, which is great if you have quarterly targets to reach or want to stimulate growth rapidly.
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Everything you need to know about inbound marketing

What is an inbound marketing strategy?

In contrast to outbound marketing, inbound marketing is the new kid on the block - well, maybe not so new these days, but certainly younger than outbound marketing.

That's because it's a product of the internet and very much relies on it. Whereas outbound marketing is all about pushing your message outward and meeting customers at their doorstep, an inbound marketing strategy is designed to bring customers to your business.

Inbound marketing does this by carefully cultivating high quality content to attract a target audience. The idea is that in making your business a content 'hub' within your niche by creating valuable content and addressing the genuine interest of your target audience, lead generation becomes a matter of attracting potential customers rather than reaching them.

For that reason, inbound marketing efforts may rely less on direct mail and online advertising and more on educational content, search engine optimization, and social media engagement.
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Common inbound marketing strategies

Inbound marketing is more popular than ever, with 59% of sales reps saying they prefer inbound marketing over outbound.

So what are some common elements of an inbound marketing strategy? As inbound marketing is centred more on generating content attracting customers, blatant advertising is less common.

• Compelling content creation
  
  • In a way, this is step one for inbound marketing. In order to create content (i.e. a blog post) your ideal customer wants to engage with, you need to study your target audience and communicate with/hire professionals within that space with something to offer.
• Content marketing and SEO
  
  • Of course, once your content is live, you need people to see it. Inbound marketing experts do this with a careful combination of marketing work (by spreading compelling content on social media), and producing killer SEO.
• Customer centric marketing
  
  • Inbound marketing relies on creating creating loyal customers who'll stick by your brand. When thinking about inbound marketing, it's essential to put your customer's interests and desires first and to make the customer experience as enjoyable as possible. Social media can be a great way to engage with customers on a personal level.

Advantages and disadvantages of inbound marketing

Despite it's increasing popularity and many advantages over outbound marketing, inbound marketing has drawbacks, too.

• Slower results
  
  • Although inbound marketing can double the average site conversion rate to 12%, it can take a long time to generate significant traffic. Inbound marketing tactics rely on steady, high-quality content marketing and production to increase brand awareness.
• High competition
  
  • Unless your niche is super (and we mean super) specific, there's probably already a business out there killing it in your field. It can be hard to create enough content of enough quality to challenge already cornered markets.
• It's cost effective
  
  • Lead costs via inbound marketing are 61% lower than costs acquired through outbound. That's a huge difference for small businesses and big companies alike. Advertising costs, paper costs, mail costs - all get drastically reduced with inbound marketing.
• Build trust and credibility
  
  • Inbound marketing offers a unique opportunity to establish a loyal customer base through expertise, value, and experience. If you can make it with inbound marketing, your customers will stick with you.
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Which marketing strategy is best for my business?

There's no easy way to decide whether inbound marketing or outbound marketing is better for your business, and truth be told, a combination of both is usually the best approach.

Inbound and outbound both have their pros and cons; while an outbound strategy can target larger numbers of people and get quicker results, they generally cost more and don't necessarily establish your brand as a thought leader. Inbound marketing, on the other hand, is significantly cheaper and gives small businesses the opportunity to carve out their place within a niche. But it can take a long time for inbound marketing to show results.

Of course, the considerations are endless. It's important to do some heavy research before building a marketing strategy; it's a good idea, too, to get in touch with lead generation companies like Leadium for the best professional insights on all things B2B sales, lead gen, and content marketing.

Good luck and happy marketing!