Difference Between Inbound and Outbound Marketing

Are you formulating a marketing strategy for your business or brand? Then, the question of whether to use inbound vs. outbound marketing is bound to come up, if it hasn’t already. We think this dilemma is rooted in the strategies’ vastly different approaches to promotion.

• Inbound: Build it, and they will come.
• Outbound: If you don’t shout it, no one will hear it.

As you can see, the difference between inbound and outbound marketing is stark! It seems like either approach could take your campaign in a completely different direction. So, let’s settle it once and for all. Should you go with inbound vs. outbound marketing? The answer is not as simple as you might think. Through the rest of the article, we’ll share our insights, giving you the knowledge and power to decide which approach is most suited for your purposes.

What is Inbound Marketing? The “Pull” Strategy

With inbound, it’s all about the pull — attracting customers with relevant and valuable content and experiences. Through inbound marketing channels, you’re deviating from the traditional mode of holding a metaphorical megaphone and blasting your message to the public. The biggest difference with inbound vs. outbound marketing is that with inbound marketing you’re addressing users’ needs or piquing their interest. In going this route, you’re naturally pulling your target market towards you without outright telling them to come.

What Are the Key Components of Inbound Marketing?

Below are the key components of inbound campaigns:

• SEO to help increase the organic reach of your website;
• Content creation to provide value to the target market;
• Lead generation to create an interested market for selling.

With inbound vs. outbound marketing, have you noticed that the components mentioned here are things that people can consume for free? That’s the most salient sign that it’s inbound.

What is Outbound Marketing? The “Push” Strategy

Now that you know what inbound is, outbound will be easier to understand. In essence, the inbound vs. outbound marketing principles are polar opposites. For outbound, you’re pushing a message to your wider audience in the hopes of landing a sale. Instead of committing an outbound marketing definition to memory, just remember that this type follows traditional advertising. Anything that puts a product or service in focus can be identified as outbound.

What Are the Key Components of Outbound Marketing?

Below are the key components for outbound:

• Advertising that includes both online and offline methods;
• Email marketing that lets you sell to an audience directly through their inbox;
• Promotional offers that offer an incentive for the audience to buy now.

When you look at inbound vs. outbound marketing, you’ll notice that the latter focuses on presenting a product or service. In traditional methods like radio ads, this may not necessarily mean converting into sales. But this has changed a lot, thanks to digital marketing.

What Are the Biggest Differences Between Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing Online?

As we have mentioned, the two are essentially polar opposites! To better demonstrate the difference, we have prepared a quick reference table for you. In the following subsections, we’ll expound on the most crucial differences between inbound vs. outbound marketing.

Differences in Approach

Even from the perspective of the audience, one of the most easily noticeable differences between inbound vs. outbound marketing is how it is done. Inbound is more relationship-driven in the sense that value is provided to the potential customer long before a transaction takes place. But with outbound, you’re simply pushing a message. The differences in approach between inbound and outbound marketing will yield different results. The former will help you build trust, but the latter will help you get sales.

Differences in Cost

An inbound strategy marketing example does not need to cost anything. For instance, creating regular posts on social media can be done in-house. However, with the outbound counterpart, there are rarely free options. So, if you’re looking for the most cost-effective approach between inbound vs. outbound marketing, the former is the easy winner. Still, this doesn’t mean that inbound approaches are always free. After all, you can now boost a post on social media to encourage engagement. Many inbound marketing channels are also being heavily monetized so you may need to allocate your budget to rise above the competition.

Differences in Methods

With inbound vs. outbound marketing, the latter is way more direct. If outbound were a person, they would be telling you all about this amazing product and why you should buy it now. Meanwhile, inbound would be giving out free samples or handing out informational flyers. The difference between the two, in this case, comes down to its method. While inbound nurtures the target market through posts and freebies, outbound goes for a hard sell, such as giving discounts for early action.

Differences in Effectiveness

Inbound and outbound marketing’s effectiveness can be seen in the same light as investing and spending. With the latter, you’re buying something that can give you instant results. In this case, you can pay for ads to immediately see a boost in sales. However, that boost may not be long-lasting, ending as soon as you cut your budget. In understanding the impact of inbound vs. outbound marketing, with the former, you can see growth in the social capital of the brand or business over time. So, you may not experience results right away; however, it can help lay the foundation for future success.

Are You Team Inbound? Check Out the Benefits of Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing

Are you leaning towards inbound? Congratulations! There are many advantages to this type of marketing that will come in handy. As discussed, the focus of this method is to get customers to your business without you outright telling them to. Naturally, it will be structured in a certain way. Is there an advantage to selecting inbound over outbound marketing? Although their differences don’t necessarily translate into one method being better than the other, we can’t deny that there are cases in which inbound will create a better outcome. So, if you prefer inbound over outbound marketing, these are the reasons to go with your gut!

Enhanced Credibility

Credibility is one of the most important assets that a brand or a business can have. Apart from consistently delivering quality, one way to boost this is by choosing inbound over outbound marketing. When you continuously create content that’s valuable to the public, you’re demonstrating your expertise and showcasing the value you can provide. Going with inbound marketing strategies means building a long-term asset that will speak to your credibility as a product or service provider in the field.

Strengthened Relationship with the Target Market

Between inbound vs. outbound marketing, the former is great if you want to forge a relationship with your target market. With inbound marketing, you’ll be able to:

• Nurture continued engagement: Long after you’ve created the post, people will still be able to engage with it.
• Personalize interaction: With inbound vs. outbound marketing, there’s no difference in the level of personalization. But here, the focus is specifically on interaction instead of selling.
• Receive feedback: Between inbound vs. outbound marketing, only inbound gives you the chance to gather first-hand data on what your audience thinks about your strategy.

Higher Level of Cost-Effectiveness

Whether or not you choose inbound or outbound marketing, the former will still be generally cheaper. There are many free inbound channels, so you’ll only have to invest time in creating the content itself. In terms of using paid options, inbound tools will always be the less expensive route. Because the objective is not to convert, publishers and advertising platforms are willing to go lower in prices for inbound marketing. For example, paying for impressions is better suited for this type of promotion, and it is much more affordable than paying for clicks.

What Are the Potential Issues with Using an Inbound Marketing Strategy?

Even though this strategy is great for certain things, it’s not always the perfect solution. That’s why it’s important to remember that when assessing whether to use inbound vs. outbound marketing, you should always keep your goals in mind. As with anything, there are certain disadvantages, but this doesn’t mean that you should abandon inbound. However, there will be cases in which it is not appropriate. Use the information in the following subsections to assess the suitability of inbound marketing for your campaign.

Time-Consuming

Let’s say that the holiday season is around the corner, and you want to take advantage of people’s tendency to purchase more. What is an inbound marketing strategy going to do in this case? Not much, really. Even though a great content piece can help boost your brand, it’s usually only effective as part of a larger strategy. So, when should you not choose inbound marketing? If you need quick results, it is better to explore other avenues that can better meet your expectations within your expected timetable.

Limited Potential for Conversion Rates

Consider this: Why would a customer buy on the spot when you’ve already provided value for free? This is one of the potential issues when assessing inbound vs. outbound marketing. Even though such a strategy can help build your brand and credibility in the long run, it does nothing right now to convince your target market to buy. Choosing inbound marketing when you want sales isn’t something that we recommend. It simply isn’t designed to convert people into customers right away.

All Out for Outbound? These Are the Benefits of Outbound Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing Strategies

If you believe outbound marketing is more suitable for your purposes, great! For decades, advertisers have seen a lot of positive results through it. When evaluating inbound vs. outbound marketing, when should you opt for the latter? Traditionally, outbound has been used to increase brand awareness and increase sales because it blasts your name out there. With conversion-focused tools, outbound is more focused on selling or generating leads. Here are the potential benefits of choosing this strategy.

Immediate Results

When you decide between inbound vs. outbound marketing, it can take some time to see measurable results from your efforts with the former. With the latter, you may get to reap the benefits as soon as you run the campaign. This is very important if the content that you created is only relevant for a limited time. Of course, the quality of the material will still determine the outcome of your outbound marketing efforts.

Better ROI Potential

When choosing between inbound vs. outbound marketing, inbound may get you views but not a lot of sales. That’s why outbound marketing is so valuable for your ROI. You’re pushing the message of your product or service out into the world for audiences to see. With a clear call-to-action and good messaging, you can convert them into sales more easily than with an inbound strategy. So, when you want to see monetary returns from your investment, going with outbound is definitely the smarter choice.

Control Over Exposure

When analyzing inbound vs. outbound marketing, with the former, you may not be able to reach potential clients if they are not yet familiar with your brand. With the latter, only relevant audiences will see your content. Going for outbound marketing is unlikely to nurture long-term trust with your target demographic; on the other hand, inbound marketing only helps you connect with an audience that’s already interested in your brand. With outbound marketing, you can cast a small but targeted net to attract the precise demographics you aim to reach, even if the user has never before interacted with your brand.

What Are the Potential Issues with Using an Outbound Marketing Strategy?

Just like with anything, outbound marketing comes with a few downsides. As you have seen in this article, there are solid reasons that advertisers choose inbound vs. outbound marketing. We have dedicated the next two subsections to discussing the disadvantages of outbound marketing. Still, it’s important to remember the context of your campaign and your objectives. We invite you to use the information we present in this subsection to decide what will work best for you.

High Costs

One of the reasons that an advertiser may choose inbound over outbound marketing is how expensive it can be to run an outbound campaign. The competition is great for highly targeted audiences, so you need to make sure that every element of the campaign is solid before launching. Those with limited budgets may even choose inbound marketing and just hope to go viral. Instead, we recommend exploring relatively unsaturated platforms or audience segments with a lower advertising demand.

Time-Bound Effectiveness

When looking at inbound vs. outbound marketing, it may take time to yield results if you go with the former. But over time, it may be more effective. Outbound gives you results immediately, but it stops as soon as you terminate the campaign. Does this mean that you should go with one over the other? Not at all! With outbound, the results that you get in a short period may be enough to hit all your goals, especially income-related ones. Just make sure that your campaign is targeted and powerful enough to generate conversions while keeping you within your budget.

The Blurred Lines Between Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing

With online advertising strategies, the line between inbound and outbound is becoming more blurred. It was originally thought that with inbound vs. outbound marketing, the latter was all about casting the widest net. But that’s not necessarily true today. For example, creating a retargeting campaign focuses on a particular market segment (originally an inbound trait) but pushes you to buy. Still, you can easily identify examples of outbound and inbound marketing. Meaning the rules of the game may change, but the goals are still the same. Inbound will always be about building a bridge, and outbound is about having your audience cross it.

Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing: Which Should You Prioritize?

Unfortunately, no one lives in a world of unlimited budgets. For your marketing efforts, you’ll always need to make hard decisions about how you allocate your budget. So, in the battle of inbound vs. outbound marketing, what will it be? In the previous section, you learned that you don’t have to fully commit to either choice. However, it’s also rarely ever 50-50. So, should you prioritize inbound or outbound marketing? There’s not one right answer. Consider these factors to find the right balance between the two strategies.

Budget for the Campaign

If you have a limited budget, it may be wise to choose inbound over outbound marketing strategies. Since some inbound strategies, such as social media posting, are free, you can still move forward despite budget constraints. But you shouldn’t choose between inbound vs. outbound marketing solely based on the initial costs. You should also assess the effectiveness of your decision. For example, if you’re highly skilled in creating outbound advertisements, it can make sense to spend more of your budget there. When choosing between inbound and outbound marketing, think about the kind of results that you’ll get if you put your money into either option.

Need for Capital Injection

As we talked about earlier, one of the biggest differences between inbound vs. outbound marketing is the outcome it generates. With outbound, you’ll get returns on your investment right away — assuming you crafted a great campaign, of course! So, if you need money right away and have the choice between inbound and outbound marketing, it is better to spend most of your time, effort and budget on the latter. But just to be clear, this doesn’t mean neglecting inbound altogether. After all, there are many free ways for you to implement inbound marketing.

Competition for the Same Market

Another factor that can be considered is your existing competition. Observe their existing efforts and campaigns. Do they tend to focus more on inbound or outbound marketing? What results are they getting from their efforts? Such information can be helpful in deciding what to do. If they’re having great results with their budget allocation, it may make sense for you to try to mirror their success. However, there is also merit in going in the other direction if you see that a certain approach isn’t working for them. So, what should you do? Be observant and use the information you retrieve to make a sound decision.

How to Integrate Inbound and Outbound Marketing Strategies

Throughout our discussion of these marketing strategies, you can see that both are useful. Therefore, it shouldn’t be seen as a competition in allocating resources between inbound vs. outbound marketing. So, why don’t we reframe the focus to determine how the two can work together? In doing so, you’ll be able to enjoy the advantages that come with both options. You’ll also be able to balance out the disadvantages of inbound and outbound marketing. If you need ideas on how to use the two to make powerful campaigns, keep reading. We hope that the examples seen in the next section serve as inspiration, but we encourage you to go beyond this to make them your own.

Use the Same Goals

We know there are a lot of differences between inbound vs. outbound marketing. So, why not use these differences to more effectively reach the same goals? For example, you want to increase the brand awareness of your company. Instead of choosing whether to use inbound or outbound marketing, use them both! Using a CPC model on your outbound marketing, you automatically gain brand awareness that you don’t have to pay for unless they click! If the audience benefits from the information you already have, you can paste the links in the comments to gain additional exposure. Even if the costs of inbound marketing are lower, getting it for free is still better!

Use Them as Parts of the Same Marketing Funnel

Even if we go with the traditional understanding of inbound vs. outbound marketing, you’ll still be able to integrate both into the same funnel. Let’s say that you went the route of outbound marketing and had fliers made to advertise a discount in your physical store. Initially, you considered allocating more money for inbound marketing. But since there’s extra space on the flier, why not take it as an opportunity to tell people about your new website? You can leave a QR code or even just a site address. This way, visitors can access valuable information and resources while they are incentivized to make a purchase.

Share Data Across Separate Campaigns

The focus of inbound vs. outbound marketing can be different. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t resources that can be shared. Data will always be valuable regardless of whether you prefer inbound or outbound marketing. By sharing data across separate campaigns, you may gain insights that you would not have found if you had stuck to treating them as separate endeavors. After all, it’s not a fight between inbound and outbound marketing. The ultimate goal is the same: contribute to the long-term sustainable profitability of your brand or business. To make this happen, always keep a copy of all raw data. This way, you can perform additional analyses when necessary.

Outbound and Inbound Digital Marketing Examples

We’ve talked at length about inbound and outbound marketing. But what do they look like in real life? At least for now, let’s put aside the discussion about whether you should choose inbound vs. outbound marketing. Let’s see what both types of marketing look like in practice! In the next two subsections, we’re going to present examples of inbound and outbound marketing. So, if there’s still any confusion in identifying which is which, keep reading. By the end of this section, you’ll be able to clearly identify inbound and outbound marketing.

Examples of Inbound Marketing

Here are a few examples of MGID’s own inbound marketing efforts.

1 MGID blog: Yes, even the text that you’re reading right now is considered inbound marketing!

2 MGID on-demand events: We recorded these webinar events, so you are able to still watch them months or years after the events ended.

3 YouTube videos: We have workshops and talks that you can watch at your convenience.

Even though the returns for inbound marketing are more latent, we can use all the material years later. Every site visitor continues to benefit from these resources.

Examples of Outbound Marketing

Here are some examples of outbound marketing you’ll see online:

1 Chrysler 300C Reveal: In this video, the Chrysler 300C is introduced to the public, which can be counted as directly promoting the car.

2 Datacamp Promotion: Here, a 50% discount is offered on yearly subscriptions. Clicking the ad leads to the sales page.

3 Cloudways paid search ad: This sponsored ad from Google appears after searching for a certain term.

Outbound options also include traditional media, like radio ads, TV commercials and more.

Inbound vs. Outbound Marketing? It Doesn’t Have to Be a Competition!

There are so many ways that you can approach marketing, and it’s rarely a one-and-done solution. So, don’t think of it as inbound vs. outbound marketing. The two can work in one campaign and even create a synergistic effect that will further elevate the results you would have achieved by independently using inbound and outbound. Meaning: find space for both in your campaign. No matter what your roadmap to marketing success looks like, you can trust MGID to help you every step of the way. Sign up today and get access to advanced tools, a personal manager and a department of creative specialists. Looking for inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing leads? We’ve got you either way!