Make the most of inbound and outbound marketing
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Planning August 31, 2021
4 min.
With the web playing an increasingly important role in our lives – both at home and at work – search engines have transformed how we find answers to our questions.
In this context, two (complementary!) strategies for reaching potential customers on the web are inbound and outbound marketing. By combining their strengths, you can create an optimal marketing strategy.
Inbound vs. outbound marketing: What are the differences?
Two sides of the same coin, inbound and outbound marketing are designed to help you generate leads effectively. Although these approaches differ in their methods, they complement each other, allowing companies to maximize their reach and impact to develop a more significant number of qualified leads.
What is inbound marketing for?
Inbound marketing aims to attract, engage and convert prospects into customers. How do we do this? By providing valuable content that builds trust. In the long term, then, it’s your potential customers who approach you, thanks to your informative content, combined with your SEO strategy, that ensures you answer their questions well on search engines. Your lead generation then depends on your efforts to make your brand and its message accessible through different channels.
The term inbound thus refers to attraction tactics. First and foremost, you want to position yourself as an expert in your field. Your prospects are looking for the solution you offer but may still need to learn about it. It’s up to you to provide them with quality content that showcases your brand’s expertise!
Examples of inbound marketing tactics
- SEO-optimized blog posts
- White papers
- Case studies
- Videos that address your customers’ questions and concerns
What’s the definition and purpose of outbound marketing?
Outbound marketing is an approach that involves proactively reaching prospects with promotional messages via traditional or digital advertising content.
Interruption tactics rake in a large pool of prospects, previously established through various personas that identify which target has which precise needs. Outbound marketing aims to actively create opportunities for contact between your targets and your offer.
Contrary to popular belief, outbound marketing doesn’t have to be invasive! You must find the right formula and format for your industry and target audience.
Some examples of outbound marketing actions
- Seminar or webinar
- Trade shows or other industry events
- Email marketing (eblast)
- Advertising – on the web or social networks, in a podcast or newsletter, etc.
By combining inbound and outbound marketing actions, you balance the short and the long term: carve out a place for yourself in your industry while obtaining more immediate leads without compromising quality!
Combine inbound and outbound marketing in 4 steps to strengthen your digital marketing strategy
Together, inbound and outbound marketing can boost the overall effectiveness of a lead generation strategy and lead to more sustainable results over time. Ready to take advantage of their respective superpowers, through their differences?
1. Opt for the push-pull approach
Outbound marketing disseminates information to a large pool of potential customers (push), while inbound marketing attracts the attention of prospects interested in your field of expertise (pull). The two different approaches amplify each other.
The result? An advertisement that has attracted potential customers or convinced of your expertise due to research where your blog posts confirm your know-how. All without their even having contacted one of your representatives! Reaching and attracting prospects, your outbound marketing campaign then leads to your content, a star player of your inbound marketing.
2. Make the most of your e-mail marketing
Did you know 87% of B2B marketers consider e-mail the best free and organic way to disseminate information? Whether you’re sending your newsletter to interested subscribers (inbound marketing) or distributing your electronic brochures (outbound marketing), take advantage of this platform!
To optimize the open rate of your e-mail marketing tactics, it’s best to segment your mailings, or at least personalize them according to your segments. By tailoring the text of your e-mails to your targets, you’ll be able to more easily meet their needs and build a relationship of trust with them.
3. Focus on branding
Your brand image is central to the success of your marketing strategy, where clarity and consistency play a crucial role. Imagine: a potential customer arrives on your website and doesn’t understand the purpose of your services or notices that your voice constantly changes from one page to the next. This confusion is unlikely to convince them to do business with you!
4. Follow-up and improvement
Your outreach and attraction efforts should be closely monitored to note where you’re performing best and where to adjust. In the process, you’ll regularly take the pulse of your potential customers (what interests them? Do they have new concerns?). To keep track of your digital platforms, turn to Google Analytics and UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) parameters to paint a precise picture of users and their itineraries.
For example, compare which ratio of downloads of your ebook is more interesting, via your Google Ads ad (outbound marketing) or your blog post highlighting it (inbound marketing). Some products or services work better with either approach. With such data, you can optimize your campaigns in (almost) real time!
Inbound vs outbound marketing: It’s all a question of balance!
Combined, inbound and outbound marketing increase the effectiveness of your marketing strategy, optimally reach your potential customers and raise your organization’s profile. To help you find the winning combination, turn to our team of strategists!
