Marketing is changing and the emphasis is increasingly on making your Marketing activities ‘Inbound’ rather than ‘Outbound. ‘The key is “Talk To” your customers don’t “Talk At” them.

Traditionally in Marketing we use Outbound techniques where we focus on –’pushing the message far and wide’. So we do things like :

-trade shows

-seminar series

-email blasts to purchased lists

-leaflet drops

-direct mail

-cold calling

-telemarketing/telesales

-advertising.

This is getting less and less effective over time for two reasons:

1. Your average human today is inundated with over 2000 outbound marketing interruptions per day! However there are more and more creative ways to block them out, including caller ID, spam filtering, Sky+ etc.

2. Cost :Outbound Marketing is expensive and profit margins are always being squeezed and business is constantly looking to drive down Customer Acquisition costs .

So Business has had to rethink how it markets itself and look for more cost effective ways of reaching prospects .

So what is ‘Inbound’ Marketing ?:

Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on getting found by customers.

As Brian Halligan says in Hubspot here ‘ The best analogy I can come up with is that traditional marketers looking to garner interest from new potential customers are like lions hunting in the jungle for elephants.  The elephants used to be in the jungle in the ’80s and ’90s when they learned their trade, but they don’t seem to be there anymore.  They have all migrated to the watering holes on the savannah (the internet).  So, rather than continuing to hunt in the jungle, I recommend setting up shop at the watering hole or turning your website into its own watering hole.’

So its where your business :

-Spends time talking to its customers -visits and calls !

-“helps itself “get found“- by people already learning about and shopping in your industry.

– Has a website that is a “hub” for your industry

– Has a website that attracts visitors naturally through search engines

– Uses the blogosphere to influence market opinion and attract prospects.

– Uses Social Media (LinkedIn, Facebook,Twitter and Google+) to engage with clients and prospects

– Builds fully Opted In Email Lists where clients and prospects have asked to be kept in touch with your latest news and information.

– Uses Business Networking to generate ‘Referrals’ from prospects .

I am not saying cancel all your traditional Outbound marketing in 2012 but what I am saying is understand the value of traditional Outbound marketing has decreased .Look at changing the balance of your Marketing activities and putting much more of your time and effort and a little money in to ‘Inbound Marketing ‘ .Remember you heard it here first .

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Richard

Richard Dawson
Harlaco Webb