It’s not unusual to hear kids asking one another: “Are you an ‘innie’ or an “outie”—referring to the appearance of their respective navels. That same question takes on a completely different meaning when you’re talking about businesses and how they market their goods and services.
Outbound marketing refers to marketing efforts companies use to push out a message to their intended audience. It’s driven by what a company thinks its audience needs to hear. It’s unsolicited. That is, it’s not something the consumer requested. It also tends to use conventional methods such as TV, radio, print ads, direct mail, and (to some extent) email.
Inbound marketing on the other hand is information made available by a company that draws their intended audience in to request more information. It seeks to address questions and concerns consumers have. It engages consumers and gives them access to more information if they want it. It’s non-invasive. That is, it doesn’t show up unsolicited in a consumer’s mailbox, or on their TV screen.
So is your company an “innie” or an “outie” when it comes to marketing? According to Google, you should probably be both! A recent study by Google indicates that people often become aware of a product or service through outbound marketing, but that the vast majority of them then do their research online. So, outbound channels are still effective, but only if businesses have a strong online (inbound) presence to back it up and to capture those visitors in research mode. That means you need to integrate your inbound and outbound efforts.
TMR Direct has 40 years of outbound (direct marketing) experience. And as a HubSpot certified partner, we know the inbound world as well. We invite you to investigate how we can help you take advantage of the best inbound marketing services.
And if you’d like to peruse that Google study for yourself (and there’s lots of interesting information in this study), please shoot us an email and we’ll get it out to you—free of charge.
Blog Post Written by Spencer Powell
Spencer is the Inbound Marketing Director at TMR Direct. Spencer specializes in helping clients create and execute effective inbound marketing campaigns.