Inbound marketing
- For a related term see permission marketing. For the product management sense of inbound marketing, see product management.
Inbound marketing is promoting a company through blogs, podcasts, video, eBooks, newsletters, whitepapers, SEO, physical products, social media marketing, and other forms of content marketing which serve to attract customers through the different stages of the purchase funnel.[1][2][3] In contrast, buying attention,[1] cold-calling, direct paper mail, radio, TV advertisements,[2] sales flyers, spam, telemarketing[3] and traditional advertising[4] are considered "outbound marketing". Inbound marketing refers to marketing activities that bring visitors in, rather than marketers having to go out to get prospects' attention. Inbound marketing earns the attention of customers,[1] makes the company easy to be found,[2] and draws customers to the website[4] by producing interesting content.[3] An important fact in inbound marketing is providing customer feedback channels with the company for creating both trustworthy relationships as well as for consultations and sales. First of all it’s a phone number, a feedback form, live chat (e.g. HipChat, LiveChat, LiveAgent), an automatic callback free for the clients (e.g. Callmaker). Many companies are now realizing that their technical documentation, often considered a "necessary evil", is authoritative, trustworthy content that can be a company's most effective inbound marketing channel, generating more than half of overall site traffic and over half of lead generation.[5]
David Meerman Scott recommends that marketers "earn their way in" (via publishing helpful information on a blog etc.) in contrast to outbound marketing, where they "buy, beg, or bug their way in" (via paid advertisements, issuing press releases, or paying commissioned sales people, respectively).[6] The term is synonymous with the concept of permission marketing.[3] The inbound marketing term was coined by Brian Halligan,[2][3][7] in 2005.[8][9] According to HubSpot, inbound marketing is especially effective for small businesses[10][11] that deal with high dollar values, long research cycles and knowledge-based products. In these areas prospects are more likely to get informed and hire someone who demonstrates expertise.[12]
See also
Notes
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