The Importance of Information for Inbound Marketing

Whereas traditional forms of marketing are mostly outbound, there has recently been an upsurge of inbound marketing. What’s the difference between these two forms of marketing? This is a case where the terminology is more or less self-explanatory. Outbound marketing reaches out to customers whereas inbound marketing waits for the customer to make the first move.

Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing techniques try to grab the attention of consumers, even if they haven’t asked for information about that product or service. Direct mail marketing, print advertisements and billboards are all examples of outbound marketing. It’s the company which takes the initiative and tries to enlist new customers by showing them how great their product is.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing relies on the customer to make the first move. Let’s say you’re a customer and you hear about a certain product or service that sounds good to you. Maybe you hear about it in a conversation with a friend. Or maybe you find out about it from social media because one of your friends has commented on it or “liked” it.

Either way, you get interested in the product and you decide to look it up. If the company you’re looking up understands the worth of inbound marketing, they’ll be prepared with a good website, a blog and social media pages so that you can get as much information as you need about the product.

Providing the Customer with Information

If you’re thinking about buying a product, you want to know all its specs, such as the price, the colors that it comes in, the sizes in which it’s available etc. To practice inbound marketing, the company needs to have all this information up on their website, blog and social media pages. It’s also helpful if they throw in information about their field in addition to information about their product.

Information as the Currency of Our Age

One of the most important things, when it comes to inbound marketing, is giving information. Nowadays, information is the currency of our age, more so than money. If you have the right information, you can make money, save money or get the things you want without having to pay for them. So customers want to know about ways in which they can do all these things. This is why the internet is chock-full of information.

Accurate and Inaccurate Information

If you’re an avid internet browser, you’re bound to know that at least half of the information on the internet is not reliable. It may be badly written or inaccurate.

Still, it’s possible to get good information in places where you least expect it, such as company blogs or social media pages.

There are companies which choose to post only promotional blogs or comments. However, many of them are actually interested in sharing what they know. This can be invaluable for inbound marketing purposes.

Increasing Sales by Providing Information

For example, if you’re selling a blender, you can share all sorts of information with your clients, such as the correct way to use the blender, recipes that can help you become fit, information on various types of diets, fitness tips, simplifying everyday recipes by using a blender etc. Once your clients see all the things that can be accomplished by using your blender, they’re going to run out of excuses not to buy one.

Contact us for more great inbound marketing tips.