Fast Facts on Inbound and Outbound Marketing for Startup Tech Companies

Trends are shifting to favor inbound marketing over outbound, but you’ll need to be familiar with both of them if you’re going to run a successful marketing campaign.

If you aren’t familiar with the difference between inbound and outbound marketing, it’s time to get you up to speed. As a startup tech company entrepreneur, you need to be able to harness the power of both inbound marketing and outbound marketing if you’re going to accelerate your company to new levels of sales.

Outbound marketing refers to any marketing tactics that reach out to audiences with the intention of selling to them. Examples of these include direct mail, email blast marketing, printed ads, and billboards.

Inbound marketing refers to any marketing tactics that are intended primarily to create an inherent value. Instead of reaching out to customers, these tactics build authority so that customers will be naturally inclined to discover a company. Examples include content marketing and social media marketing.

Inbound marketing is becoming more popular. This is attributable to a variety of factors including:

Audiences are “tuning out” traditional outbound advertising messages
Consumers are more adept at finding what they’re looking for through search engines and word of mouth
Higher inherent levels of trust built through inbound marketing tactics

The average cost of a lead generated through inbound marketing is lower than the average cost of a lead generated through outbound marketing. Inbound marketing strategies tend to be relatively cheaper than their outbound counterparts.

Inbound marketing techniques tend to yield more long-term results than short-term. Most outbound forms of advertising are designed to work for a specific, short-term campaign. This means as you continue to invest in your inbound strategy, you’ll see a higher and higher payout.

Inbound and outbound marketing can work together. This is critical to understand. Inbound marketing is very popular and very effective for this era, but the best marketing strategies are the ones that can harness the best of both worlds. Use inbound and outbound marketing strategies that complement each other to yield the best results for your company.

No matter what route you choose to take, be sure to do your research. The key is not choosing either inbound or outbound marketing, but instead choosing how to use each of them effectively.

About the Author

Jose Vasquez is a serial entrepreneur and tech specialist dedicated to helping startup tech companies grow and succeed. As the founder of Build. Brand. Blast., Jose has worked with dozens of enterprises to find direction, gain momentum, and achieve results.