Consumers have never really enjoyed being interrupted by advertising. But something changed with the arrival of the web and the inevitable information overload that followed. So why does inbound marketing rank higher than outbound marketing?

Consumers became much better at filtering the information they received and began ‘switching off’ when it suited them.

Where does this leave the marketeer? In a very tricky position if all they rely on is an outbound marketing philosophy.

Consumers have evolved and so has marketing. People have grown intolerant to receiving unwanted marketing messages.

They can perform their own homework when it comes to brand research and products and can quite capably zone out when this information is thrust upon them.

We can fast-forward TV adverts, for example, when we’re not interested. We can delete unwanted promotional emails. And we can leave a website within seconds of arriving when we get bombarded with sales pop-ups.

Such filtering ability has undeniably affected the success of outbound marketing strategies. These are marketing techniques which rely on direct sales communication with the consumer such as traditional television, radio and print advertising, billboards, direct mail, cold calling and email marketing.

They also rely on using other people’s mediums to get the message across – and you have to pay for the pleasure of doing so. This makes outbound marketing a costly exercise.

With inbound marketing on the other hand, you’re responsible for building and nurturing your own audience on your own medium. This could be a blog, social media or a website or all of them.

Inbound marketing embraces the power shift that has occurred which has given consumers freedom to make informed decisions about what they buy. You’re communicating with people who actually want to receive the information you’re generating because it adds value to their daily lives.

People don’t read newspapers like they used to. People can’t so easily be sold to on email. It’s quite hard to get the message across if you’re in business.

That doesn’t mean to say the days of outbound marketing are dead but modern marketeers need to get through the noise. And they have to be more creative.

Businesses need to grow and nurture their own audience through publishing relevant content. These audiences can include existing customers they’re looking to achieve more sales with.

They can also include potential customers searching the web for retail advice and information. You can become the provider of choice.

The most important part of an inbound marketing strategy is content. By providing valuable, quality information free of charge you will establish relationships, trust and build brand awareness/loyalty.

Every business wants to generate traffic into their website. However, by focusing on those people who are in the active stage of product research, you’re attracting people to your business who are much further down the sales funnel.

These are the people you’re more likely to convince to try out your product or services.

This all sounds brilliant. And it is. But of course with every strategy there are cons. The biggest as far as inbound marketing is concerned is that the results aren’t immediate.

It takes time to nurture audiences. How long is impossible to say because every business is different. But the reality is it does work. My own clients are proof that it works. It just takes patience and commitment to producing quality, relevant content that adds value.

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