The question whether companies can survive on inbound
marketing alone has become of greater interest in recent years. One byproduct of the continued expansion of
the internet is that there is more information available to us today than ever
before. There are answers to our
questions and solutions for just about any problem you can think up. So, when one has a problem they simply “Google
it” to find the best possible solution.
While that could be very exciting to a start-up company with
very little funding and no access to advertising resources, there is still
doubt that they could rely solely on this type of format and succeed as a
business. Some additional questions to
consider might be:
- Will the right customers reach them?
- Will there be enough traffic to gain momentum?
- Is it worth the time to create content for inbound marketing?
- How do we know what content will resonate bet?
These are questions that I would ask before putting a
strategy together for inbound marketing efforts. With that said, I feel a company could
potentially sustain itself on this type of marketing alone. There are many companies that have propelled
themselves based on word of mouth.
Social media has transformed the way people discover new products,
interests, and services. The ability to
share the likes and dislikes of individuals you trust through mechanisms like
Facebook and blogs is substantial. For
example, the sharing of a video among friends can result in a viral exposure to
the subject of the video. As almost
everyone today has access to the internet, search engines have become more
robust, and the interest in social media has increased the likelihood of being
noticed is extremely high given the right product. Companies that are in tune with their target
customers would be able to provide appropriate content that will capture
attention.
When it comes to outbound marketing activities, the main
goal seems to be reaching a large audience with one message. For example, paying for an advertising firm
to put together an ad or slogan that will be presented in TV spots, brochures,
or email blasts that could potentially be seen or read by thousands. This is in contrast to the more passive
nature of inbound marketing which allows the customer to seek out the
information rather than it being presented to them. I found an article that discusses five large
companies that have been successful with inbound marketing, but what you’ll notice
is that it’s more a mechanism to support outbound marketing activities (http://mashable.com/2012/09/13/inbound-marketing-strategies/). In most of these cases, the outbound activities
are still being utilized but are supported with an updated strategy around
social media or mobile technology. It’s important
to recognize the benefits of traditional marketing while taking advantage of
new trends in the use of technology and access to information.
The questions you have put together to determine inbound strategy are great. Especially how exactly to reach target audience? What pre-tests or trials could be done to help predict success of inbounding efforts? In my opinion, playing devil’s advocate, whether or not a company could completely survive entirely on inbound marketing definitely depends on the target audience. For instance, there are very many elderly people, with various income levels that may be interested in a given product that may not have access to the internet either because they cannot afford it with their limited income, they just do not want to be bothered, or simply their dexterity does not allow them to surf the web via computer iPad etc. Another example is specific toys say for children ages say 3-7. The best way to reach them is through TV commercials, maybe advertising at movies, and I know it is still a favorite past time of kids to go through the Toys R US circular and make a Santa list. Granted a parent has the final say…but to know exactly whether or not a young child really wants a certain toy is not going to be determined by the child surfing the web but rather visualizing toy via advertising, their friend has it, seeing a demo at the toy store etc. Again, I was just playing devil’s advocate that survival on inbounding alone has a great deal to do with target audience and their demographics.
ReplyDeleteTanya, I agree with that inbound marketing is most cases plays supporting roles to outbound marketing. Most companies need both inbound and outbound marketing for growth. Only in relatively small cases, like HotSpot in its current stage, may get away with inbound marketing only. You also made a good point about impact of technology on marketing. The social media definitely changed the marketing landscape. To be a serious competitors, companies need inbound marketing by using social media like facebook, twitter and blogs. But outbound marketing is still very effective for targeting a broad customer spectrum in short amount of time.
ReplyDeleteTanya, your great analysis reminds me of the biggest challenge in inbound marketing right now is how to transfer the traffic into transactions, the funnel model. For my information, there are many start-up businesses are aiming to help businesses get through the difficult initial phase. Some of them are called accelerators and incubator. Businesses, especially small businesses, put more effort on inbound marketing. However, professional training are required to help these businesses.
ReplyDelete