When a brand considers the need to implement strategies to position itself, to make itself known and to attract prospects, it must first know and understand the different techniques that can be applied in order to achieve its objectives. 

With the advent of technology and new digital tools, the ways of communicating have changed, and with them the approach to contact with others. This applies both in the interpersonal and commercial spheres.

These changes in the form of relationships have placed the different marketing techniques in two strategic trends:  outbound marketing and inbound marketing. Both are goal-oriented, but use different tactics and achieve different results. From here we will try to point out the main characteristics of each one.

Outbound marketing

It includes the techniques and tactics that brands have used through mass and offline media. being largely quite aggressive in their campaigns to achieve sales.

Inbound marketing

Unlike traditional techniques, inbound marketing seeks to understand the customer’s needs and/or “pain” and offer solutions to this “pain” in appropriate formats, and does so through a less aggressive process, showing the customer a path to follow until reaching the final product/service.

These are general contrasts between the two trends, but to understand them better it is necessary to know the more specific differences.

What are the main differences between traditional vs Inbound Marketing?

1. Type of communication and relationship with customers.

Outbound marketing works in a unidirectional type of communication, where the brand is the sender and the customer is the receiver.

Inbound marketing allows a two-way communication, where customers can give their feedback to brands. Their opinions, doubts and comments can be a source of information to improve the product/service, the purchase experience or the conversion funnel of our customers.

2. Approach and objectives.

Outbound marketing has a purely commercial approach, focusing on products/services and using techniques that are intrusive to users. Their messages are generalist and focus on mass customer acquisition.

Inbound marketing, although its ultimate goal is also sales, focuses on the customer and empowers the user with information, providing them with what they need when they need it in a personalized way, and trying to create a relationship with them throughout the customer’s maturity cycle.

3. Different strategies.

Outbound marketing uses push strategies, is impersonal and offers little value to users except the product/service differential against direct competitors.

Inbound marketing tries to attract the customer, seeking to inform, educate and entertain by providing added value to users.

4. Metrics and KPIs.

Outbound marketing does not allow for performance measurement, so extrapolation methods are often used and KPIs cannot be very specific.

Inbound marketing uses mostly digital media, which allows the measurement of results and the establishment of defined KPIs.

5. Costs.

In outbound marketing, the minimum investment in traditional channels is usually high, so the cost per lead is very expensive.

In Inbound marketing, the prices of the channels used are cheaper, so the cost per lead is lower and the actions to be carried out are more affordable for brands.

 Which one to use then? It will depend on our objectives and the type of communication we want to establish with our customers. In no case does this mean that the two options are mutually exclusive; on the contrary, in many cases they are complementary and can enrich the actions carried out to improve overall results.

http://blog.aventaja.com/5-diferencias-entre-marketing-tradicional-e-inbound-marketing