The meaning of inbound marketing is the methodology that uses and combines different advertising and marketing techniques, such as social media marketing, search engine advertising, content marketing, SEO, email marketing and web analytics, among others, with the purpose of reaching users in a non-intrusive way and providing them with a certain value.
Inbound marketing in digital marketing industry aims to reach people who are in the process of buying a specific product in the initial phase. From that phase you will be accompanied through appropriate content until you reach the final purchase. Always in a very friendly way. The final purpose is to retain the consumer.
This concept also provides a series of assets, among which are:
- Database: the entity creates its own database that will be constantly growing.
- Channel for capturing records independent of payment methods: the company is more visible in search engines and will get visits from direct and organic channels, which can translate into new contacts for the database.
- Content: the organization creates content that places it in a position of expert in the sector.
- Branding: the brand image of the business is reinforced.
- Scope: it manages to reach a wider audience, generating a community around the brand.
- Automation: all actions can be managed by applications that perform each action directly.
Diferencia between inbound and outbound marketing
Inbound marketing tries to capture the user in a natural way, without pressure. The method is not very aggressive.
For its part, outbound marketing presents a totally different philosophy, since it uses more intrusive advertising techniques, where they send users a series of information that they have not requested. In general, these are very commercial campaigns, where the interest of the public is practically zero.
Inbound Marketing Ejemplos
To better understand this concept, we show you below a couple of examples of inbound marketing. One case could be the Listerine 21-Day Challenge, where it asked potential customers to buy a brand product and keep the purchase receipt until the conclusion of the contest. To take part in it, they required registration in a form (generation of lists, capture of leads) and for three weeks the firm proposed different tests to users.
Marketing automation is the result of Inbound Marekting and is widely used among businesses to streamline tasks. A example of a marketing automation campaign for online stores It would be to nurture the lead through emails with interesting content related to a specific product. For example, a customer interested in running shoes will receive content on how to run in cold weather, the best wristbands that measure heart rate, etc.
Another example can be the Iberia blog, I like to fly, specialized in airplanes and travel, where the focus of the articles is on passengers. It has quality content, with curiosities of the destinations, the different types of planes or the operation of airports. In the section focused on people with fear of flying, they provide tips to overcome panic, for example. So they could get new potential travelers.
How to make a customer database