Which is easier: going to the customer or getting the customer to come to you? Instead of reaching out to customers, maybe you should consider ways to get them to reach out to you. This is considered inbound marketing, and spending marketing dollars to get customers to come to you is a wise use of resources and even easier to accomplish as part of your digital marketing plan.
On the surface, digital marketing and inbound marketing seem similar. Both occur primarily online, and both focus on creating digital content for people to consume. However, the broad term “digital marketing” doesn’t differentiate between push and pull marketing tactics or what we refer to as “inbound” and “outbound” methods. Both still fall under the umbrella of digital marketing.
Digital outbound tactics aim to put a marketing message directly in front of as many people as possible in the online space – regardless of whether it’s relevant or welcomed. For example, the banner ads you see at the top of many websites try to push a product or promotion onto people who aren’t necessarily ready to receive it.
On the other hand, digital inbound tactics use online content to attract their target customers onto their websites by providing assets that are helpful to them. One of the simplest yet most powerful inbound digital marketing assets is a blog, which allows your website to capitalize on the terms your ideal customers are searching. If you post videos or blogs to your business social media sites, you are engaged in inbound marketing.
Ultimately, inbound marketing is a methodology that uses digital marketing assets to attract, convert, close, and delight customers online. It creates and develops content for your websites that will increase brand awareness, nurture and convert new leads, increase customer loyalty and retention, and hopefully maximize brand advocates who can tell others about your brand.
At Riley & You, we know how to create interesting content that will attract customers to your online channels. We take the time to understand your brand and your market so that we can help you create content for effective inbound marketing. Our team of experts have all the tools they need to transform your digital marketing strategies from pushing messages out to pulling customers in.
