Outbound vs Inbound - ETR 500 Week 5 Blog

Inbounding is considered the new way of marketing.  In today’s culture most businesses are moving to if not already utilizes the Inbounding marketing strategy as a way to respond to customer evolving purchasing habits.  The key for inbounding is that it relies on customers seeking them out through marketing mediums such as blogging, search engines, YouTube, Facebook, etc.  For an entrepreneur this is the most cost effective way in which to reach out to their customer base and even grow the business.

Outbound is the opposite of Inbounding.  It is the known as the traditional or the old way of marketing, "buy, beg, or bug their way in".   This was often done through the process of paying for advertising, flyers, telemarketing/cold calling, etc. This was the equivalent of casting a wide net with the hopes of reaching all consumers.  This is in contrast to the inbounding which identifies a target audience in trying to capture market share.

I think it would be very difficult in today’s way of business execution to survive by not incorporating the inbound along with outbound marketing.  Larger companies such as the Wal-Mart can pursue both avenues but it is a bit more difficult for the mom and pop businesses.  They may need to focus their efforts on the inbound marketing because it is more financially beneficial.