There is an ‘Inbound Marketing Rising infographic’ that’s doing the rounds on the web at the moment. It’s a biased uneducated illustration of how the digital marketing industry misunderstands the role of TV, radio, advertising and promotion in general when it comes to creating a unified marketing strategy.
The pretty infographic talks about the decline in ‘outbound marketing’ like TV, Radio, Adverting and print. It’s as if all of these channels are on their last legs and soon shall serve no purpose. How wrong, smug and ill informed the creators of this dismissive propaganda are.
Go compare this outbound!
Take the insurance and financial services industry for example. The web has certainly changed how we buy car insurance, home and personal insurance or pick which loads or credit card we go for. The web has facilitated the owners of the big brands to easily transact and monotise their businesses, but it didn’t get the message out. I think you’ll find that was outbound marketing.
The infographic explains how outbound marketers rarely seek to entertain or educate. Could it be further from the truth?
The ability to use broadcast to tell their story is not just the cornerstone of the success of these business, it’s the entire cause of their success. The web and inbound marketing, well that just helped perpetuate and amplify the story.
Big promotion budgets - big profits
The digital marketing industry is isolating itself by looking a shifts in trends, proclaiming massive lifestyle changes and pronouncing the death of anything that isn’t digital. I have yet to see figures of people turning off the TV to use the web . We are now duel-screening, but the primary focus of our attention is still on the tele-box in the corner!
Getting attention is becoming really expensive online as PPC costs rise due to competitiveness and because SEO only leads has only few winners. Creating a marketing strategy that uses off-line promotion and online engagement is a common and successful strategy. ‘Inbound and Outbound’ marketing are bedfellows, not enemies. The skill is with the marketing and knowing when to use each.
Outbound - Simples