Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing: Which One Costs Less?

79% of marketers say that generating more quality leads is a priority goal. Lead generation helps bring in new customers. And without a solid lead generation strategy, your sales funnel and ability to generate higher profits fly out the window.

Currently, two of the main lead generation strategies are inbound marketing and outbound marketing. For many marketers, the inbound marketing vs outbound marketing discussion centers on two things: effectiveness and price.

To help you make an informed decision on which of the two can save you money while producing the desired results, here’s a comprehensive guide on inbound and outbound marketing.

What Is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound marketing refers to a strategy of connecting with your potential customers. It’s done through experiences and material that they find useful.

This approach tries to capture the attention of customers already familiar with your brand and what you offer. Some of the tools marketers use for inbound marketing include topical blogs, ebooks, social media campaigns, search engine optimized text, webinars, and viral videos.

Inbound marketing highly engages the audience. It connects users with valuable content that encourages them to share links with others. For instance, a well-crafted blog post about your favorite product can speak to a potential customer in ways that a banner ad cannot.

Inbound marketing utilizes a more personal approach. This can draw customers who were already looking for a product.

They get valuable information regarding what they were searching for and are more likely to convert. Many businesses complement their inbound marketing efforts with warm transfers.

What Is Outbound Marketing?

Outbound marketing is any kind of marketing where you initiate the conversation. You typically send out a marketing message to your intended audience. Some common outbound marketing examples are TV commercials, print advertisements, radio ads, outbound sales calls, email spam, and trade shows.

For most businesses, outbound marketing makes up the largest portion of marketing budgets. This form of marketing has been around for a long time and is widely considered a cost of doing business by many companies.

Outbound marketing presents significant challenges, especially in today’s largely digital economic space. This type of marketing is generally more difficult to track. Besides, it’s a lot less profitable than inbound marketing.

What Is the Cost of Inbound Marketing vs Outbound Marketing?

Generally, inbound marketing is a lot cheaper than outbound marketing. That’s because this type of lead generation is largely customer-driven. The marketer doesn’t need to interrupt customers’ activities to earn their attention.

In inbound marketing, your main focus is to create compelling content and sit back. As the traffic rolls in, your work is to seal the deal.

Things are different with outbound marketing. The cost per lead for outbound marketing costs 61% more than inbound marketing.

Why? Because you’re paying to print and mail marketing materials, and you’re buying TV and radio time. You’re probably also paying for space in newspapers and magazines.

Which Should You Choose?

Given the many benefits of inbound marketing compared to outbound marketing, many businesses opt for the former. Inbound marketing saves you a lot in marketing costs, as we’ve already pointed out before.

Another benefit you enjoy with inbound marketing is greater lead generation. One of the channels inbound marketing uses is social media, which is highly effective for online marketing. A single, well-crafted social media post has a wider reach and generates more engagement compared to a physical billboard ad.

Conversion rates are also much higher when you use inbound marketing compared to outbound marketing efforts. That’s because you can test and measure the effectiveness of any channel you use in inbound marketing, which helps you improve it and optimize its conversion rates.

Creating an Inbound Marketing Strategy

Now that you’ve seen what inbound marketing can do for your business, you’re probably interested in how to create an inbound lead generation strategy that works for you. Here are some guidelines to help you get started.

Identify Your Buyer

The first thing you need to do is determine the demographic you’re targeting with your product or service. Is your product or service high-end, mid-end, or affordable to this demographic?

Find out what your target customer values in their content. Are they generally interested in ease of use, trustworthy credentials, or aesthetics?

Use Channels That Best Resonate With Your Customer

If the majority of your target customers are younger, then it’s likely that they will engage more with social media. These users are also likely to be more driven by trend-led imagery and content.

An older customer base that’s more affluent may prefer a more timeless approach. However, that doesn’t mean that such users don’t use social media or have a strong liking for quality image-sharing.

Create Share-Worthy Content

Once you’ve created a list of relevant keywords, it’s time to start writing. A strong inbound marketing strategy relies on articles that provide value to your readers.

The main goal should be to create content that’s so valuable that your customer persona wants to share it with their friends and peers via social media platforms and email.

Develop an Effective Conversion Path

The whole point of having an inbound marketing strategy is to boost your sales. Without a clear conversion page, you’ll have trouble doing so.

So what does an effective conversion path look like? You’ll need a clear call-to-action (CTA), a landing page that has a form, and a thank-you page with a corresponding image.

Take a good look at your landing page and determine the impression it will have on your target customer. Remember, your visitors will use this page to decide whether the content you provide is worth their contact information.

Generally, everything should be brief and to the point. It should allow your visitor to find value on the page in two or so seconds.

Choose the Right Lead Generation Strategy for You

The inbound marketing vs outbound marketing debate still rages on. But it’s clear why inbound lead generation is gaining more popularity. Not only is inbound marketing more effective, but it’s also much more affordable than its counterpart.

Would you like to read more content on lead generation for your business? Please keep visiting our blog.