What is inbound marketing?
What is inbound marketing?
You may have heard the term zalo database before, especially if you read information about digital marketing, but you still don't have a clear idea of what it is. Don't worry, we'll explain it to you in a few words:
Inbound marketing puts the customer at the center , taking into account their specific needs at each stage of their purchasing process. The inbound methodology focuses on the creation of valuable content as the basis of the strategy.
By knowing your customers in depth, you can provide them with content that directly appeals to their pain points , that is, to what worries them or the question they are looking for an answer to. Thus, you create blog articles, explanatory videos, ebooks, podcasts, infographics... that are delivered throughout the purchasing process depending on the context.
Understanding context is key , as a user who doesn't know your company yet won't need the same information as someone who is about to make a purchase. Personalizing messages, emails, and ads for each stage is what can make all the difference.
Of course, none of this would make sense if data on the performance of the actions were not collected over time, in order to analyze them and promote those that are most effective.
Inbound marketing vs outbound marketing
Unlike inbound marketing, outbound marketing focuses on the product or service you are trying to sell. User needs are considered in a much more superficial way, so messages tend to be more generic.
Before the digital channel became a fundamental part of our daily lives, outbound advertising was the norm. This is the case with traditional advertising : billboards, posters, stands, cold calling, etc. Radio or television ads are perhaps the most obvious example: unidirectional messages , which you have not requested and which interrupt the consumption of the content you really want.
Inbound marketing or content marketing?
A common confusion is between inbound marketing and content marketing. It is true that they have points in common , but an inbound strategy is much broader.
Content marketing usually only takes into account the first stages of an inbound strategy: attracting traffic to the website through valuable content. But once the user has consumed that content, it is lost track of or falls into the hands of the sales department.
Inbound marketing, on the other hand, takes into account the entire process during the life cycle of a prospect or lead, even after they have become a customer. In fact, there may be cases where a specific inbound strategy does not necessarily include content marketing, if the company already has a large customer database.
Stages in the inbound methodology
The inbound methodology is applied in several stages, accompanying the user from the moment they are a stranger until they become a client and potential ambassador for your brand.
