Inbound Marketing: The next phase of marketing on the web

[asha]

How about customers finding their marketers on their own! Its a marketers' dream, right ? And thats the strategy behind "Inbound Marketing". Instead of driving their message into a crowd over and over again like a sledgehammer, Inbound marketers attract highly qualified customers to their business like a magnet. Get a better idea about inbound marketing here:

Thanks
Asha

[cyriac]

Companies surely are going to cut down on their offline advertisement budgets as a way to maneuver over the present economic downturn. They will shy away from outbound marketing and take a renewed interest in embracing online marketing as it offers the added advantage of allocating marketing resources more efficiently. Its better targeting options, geographical reach and cost effectiveness would obviously go down well with all companies. What it all points to is a renewed demand for the services of internet marketing companies who are well versed in SEO techniques as the only way to stem the falling demand for products and services.

[Sreedhar]

Advertising has always been an area I have wondered "why". Why would companies pay so much for ads? Are they really effective? Perhaps they have their own reasons to!

Even though I wouldn't yet dare to say that outbound marketing is going to take a backseat (which it will not for a long time to come), I would surely agree that inbound marketing is going to see a major boost and many companies realizing the potential it has.

[Sreedhar]

[cyriac]

I have always wondered on the wisdom of companies spending crores of rupees on all forms of offline advertisements including TV commercials, bill boards etc. I have yet to find an ardent viewer of a TV commercial ; as I see it, most would skip over the commercial and move on to a different channel. The exorbitant costs of TV commercials and the increasing number of channels available could in the near future make TV commercials a lesser preferred option. The chances are that it may take a back seat sooner or later. Inbound marketing is then going to be the preferred choice and will definitely get a boost. The going looks very rosy for Internet marketing companies.

[asha]

Noooooooo Cyriac,
I love to watch TV Commercials and many leaves very good long lasting images on me. Say ads of Union Bank (The cute little girl buried her lost teeth to get better fortunes for buying her brother a "CAR") South Indian Bank, Vodafone(helping Pug)...and a lot..
Advertising opens the doors of men & matters to us, if not relevant how could it have travelled from the days of word-of-mouth advertising (criers of ancient Eygpt) to a multi-million dollar industry.
Thanks
Asha

[jay]

I think we should leave this topic to Business Analysts

It all depends on the situation and targeted audience. Even it's predicted that economic recession won't go beyond 2 or 3 years.

Even at the time of recession it doesn't mean people won't watch TV or Newspaper but companies may cut down their costs to the possible level.

A child or an old man won't be using internet much and to increase the market share the best media for the is still TV/Newspaper.

As i said it depends upon the targeted audience and the kind of product.

So inbound marketing has got it's own importance and outbound marketing too has !

[harish]

Interesting thoughts one must say. Let me share mine.

Coming to think of it, the word advertising is synonymous with marketing and it's Advertising & Marketing that we hear all around. All for a reason. Without advertising marketing is a deflated balloon. For the balloon to be flush with air and to touch the clouds advertising is indispensable. Brand building (what marketers strive for) is possible only because marketers advertise. Marketing as a business manoeuvre has no solitary existence.

The case is different with Advertising, it can stand on its own leg. Purely because more than a mere profession that caters to business interests, it is more of an art form where creativity incarnates itself in vivid detail.

Thus there are two ends for advertising, to build brands for one and to achieve creative peak for another. And it's the latter that drives the admen, it's that for which they work actually. When the ad is creative brand building happens automatically.

Those TV commericials, billboards etc. all have the creative spark in them ( of course there are not-so-honourable exceptions). That's why as Asha said, they leave lasting impressions on the minds. To those people who skip them you indeed are missing some-creative-thing.

See some creative sparks at http://www.adsoftheworld.com and I challenge you to skip this one http://in.youtube.com/watch?v=w9qIssi2WuA

And last but not the least, let's leave ETHICS out of the equation. Neither marketing has it, not advertising. The ethical eye is blind in business and it's two legs ( Advertisng & Marketing). To be ethical means to play second fiddle in this realm. Nothing ethical about it, a nice caption for business, right?

[Sreedhar]

The core issue is not advertising by itself, but the advertising bombardment. As for the outbound marketing techniques, the effort should be catchy enough so that the potential customer relates their need to the value of the ad. For eg: I am sure most of us can hum that "AirTel" jingle, and will forever remember the "Hutch" doggy, but on an average how many ads do we come across and how many do we remember? On the other side, when it comes to inbound marketing techniques, the potential customer is seeking to find the information, so it is easier.

All said and done, both are here to stay and both are bound to grow.