Let’s face it there has been quite a change in the marketing world. There are those who are not changing with the times and are struggling. And those who have kept up with current trends and are doing very well.

The companies that are doing well are those that have adapted with the use of technology in their campaigns. They have turned to the internet in some form as their marketing platform. The advantage of using the internet is obviously based on the use of technology.

Today’s marketing avenues have greatly increased with the use of the internet. There are many avenues to use for promoting your business online. Think of the available social media platforms that are available. Some of the more common are Facebook, YouTube, Instagram and more.

There are two different types of marketing, inbound and outbound.

What is Inbound Marketing?

Inbound is a broad term that really covers many different methods and strategies that companies use to increase leads for their business.

Currently the most successful companies are utilizing a number of these inbound tactics extremely well. This is what is giving them an advantage over their competitors. Some of the primary components that most companies are utilizing are search engine optimization (SEO), social media marketing, content promotion, opt-in email marketing and various types of marketing automation.

 

What is Outbound Marketing?

In the past, many companies were primarily focused with advertising their business through outbound methods. They employed sales teams that would perform outbound duties to try and generate any type of interest in their goods and/or services.

Outbound is a form of marketing that is initiated by a company to reach a broad audience. Some of the more common examples of an outbound reach include television commercials, radio ads, advertisements in newspapers, magazines, mailers, sales calls and mass email.

Why is Inbound So Effective?

Marketing online has advantages. With the creation of good content for your service or product, you can attain the followers. It will take time to get a high number of followers but it is possible. Another advantage to inbound marketing is the cost. It costs far less for a business to market their company online than it does with the traditional types of outbound marketing.

Smartphones are making the biggest difference when it comes to marketing your business. Statistics show that over 63% of searches for a product or service are performed on a smart-device.

This number is quite high. If businesses are not marketing on the internet through a business website, they may be losing a very high number of possible customers.

When potential customers can perform a search on the internet through their smart-device, typically they will visit the business that appears on their device.

The main point here is that currently what is the most effective is what is commonly referred to as attraction marketing. This is inbound marketing wherein customers are actively searching for your services and come to you as opposed to you going to them with some type of sales pitch.

Why is Outbound Difficult?

It’s hard to sell people nowadays with cold calling, radio and television ads due to the fact that if a customer is in need of a product or service, they just search the internet. For brick and mortar businesses or services, they are simply doing a search on their smart phone. Most individuals have access and heavily rely on their smart device. Their smart device is with them all of the time.

How Do I Get In Front of Customers Through The Internet?

The answer is simple. Search engine optimization, or better known as SEO, gets your site in front of customers on the internet. Optimizing your website with search engine optimization strategies is beneficial for companies to increase their traffic.

A crucial part of SEO is social media marketing. There are literally hundreds of social media platforms that businesses can connect with. The advantage of social media for businesses is the ability to instantly connect with potential customers. The ability to instantly communicate with potential and current customers is a priority.

Local SEO

Businesses can do local search engine optimization by completing citations. There are many opportunities for completing local citations. Consider a local citation as the Yellow Book Pages of the internet. It is imperative for your business listing to be accurate and consistent. There are so many businesses that have incorrect information on their listings. And yes, unfortunately it happens.

It is way too easy to search on Google, Bing or Yahoo for information, services or products now. This is what makes business websites much more valuable now than they used to be. This is where search engine optimization comes into play. A properly optimized website will have your business website appearing very high in the search engines that customers are using. Your business website is actually your company sales team working 24 hours each and every day. There is no better investment to any company than proper optimization of a website, relevant content to drive traffic to your website, a social media marketing campaign that engages customers and so on.

With so many resources available today, the advantages to businesses are unlimited. With a good product and/or service, the knowledge to communicate with current and potential customers, not having a large advertising budget should not hinder your efforts.

It is now time for the small businesses to take advantage of what is in front of them and readily available. Do that and watch your business grow.