Marketing Strategies

Outbound marketing strategies

This involves directing marketing material at potential customers whether they are expecting it or not.

This could include sending direct mail, email, telemarketing, sponsorships, targeted adverts in specialist publications or trade shows.
However, there are some drawbacks using this approach.
People are increasingly ignoring adverts.
Also, many people object to cold calling and other intrusive methods.
Persistence in the use of these could damage a brand’s reputation.
Many of the leads obtained using these methods are poor quality, ‘fizzling out’ and wasting resources.
It has also been reported that outbound leads cost significantly more to acquire than inbound leads.

Inbound marketing strategies

This involves attracting potential customer to websites when they are looking for suppliers or solutions to problems.

The use of inbound methods also has channels.
For example, it requires effort and resources to build up enough useful content on websites to change visitors into leads.
Recruitment of experienced inbound marketers can be difficult, and if can be tricky to keep the strategy up to date with rapidly emerging trends.

Hybrid strategies

This involves the combination of both outbound and inbound methods.
It is reckoned that inbound strategies take at least six months to generate results, so some outbound methods can be employed in the short term.
Once inbound methods start to generate meaningful leads some of the less effective outbound methods can be dropped.
This will help to recur exists and create sustainable growth in market share.

Developing customer loyalty