Differences Between Inbound and Outbound Video Marketing

The aim of marketing is to find customers. However, if you have your own business and have been working on your marketing strategy for a while, you must know that it can be complex. You have to research the trends in the market, and what your customers are looking for, generate interest, and increase your sales. Video marketing is a crucial aspect of it. 

Inbound and outbound video marketing can be effective. But, there are different constraints and goals that you should consider. Read on to learn about the differences between the two.

Inbound marketing

This is a non-intrusive type of marketing that helps people make a decision or solve a problem using valuable, relevant content. You have to attract prospective leads through keywords. It can help your customers progress through their buying journey. It has become a popular option because it doesn’t disrupt people with invasive ads. You will be able to attract customers to your products. This is an effective technique because people are looking for your content.

You will use different types of content such as videos, blogs, social media, podcasts, and newsletters. With an inbound strategy, you can use compelling videos to draw the customers in. Over time, this will increase trust with your brand and encourage people to make a purchase.

Characteristics of inbound marketing

  • Create quality content - When it comes to inbound marketing, you have to focus on creating quality content. You also have to promote your videos through tools like search engine optimization and social media marketing.

  • Attract customers - With this form of marketing, you will be able to attract strangers to your products or services and transform them into paying customers.

  • Help customers - Inbound marketing helps your customers find the products they are actively looking for. By providing them with related content, you are offering them value.

  • Align content - You can match your videos with your consumer’s interests.

  • Reduce spending - Thanks to inbound marketing, you will have a reduced need to look for new customers. It enables your customers to reach you organically. This way, you won’t be spending extra money going after your prospects.

Challenges of inbound marketing

Inbound marketing might not work best for everyone. Here are some drawbacks that you should know about:

  • For inbound marketing, you have to focus on continuous maintenance. Your videos must speak to the evolving needs and wants of your consumers.

  • You will have to spend a lot of time and resources developing different forms of content. This is a hit and trial method to find what entices your customers the most.

  • Inbound marketing requires a holistic strategy. You will need tools for implementing cross-channel campaigns.

Outbound marketing

Outbound marketing refers to paid advertising methods like SEM, social ads, traditional advertising, and native advertising. You can consider this as the opposite of inbound marketing as you will be interacting with a potential customer, irrespective of whether or not they have any interest in your products or services. 

As advertising has become an integral part of our lives, you have to ensure that you don’t waste any money on irrelevant outbound marketing as it won’t be as effective in generating sales. Consumers don’t want to see advertisements that are irrelevant to their needs. However, with smart outbound marketing, you can have highly targeted social ads, contextual advertisements, and retargeting campaigns that are relevant to your customers. It must be planned well and designed to reach the right consumers.

Characteristics of outbound marketing

  • Visual storytelling - With the right television ads, outbound campaigns can help your company as they attract the attention of your customers. There are still a lot of people who respond the best to traditional advertising.

  • Complements inbound - If you have enough budget and resources for investing in inbound and outbound marketing, you will have a successful campaign. So, after your customers have watched a catchy advertisement and they land on your website, they will connect better to your products and services. It reassures them that they have selected the right brand.

  • Increases awareness - With an outbound marketing strategy, you can increase awareness regarding your brand and your products. It will help you get more leads and have better communication with your potential audience. Once people have seen your ads a couple of times, they will ask questions about them or talk to their friends about the same.

Challenges of outbound marketing

It is a bit difficult to get the outbound marketing right. Here are some challenges that you will face with this route:

  • Making outbound marketing relevant and appealing to everyone is difficult. It is more generalized.

  • People often tune out outbound marketing. For instance, they mute their TV while watching commercials or skip the ads on YouTube.

  • For some forms of outbound marketing strategies, measuring their effectiveness can be challenging.

  • Outbound marketing can be costly. You have to pay for the creative team that writes the video’s script, camera crew, editors, and more.

The best marketing strategy is the one that works for you. You have to try out new things while continuing to work on the old things. Analyze your data and be ready to make the changes as needed. You have to remember that your consumers will change as well. What has always worked for you might not work anymore. People don’t want to see the same thing over and over again. Certain marketing methods have been run into the ground. With a mix of inbound and outbound marketing strategies, you can find new ways to connect with people.

Lucas Chu

Melty Cone is a full service video production company in NYC. We make commercials, corporate videos, branded content, brand videos and the best videos in New York!