Issues in Outbound Marketing
Most people don’t have the faintest clue what the term “outbound marketing” means, although the majority of consumers do realize that they’re being bombarded with multiple forms of marketing each and every day. In essence, outbound marketing entails the spreading of a wide net meant to capture plenty of fish, with a business minding the net and the public getting hauled in. It could come in the form of print, radio, television, and even online advertising, or it could be mailers, flyers, brochures, email blasts, solicitation by phone or in person (telemarketing, cold calls, and door-to-door sales), and finally, events like trade shows and seminars. But while these traditional forms of marketing have been around for quite a while, there are myriad problems with the operation that haven’t been alleviated even during the many years that outbound marketing has been in practice.
Of course, there are laws in place to govern advertising and other methods of outbound marketing. For example, lying is a very serious offense. Defrauding the public with false advertising claims could lead to massive fines, jail time, civil suits, and of course, widespread disapproval that tarnishes a company’s brand image. Sadly, that doesn’t stop businesses large and small from thinking they can get away with pushing the envelope. If you’ve ever seen the fine print that flashes on the screen during TV ads for weight-loss supplements, it’s pretty obvious that they’re doing the bare minimum to avoid legal trouble. And look at major drug companies like GlaxoSmithKline and Pfizer, both of which have come under fire in the past decade for fraudulent marketing practices. The point is that there are simply too many businesses for oversight to be totally effective. Somewhere, someone is getting away with false advertising as we speak.
But there are also problems for companies that hire out for advertising. Outbound marketing can be extremely expensive and the results very difficult to quantify, creating a weighty issue that most businesses have had to deal with for years. Many would agree that a company has to spend money to make money, and that getting your name out to the public is a good way to get the ball rolling, but no ad agency is going to make quantifiable promises about the results of their efforts because it would be entirely speculative. In this regard, outbound marketing might be the biggest scam ever.
So what can businesses do to clean up their marketing, track their efforts, and ultimately bring in new business in an ethical way? This is where the concept of inbound marketing comes in. The idea is not exactly new, as it turns out; any business that hangs a sign on their building is practicing inbound marketing because they’re helping potential customers to find them without actively trying to engage and interact. The difference today is that most inbound marketing efforts happen on the internet, through practices like building a website and then utilizing SEO tactics to point people towards it. You don’t have to flash annoying banner ads or inundate inboxes with email blasts in order to attract online shoppers. In fact, these techniques are very likely to backfire as users become savvier and find ways to block your efforts.
But you can use search engines, blogs, forums, and social networking to help people come to you on their own. In addition, you can use programming codes that help you to track your efforts (like counting fish in a barrel?). And while there are ethical issues springing up around “black hat” SEO practices (those that cheat, in essence), you really don’t have to flirt with the dark side in order to get maximum results with minimal efforts when it comes to inbound marketing.