What is inbound marketing? Is it hype? On Monday, I got a phone call from a merchant service company and the girl went straight into a pitch about “when is the last time you had your rates compared…” I told her I didn’t know what she was rambling about, but if she didn’t have a service contract I couldn’t help her, click. Yesterday, a two man team of door-to-door salesmen came in to our office. They wanted to inspect our fire extinguisher. Stop laughing, it’s a job. Right after demanding to speak to “the boss” and just before they could finish the opening sales pitch, they were being told that we weren’t interested in their service and to have a nice day. It might sound a little rude, but the truth is that cold-calling is rude. You expect the client to be available when “you” decide to show up or call. Both uninvited calls were made while I was in my office with a client. How many times has your credit card company or DirecTV called while you are eating supper? If you still use cold calling as your primary or only sales force then you are a dinosaur; your model is becoming extinct.
Inbound Marketing to the rescue. If you make your company available 24/7 via Internet or phone service, then you are available when the customer is looking for your product or service. When you make your services available through your website and you optimize your website so your target client or customer can find you, then you are 1/2 way to the goal. You never hear the words “no, I’m not interested”. The customer is already interested in your service or product. It’s like dangling a chicken in front of an alligator (yes, that works, but don’t use your hand). Actually, I like that analogy because the customer is ready to snap the service right out of your hand rather than bite your head off.
So is inbound marketing just hype? No! Inbound marketing is not hype. It’s necessary. You need to make sure your business can be found for the products and services you offer. You should try to interact with large numbers of people on the web and build name recognition so when they need your service, they know who to call. Customers are out there and they want you, can they find you?
Those stories really do a great job of illustrating the fact that direct/outbound marketing is dead. I read a great quote a couple of years ago that said, “marketing to the disinterested is counterproductive”.
– JJ