We already know the pros and cons of both traditional and online marketing.
Let’s move a step further, specifically focusing on online marketing, also known as inbound marketing.
Many buyers all over the world use the internet to buy products, using sites such as Amazon and eBay.
Even if they choose to purchase merchandise from real-world stores, they tend to refer to the product online for reviews and specifications to see if it meets their needs.
Even though inbound marketing allows you to target a wider audience worldwide, you may be surprised to learn how internet marketing and traditional marketing are similar in the sense that they are the exact opposite of each other. You can think of it as a “reflection” or “mirror image” of traditional marketing.
Flip the Switch and Relax
When marketing over the internet, the process is initiated when an individual enters a keyword into a search engine, after which the search engine directs sellers to potential buyers in order of relevance. This becomes one of the major issues for most traditional companies or sellers:
The buyer approaches the seller (whereas in traditional marketing it is the seller who approaches the buyer with the goal of making sales and generating revenue). This is the mirror reflection of traditional marketing.
Sellers don’t need to find buyers – buyers find sellers.
This means the seller needs to make efforts online to ensure their products appear before their competitors’ results, which is most efficiently achieved via Search Engine Optimisation (SEO), among other techniques. However, this requires less effort in terms of active marketing and can prove to be highly beneficial.
Maintain Boundaries
A lot of businesses that use traditional marketing methods and follow outbound marketing strategies believe that incorporating inbound marketing into their strategies simply means sending out unsolicited sales messages, such as junk mail, spam, telemarketing calls, or pop-up ads.
However, this is a misconception. These intrusive tactics tend to leave a negative impression and can cause you to lose more clients than you gain.
Inbound marketing provides clients with the space they need, as well as the option to choose to engage with you, rather than feeling like they are being forced to buy your product.
Push Leads to Shove
Traditional marketing methods are generally aimed at the audience through “compelling advertisements”, attempting to push their message onto potential buyers.
As a result, the audience may feel that they are being “talked at” instead of being “engaged with”.
In inbound marketing, the goal is to pull the buyer towards the product—not with fancy ads—but with products and solutions that address real-life problems.
Gaining clients is based on how well you understand their needs and how effectively you engage with them to convey that they are genuinely being understood.