In today’s age, there seems to be an increasing amount of noise. You turn on the T.V.: loud commercials. You check your emails: spam everywhere. You drive down the highway: billboard after billboard.

Bottom line, traditional and inbound marketing tactics are interruptive. Plus, they are often un-relatable to the consumer or viewer. I personally can’t relate to most advertisements targeted towards females, and naturally tune them out.

Considering most people ignore them anyways, an organization can spend thousands on television, print, and cold calling – only to see a watered down return on investment (ROI).

Traditional = Interruptions

Traditional marketing is interruptive with commercials and in-your-face advertising. Also, it is fading fast with companies having to adapt to a buyer-centric market.

Because of the internet, buyers now hold the majority of the power. They aren’t dependent on one-way ads to get the information they need to make informed purchasing decisions. They are very independent. Anyone can go online and research almost any product! At anytime, from anywhere.

Not to mention, outbound messages are getting harder and harder to force through given today’s technology, with spam filters, TiVo, and do-not-call lists. Consumers have more buying power than ever, and that will only continue to increase.

Traditional marketing relies on what is called the ‘hope method’ for proving ROI. They hope that you will take action. Because they can report on the number of eyeballs they ‘attracted,’ they then try to prove a return. In reality, a large portion of those eyeballs weren’t even really paying attention.

So what is inbound marketing, exactly? Inbound educates consumers throughout the buyer’s journey rather than pushing a product or trying to force an action.

Studies have shown that 57% of a consumer’s buying decision is made before speaking with a sales person. This statistic can speak to several things, but for this purpose, that means consumers are taking it upon them to educate themselves on a product or service prior to even talking to anyone.

Inbound Marketing is Shaping the Future

The inbound methodology recognizes and addresses this change in buying power. By addressing your consumer’s desire for knowledge, you are providing them value – and that means the world in today’s day and age.

A common motto to think about when discussing inbound marketing is, “educate me, don’t sell me.” Nobody likes pushy sales tactics; why would you implement a plan that you know your customers won’t enjoy?

So what is inbound marketing? A marketing process that pushes beyond the limits of traditional marketing through customer interactions and personalized content. It doesn’t use methods that are just white noise. Educating qualified prospects and proving a higher ROI that doesn’t waste resources are the pillars of inbound marketing.