Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain or difficulty.”

This quote especially applies to Inbound marketing – the practice of attracting visitors with content and nurturing them into customers through a strategic marketing and sales funnel.

Inbound requires a lot of effort, and at times, it can be difficult. But that also means it’s worth having.

Traditional Advertising

Traditional outbound advertising is operated under a set-it-and-forget-it approach.

Think about your favorite commercial. The brand created the ad and from there, let it run its course. Banner ads, PPC, radio, print – no matter what type of medium – all ads follow a similar formula. Once it has been set up, the work is over.

Put simply, if it works, it works. Without putting in any extra effort, your sales funnel is full with leads and, eventually, new customers. And if it doesn’t work, it doesn’t. The money has been spent, and it’s on to the next ad.

Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing takes a vastly different approach to lead generation.

You have to stay on top of your inbound efforts daily. With Inbound, there is no set it and forget it. You must always ensure your website is up to date and optimized for SEO. You need to be creating content as much as possible.

Compared to traditional efforts, Inbound marketing is a lot of work that requires you to invest a good bit of time and skill.

Inbound vs. Traditional

So, how do you know which one is right for your marketing strategy? The uncomplicated set-it-and-forget-it approach? Or the route that takes a little more effort and time?

There are plenty of good reasons for businesses to engage in traditional advertising. If you are hoping to build awareness quickly and you have a rich budget, you’ll want to consider the benefits of advertising.

But despite all the hard work an inbound campaign requires – the time, the effort and the difficulty – inbound marketing can give you much more opportunity to join the effort you put into marketing with the results you expect: leads and customers.

If lead generation is your objective, the extra effort will be well worth it.