Paulina Romero H
They both use the internet as their main tool, that's what makes them different from traditional marketing media (radio, television, billboards, flyers, cold-calling...). So... if they both use the internet, what's the difference between them?
Digital Marketing
It's the one that makes use of several internet tools, both to promote a product or service, as well as to sell online. These tools can be:
- Social networks
- Influencers
- Videos
- Google Ads
- Web pages with information and/or catalogs
- Emailing
You can use all of these tools or just some of them. The goal is to have presence on the internet and try to get users to see our ads/information/promotions.
If you also have an online catalog with which you can inform the customer about your products or services AND also help them buy directly from your company via online, then you also have an excellent selling tool.
Inbound Marketing or Attraction Marketing
Just like Digital Marketing, it makes use of all the same internet tools but articulates them under a customer attraction strategy. In other words, it's not just about the indiscriminate use of these tools rather it puts them to work under a specific strategy, with the intention of achieving previously set goals and objectives, both in marketing and sales.
It's based on the principle that customers search the internet for what they need and that companies should appear in the first results that search engines (such as Google) offer their users. By doing so, companies don't spend resources chasing customers who aren't even looking for what they have (traditional marketing), quite the contrary: their site gets displayed to all of those users who are actively looking for what te company offers, and will then turn these visitors into customers. How? The company's site would have previously been built with useful and strategic content, content that will strategically help reaching different customer profiles. This helps companies attract:
- Those visitors who are actively looking for the company/brand itself
- Those visitors who are looking for something that the company offers, but didn't know where they could find it (hence the attraction of new customers who want what the company sells)
The trick is how to appear in the first results of Google, in order to attract as many users as possible. This can only achieved under an Inbound Marketing strategy that:
- Considers content optimization techniques for search engines
- Triggers automated processes in order to start a commercial relationship with the customer once he/she reaches their Webpage. These processes are personalized and end when the sale is closed (or can even continue after the sale, serving your clients with more relevant information or with special offers designed for them).
In short, Inbound Marketing makes use of Digital Marketing tools but puts them to work together under a same marketing and sales strategy. This strategy follows a process that is automated according to each buyer's profile and interests. By doing so, the company's client portfolio grows, with which the company can continue to automate campaigns that will allow it to stay in constant communication with these customers.
If you want to learn more about how your company can benefit from a complete Inbound Marketing strategy, contact us. We are an agency specialized in this kind of marketing and we have several options to help you get started with your strategy.
