Miguel Angel TolsaWhat is Leads Generation?
We have met companies who have no idea what this is.
Have you ever wondered what is the difference between Demand Generation and Inbound Marketing? What does each marketing and sales phrase mean? On which one should your company focus? Is one more relevant than the other? If you find yourself scratching your head trying to negotiate the differences between Demand Generation and Market Entry, this post is for you.
Is There Really a Difference?
Demand Generation and Inbound Marketing are pretty similar at first glance, but don't be fooled! Demand generation and Inbound Marketing are really, very different.
Demand Generation is more Sales Centric
We are going face Demand Generation with what it really is: no one can deny that it is a new approach to generate income, by using traditional marketing approaches (Outbound). There are some technologies that during the last 50 years have been improving the value of the best practices of generating demand, but there is really nothing new, it is not a real paradigm shift.
It is precisely because of the kind of Outbound Marketing practices that prospects are increasingly prone to block unwanted calls: cold calling, email blasts, lists of purchases, television commercials, sponsored seminars and the like. The Demand Generation approach really works based on an "impulsive sales culture" that emphasizes cold calling.
Inbound Marketing is more Marketing Centric:
Inbound Marketing is a paradigm shift and the strategies that it uses to implement Market Entry have existed for less than ten years. The real change has occurred during the last five years as blogs, some opt-in email, social media, and SEO. All these tools are growing in popularity.
Market Entry focuses entirely on the creation of content and on making possible a greater visualization of it, as well as of the company. It is a kind of content editor that, when combined with other Inbound Marketing best-practices, can generate incoming leads for your business, inside and outside the sales teams.
This kind of marketing is less expensive than the traditional Outbound Marketing strategies. This approach is being adopted by those companies who ve a vision focused on the future and thus, make an emphasis on being where the market is.
Which is the right combination of Demand Generation and Inbound Marketing?
This is what I like to call the million dollar question. Each organization is structured from a different level of skills, attitudes, and of its own beliefs, so the combination can considerably vary from one company to another. If you look at the data you can see that the budgets spent on Inbound Marketing are constantly increasing, while Traditional Marketing budgets are decreasing. The marketing mix is shifting towards Inbound Marketing and this trend is expected to accelerate in the coming years.
Can you Commit?
For most companies, a budget focused on InBound Marketing rather than on OutBound Marketing, is more than enough to:
- Increase revenue
- Improve the profitability of funds
- Make their job easier
It requires:
The company's commitment. The company must believe that a real impact will be generated.
It is basically all about the 3 "yes":
- Yes, I understand what Inbound Marketing is
- Yes, I do believe Inbound Marketing can help my company or insitution
- Yes, I have the budget for it
So the bottom question is, are you ready to bet on this innovative marketing strategy? If you are ready to see positive changes in the direction of your business, then your answer should be "yes". Contact us so we can give you more information about Inbound Marketing strategies. We can work on a campaign together, one that will increase your company's sales.
We can help you understand more about how to generate leads for your marketing funnel through our experience making great strategies. Visit the next page to learn more.
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