Marketing

We hear the term marketing quite a bit but what exactly does it mean? One of the best definitions I have seen comes from www.knowthis.com and it states that "Marketing consists of the strategies and tactics used to identify, create and maintain satisfying relationships with customers that result in value for both the customer and the marketer."  I think that really covers it.

Inbound and Outbound Marketing

Marketing methods can be either inbound or outbound. Outbound marketing includes direct mail, telemarketing, email blasts, trade shows and advertising. The message is pushed outward far and wide with the hope that there will be a return on investment that made it worthwhile. Outbound marketing can be expensive and ROI tends to be low. Given how difficult it can be to obtain a worthwhile return on your investment, the Internet has made it even more difficult. We have grown accustomed to receiving information with click of a mouse and we want it fast.

Because we have historically been bombarded with what we see as intrusions - sales calls, junk mail (or spam), we have become highly proficient at filtering these unwanted diversions from our day to day routines. Whether it's through spam filters or not answering the phone, if we don't want to be bothered with unsolicited calls or emails, we tune out. We want to hear about topics of interests on our terms - not determined by someone else.

Inbound marketing focuses on your business getting found by customers - not your company finding the customers. Inbound marketing gives the customer the ability to decide who they will "invite" to their inbox or which website they will visit on an ongoing basis.

Inbound marketing also has the power of exponentially growing a customer base due to the sharing capabilities that lie within social media. We now hear of information going "viral," which according to a Wikipedia source, "...can be word-of-mouth delivered or enhanced by the network effects of the Internet." Content, whether an article, a website, a video may so interesting for whatever reason that people begin sharing it and before you know it, thousands, even millions of people have seen it. That 15 minutes of fame that Andy Warhol predicted decades ago has certainly come to pass. People are now find fame on YouTube. Who could have imagined that? Apparently Andy did...

There are definite changes in the Internet environment which will inevitably become a standard in the way which businesses market to their customers. In a sense, it has leveled the playing field. No longer do you have to be a large company with millions of dollars to pour into an advertising budget. You as a small business can create interesting and compelling content and through the information that will be shared on this site, draw people to your website and keep them coming back - or helping to make your site "sticky." Not only do you want visitors to come once, but ask yourself, "What would make them return?"