What is Outbound Marketing and is it the Best Use of your Time?

"We need to stop interrupting what people

are interested in and be what people are

interested in" - Craig Davis

Most marketing you think of when you hear the word is outbound. The goal with this kind of marketing is often to interfere with people’s habits or capitalize on their routines in order to make them aware of your work, and potentially open them up to changing directions (hopefully to your business). It’s sometimes referred to as “push” marketing, because the business is actively pushing their products out in front of potential customers. This is soliciting and cold calls at its worst, for sure, but it also includes things like billboards, flyers, paid ads, and even posting up at an expo - booth style.

While we believe outbound marketing has its place (especially with excellent market research and an orientation towards service- *hint* *hint*), we think the most value for your time and attention, as well as that of your customers, comes when you aren’t focusing on using whatever tools you have on hand, but instead using the best tools for the job.

Leaders are often workhorses, and

outbound marketing can feed this tendency.

Action-oriented people feel good about getting things done, and even if a leader doesn’t like to put themselves out there on sales calls, they typically do believe in getting outside of their comfort zone and will often convince themselves outbound marketing simply must be done. Additionally, inbound marketing often takes more time for research and quality implementation. The pay-off however, is better (and chances are high, you will still have to get out of your comfort zone). If you need a way to think about it that works for a more challenge-oriented mindset, remind yourself that inbound marketing is about earning people’s attention, not interrupting it. It’s also about making the most of your own time so you can keep serving others well.