Happy Labor Day from IMPACT Branding & Design! While we’re all out enjoying the sun, we can’t help but wonder what else isn’t working today. We know that inbound marketing never takes a day off, but outbound marketing techniques your company may still be using?

Outbound marketing can be defined as marketing that interrupts your daily routine. Whether it’s a loud commercial, unwanted spam mail, or a call from a telemarketer, outbound marketing is usually just plain annoying. Who wants to be interrupted during dinner or have to deal with a never-ending stream of junk mail? Not us!

Even more than the small annoyances, however, outbound marketing doesn’t work for a simple reason: consumers now think about buying in a completely new way. With the advent of the Information Age, potential buyers now want to research products and services themselves.

Take a look at the following forms of outbound marketing that, like you, simply aren’t working today.

Outbound Marketing Methods that Aren’t Working

Magazine Ads

Countless companies utilize magazine ads when trying to reach the public. Makeup companies, department stores, car dealerships… the list goes on and on. The problem is, the majority of these ads go unnoticed!

Think about it – when you’re flipping through a magazine, how often do you stop to read the advertisements? Our guess is not often or even never – so what’s the point? Looks like outbound magazine ads just aren’t working.

Direct Mail

We’re all victims of junk mail these days. From credit card offers to non-profit efforts, it can seem like the flow of unsolicited mail just never ends! Most of this mail usually ends up in the shredder, often unopened. Some companies are wising up and including incentives to open their mail, like a coin or free return addresses inside the envelope. Even then, though, recipients usually open the mail just for the gift and still trash the actual content.

The lesson here? Don’t waste your time or your money on direct mail efforts! You’ll save yourself the hassle (and quite a few trees, too).

Newspaper Ads

It’s no secret that newspaper sales are plummeting. With 24 hour televised news available, along with the growth Internet news sites, physical newspapers are simply no longer as popular as they used to be. In our fast-paced society, people would rather check a website or tune in to a TV station to catch up on current events. Taking the time to actually unfold a newspaper and look for the information you need just seems silly!

It makes sense, then, that newspaper advertising is outdated and, to be brutally honest, pointless. Why pay for an expensive newspaper ad when you could utilize another marketing method for much less cost and a much greater ROI?

Cold Calls

Telemarketers have one of the most difficult jobs out there: making consumers care about a product they aren’t currently considering. It’s hard to make someone interested in a product that they aren’t actively thinking about. After all, who wants to hear about buying a new insurance plan when they’re just about to sit down to their dinners at the end of the day? Again, not us!

Aside from being disruptive and usually unwanted, cold calls are also all wrong in the timing department. Unless your cold call team can magically deduce when consumers are thinking about your products or services, they aren’t likely to catch anyone at the right time. Maybe a potential customer really is interested in a new insurance policy. However, if you call him when he’s busy with something else (like dinner), he’s still not likely to want to use your services. This is why inbound marketing is so successful – the timing is always right!

Why Inbound Marketing Works

The Internet has changed the way customers buy products today. People aren’t waiting to be reached by advertisements anymore; they are becoming actively involved in the purchasing processing. In fact, 79% of online shoppers spend 50% of their shopping time researching products online before actually making a purchase!

In today’s busy world, consumers simply don’t have the time or patience to wait around for outbound marketing efforts. This is great news for inbound marketers, who are actually saving money by letting the leads come to them.

Looking to generate more traffic and leads from your website with inbound marketing? Give us a call at IMPACT and learn how we can help!