The inbound Marketing does not aim to annihilate traditional advertising (so-called outbound techniques), but very often to supplement it, if it is of course used effectively. Endowed with several advantages, the inbound methodology is centered on the user, the Internet user who today has the power and no longer the brand which still club its promotions to empty the over-stocks of 2009. Inbound marketing is not a miracle recipe and is not suitable for all activities. We detail in this article how to reconcile traditional / outbound advertising with inbound marketing in Reunion.
Traditional advertising: still in the know ?
Traditional advertising, a component of traditional marketing or “outbound” marketing, brings together all actions aimed at stimulating consumers’ needs for goods and services and adapting production and marketing to the needs thus specified (thank you Mr. Larousse).
We are talking about outgoing marketing because the brands (announcements) provide information on the various media available, intended for people interested (or not) in the company and its products or services. It is a so-called “PUSH” method.
30 years ago, this traditional mass advertising was done through flyers, TV announcements or billboard displays (4 by 3, bus stops), magazines. These formats also persist rather strongly on the island.
Consumer habits are gradually migrating more and more to digital, and businesses are starting to take the digital step: while consumers received the brochures in their mailbox, they are now also receiving them by email (n is it not charming ?).
Drowned by more than 1,200 advertising messages per day, the “consumer 2018” takes over power and increasingly rejects it:
- Installation of “stop-pub” thumbnails on mailboxes (and in addition it is good for our planet)
- Installation of ad-blockers on internet browsers (by 36% of Internet users and increasing)
- Establishment of the Bloctel in 2016 (and passage of a law running 2018/2019 to prohibit telephone canvassing).
Intrusive? It is for a good part of consumers, but does that mean that traditional advertising is useless? That inbound marketing is the solution to all problems? Not at all.
Traditional advertising for everyday consumer goods
Although most consumers learn about the internet before buying, the investment is not necessarily attractive when you are a company that markets toilet paper, or sandwich bread. Consumers will not spend 3 months comparing the different possible uses, the duration in time, or the value on resale (as they would for an automobile, an equipped kitchen or a swimming pool).
The inbound is not particularly suitable for everyday consumer goods, and as a corollary, traditional advertising is more so. Be careful, however, more suitable does not necessarily mean more accepted and alternatives exist. Beyond increasing your turnover, inbound marketing makes it possible to develop your notoriety and your brand image by creating a relationship of trust with your customers or consumers.
Ex: If you are a pasta manufacturer, the 4×3 clubbing your package from 250g to 1.19 cents, 6 cents less than your competitor is not necessarily the only solution. You could for example do :
- brand-content: show in a blog in collaboration with a famous blogger or blogger that your pasta is better for cooking than that of your competitors, and is perfect in this or that cooking recipe,
- present beautiful plates on Instagram which make you want to run to the nearest supermarket to reproduce them for your marmails or friends.
The future of traditional advertising
Although some consumers respond favorably to your last radio message, or your last TV campaign, the investment was worth it ? Have your expensive campaigns paid off ?
Were you able to calculate your R.O.I: was your operation profitable ? Beyond the week of your campaign broadcast can you hope to make other sales ? Traditional advertising, via successive campaigns allows you to make “tactical blows”, but the effort is somehow discontinuous: sales around your campaign, then nothing, then a new campaign … (you imagine the rest) .
Some companies present on the internet also advertise online:
- partner website covers
- Google Ads campaigns to generate traffic on their e-commerce site
- re-targeting (still little used in Reunion because of the lack of e-Commerce sites with which to build partnerships): this allows you to bring up a product that previously interested the Internet user on another page of your site , or on a partner site.
Offline (off the internet), consumers will change channels or radio stations if your advertising annoys them.
The Internet is no exception: if your website looks like a psychedelic Christmas tree that is blinking everywhere, the internet user will install an advertising blocker, or leave your site.
On the internet and elsewhere, the consumer has the power, so to keep a good image in his subconscious, set up targeted campaigns, and moderate their frequency. Very nice poster campaigns, TV campaigns, or radio are still present, but ask yourself the real questions: beyond the price that your agency may win, does this advertisement save you more money? Does it help your notoriety?
Take it into account when preparing marketing budgets. It is a reality: there are almost 600,000 Internet users in Reunion and investing is not an option.
Inbound marketing: the quick fix ?
The aim of inbound marketing, or attraction marketing, is to attract the Internet user through content that interests him. This methodology respects the prospect more: the company indeed waits for it to manifest itself, to register for its newsletter, downloads one of its contents, comments on a blog article … to communicate with it (and not to him ). And as proof, it has been proven that 7 out of 10 consumers prefer to discover a brand thanks to quality articles rather than advertising (Demand metric).
The first contact is at the initiative of the prospect in search of information, although skillfully stimulated by the company via calls to action strategically placed throughout the client journey (customer journey in VO). The company must therefore be content to mature, maintain the commercial relationship, instead of forcing it.
To create content that interests your prospects, there are not fifteen thousand ways: you must be interested in the issues of your people, you must open the dialogue with your prospects (social networks, email, online cat …) and request feedback from your business teams who are in daily contact with your prospects.
Unlike traditional advertising, the message of which only passes unilaterally from the company to the consumer, you must give the prospect the opportunity to contact you, to accept that he asks you questions before buying. In short, to start the conversation.
So yes, it takes longer than sending several thousand emails to a database that you have rented, but you will ultimately create a real relationship of trust with your audience. Enrich yourself with the requests of your prospects, your client knowledge to offer content that meets all their problems and all the stages of your sales cycle.
Inbound marketing: for what customer need ?
If we stick to the previous paragraph, the marketing inbound would seem to be the remedy for all the worries of loyalty, growth in turnover. Only the inbound is not suitable for all B2C activities like B2B (that’s it, it says).
Unlike traditional advertising, effective in promoting everyday consumer goods, inbound marketing will be much more suitable for businesses:
- who need to generate a large number of prospects to sign new quotes,
- which have long sales cycles (typically: thoughtful, sustainable and potentially expensive purchases.. like the pool you’ve always dreamed of).
Ex B2C :
A prospect eager to renovate his house, redo its carpentry or its bathroom, changing cars or setting up a swimming pool will ask dozens of questions, will look for answers on the internet (like 80% of consumers today) before investing in an expense that certainly represents several months of hard-earned income.
This same prospect will contact the various companies that could meet their need and will turn either to the one offering them the best price, or to the one in which they will have more confidence. If you have created content that responds to problematic “his”, it is a safe bet that he will consider you as “the undisputed expert on the field”, that he approaches you for a quote and ultimately signs with you. (Will it still be necessary that you have been able to respond to his request in due time and that the commercial relationship has satisfied him).
In B2B, inbound marketing can help you:
- meet the needs of conquering a new market,
- reduce your ACC,
- better build and improve customer relationships,
- mature prospects (via lead nurturing campaigns),
- appear in Google’s first results, know what to say on social networks …
Inbound marketing: for which companies ?
Although particularly suitable for B2B, long sales cycles ; the background does not only adapt to the sale of apartments, kitchens or SUVs. Inbound marketing may very well be suitable for e-commerce, to insurance, banks, industry, the construction industry, IT … to the sale of decorative items, training, advice, etc …
You would like to know if the inbound marketing can help you develop your business ? Contact us
How to reconcile the two ?
Two complementary “may be” strategies
There is no miracle strategy, but a strategy more suited to your activity, a more adequate strategy to achieve your objectives.
If prospects continue to respond favorably, a company that has chosen the inbound marketing may very well complement its strategy with tactical traditional advertising campaigns to boost sales over a given period. Indeed, if your TV, radio and print campaigns generate more sales than costs, you would be wrong to deprive yourself of them.
Ex: For a brand in the automotive sector, the inbound can work very well over the 20/45 years ultra-connected to the internet, and the print, TV can operate more with the older age group, a clientele … with more entrenched habits !
Two complementary strategies if not contradictory
Inbound marketing allows you to attract interested contacts, and therefore more inclined to become customers. It also allows you to create a real relationship of trust with your prospects, which may remain a client longer (it is more profitable to retain your current customers than to seek to acquire new ones).
You will therefore have to be careful not to sabotage all your efforts, the time and amounts invested in your inbound marketing strategy by knocking out these same prospects for paper brochures, promotional emails too common, or unwanted advertisements, mandatory and intrusive on the media they consume (of the youtube video type …).
The goal of inbound marketing is not to collect addresses of prospects and subsequently attack them with massive and non-targeted outbound campaigns, but rather to create a long-term relationship.
Inbound Marketing and traditional marketing are not fundamentally enemy, but lifestyles have changed, so have consumption patterns. More warned, more connected, consumers know what they want and what they no longer want, find out and buy on the internet: leboncoin, wish, booking, airbnb … Businesses, they, take longer to adapt to this digitization and the future will smile on those who adapt to this change in purchasing habits.
If you are thinking about the possibility of applying the inbound marketing methodology in your company, but it is not yet quite clear to you, you can read our article “the inbound explained to my mother”.
To deepen the subject, you can also consult our page dedicated to The Inbound Marketing at Reunion or download our free guide on the Inbound Marketing at La Réunion.