You’ve heard it being touted as the next big thing everywhere on the internet. You’ve read about it and how to implement it. And you’ve even seen testimonials from business owners who have tried it and been successful. Now you’re ready to start your inbound marketing journey in your own company. There’s just one nagging question at the back of your mind that simply won’t go away: how can we be sure it works?

You probably get the fact that inbound marketing works. So many people can’t be going for it if it doesn’t work, right? But, how exactly does it work? This is where things get interesting. We’re going to look at some of the reasons why inbound marketing works in the long term and why you should absolutely trust in the system.

1. Times have changed, and people go through different buying processes

People have grown numb to the outbound sales tactics that used to work a decade ago. Everywhere they turn they are bombarded by marketing information and branding efforts that they probably have no interest in. That is what makes it so hard to succeed with outbound marketing tactics.

Customers today have decided to filter out most of the sales and marketing information that comes their way. They would rather have helpful information that comes their way on their own schedule. This is where inbound marketing shines.

With inbound marketing, you offer genuinely helpful information that the customer can use at whatever time to their advantage and let them come to you based on already existing interest in you and your products.

2. There is Harmony between your Marketing Tactics

Inbound marketing is all about integrated marketing. People have known this for ages. For you to run a truly successful marketing campaign, there should be a concerted effort to make sure everything is harmonized and has a common goal.

Think of your marketing tactics as a form of herding. Each tactic is a herder trying to corral the customer in a specific direction. This isn’t very easy to do with outbound marketing because everything isn’t connected. Cold calls, cold emails, and so on, are all one-off tactics that are more about achieving large numbers than creating some kind of funnel for the customer to follow.

Inbound marketing goes the opposite way. Each form of content you post on the internet is meant to offer helpful information to the customer that implicitly tells them about you. They only engage with more of your content if they’re already interested. That way, you get the right leads and herd those inward through the funnel.

3. You accumulate data over the years

You might think inbound marketing isn’t working in the short term. However, the amount of data you get to collect is practically a gold mine in the long term. At the very least, this data will give you massive insight into the performance of the different aspects of your inbound marketing campaign. Some things might work and others might not. The beautiful thing is that you get to analyze it all.

This analysis, when used well, gives you the opportunity to improve your marketing campaign and improve your return on investment.

4. Inbound Marketing focuses on the Customer, not the Company

Your customers really don’t care about you. They care more about how helpful you are to them. This is a major mistake committed by outbound marketing efforts. They focus too much on talking about themselves and getting their name out there, rather than getting leads and providing value to the customer.

Inbound marketing takes the opposite approach. It makes it all about the customer and focuses on providing them with quality. In the end, the customer feels valued and will stick with your company.

5. It’s Scalable and Replicable

One of the setbacks that face outbound marketing is the fact that success can’t easily be replicated. How do you repeat that viral marketing tactic that got you a ton of customers that time? What about that one cold call that got your largest customer?

With inbound marketing, there is a formula that you can consistently apply. The process works based on simple principles that can be scaled and repeated to increase the number of leads you have. So, even if it isn’t working in the short term, it can slowly be scaled to great heights over the years.

6. It lends itself well to Optimization

With outbound marketing, it’s pretty hard to optimize your tactics. They are really based on playing wild cards and trying everything in the book and seeing what one call or email will get you the customer of your dreams. You also don’t get to collect data and analyze it over time.
With inbound marketing, you get to collect data on everything: emails, web visitors, CTA clicks, content campaigns; the full monty in other words. You can, therefore, analyze that data and see your performance on a daily, weekly, monthly, and yearly basis.

This enables you to keep optimizing and growing over time.

7. It’s more about Strategy than Tactics

If you really want to succeed with inbound marketing, you need a comprehensive marketing strategy. Only then can you begin to devise tactics for the deployment of this strategy. That is what makes inbound marketing so successful in the long run. With a good strategy, it’s only a matter of time; success is inevitable.

8. Inbound Marketing has a better Conversion rate than the Alternative

This is something else that makes it a more viable marketing strategy. The outbound marketing strategy is to keep throwing balls at the basket until you hopefully get one in the basket. With the increasing numbness of today’s customers, this strategy has a very low conversion rate.
Inbound marketing, on the other hand, is all about finding the right basket to throw balls at, thereby increasing your chances of getting one through. The way inbound marketing is structured, it is all about getting leads that are already interested in your product, thereby increasing the chances of conversion. This might seem like a slow process at first, but it compounds in the long run.

9. Trust Building

When you’re not constantly bombarding your customers with marketing information, and are instead providing them with valuable and comprehensive information that solves their problem, you are making them trust you.

These customers may not immediately buy your products or pay for your service, but they will begin to trust you to give them what they need. This trust grows and spreads over time and eventually leads to increased sales.

10. The Concept of the Warm Lead vs. the Cold Lead

This is perhaps the most powerful source of the effectiveness of inbound marketing. In outbound marketing, you are running after the customer. In inbound marketing, the customer is coming to you. Because of that, these customers already have an interest in your product, and so the battle to win them over is already half won. Get enough of such leads over time, and your sales will inevitably grow.

Summing Up

Inbound marketing works because, at the heart of it, it’s all about the customer. First, it has a focus on providing value first then asking for value in return later. And even then, inbound marketing has a way of resonating with only those who are the most interested. Inbound marketing won’t start working delivering leads right away. But if you stay persistent, you will reap the benefits.