Once upon a time, Outbound was all the marketing around

When was the last time you read something on outbound marketing? Yes, you know,  outbound: spending money to make sure your message reaches people. You physically try to get their attention, usually by interrupting (hence the term “interruption marketing”) what they are doing either by a sales call or an advertisement.

The good, the bad & the ugly side of outbound marketing

The good thing about outbound is that it is easily measurable. The price is fixed: you need this amount of money to reach this amount of people and most probably you will get this amount of leads from it. You know the direct cost of outbound and you can track the path from the ad to the customer and thus calculate your ROI. The bad thing: next month you will need the same amount of money for the same purpose. The ugly thing: you can’t really be sure you are targeting the right people. And yes, they will be annoyed and you might be considered SPAM.

But let’s not be mean, Outbound can be useful when you want to make a fast impact on your buyer persona. It is also easier to have A/B test on different marketing media to see what has the better response on your target market. Besides, can we really live without print and online display ads, TV commercials, radio commercials, billboards, cold calls, sales letters and bulk emails?

But then Google said “Enough!

We need some targeted stuff!”

The ROI of inbound marketing 

Inbound is not another buzzword used by digital marketers - it's a methodology that offers a new way of doing marketing: by delivering the right information and offer to the right customer. Marketing departments seem to brand themselves as “sales improvement efforts.” Why? It’s not because of the sales-marketing alignment every company dreams of. It’s because the sales team’s effort can be quantified. It’s because the ROI can be calculated. 

According to HubSpot, 52% of marketers cite difficulties in accurately measuring ROI as their biggest source of frustration in social marketing. Yes, inbound is not only about social media and there are marketing tools to help you determine where your leads are coming from. But it’s much more difficult to convince your CFO to allocate more budget. The good news:  21% of marketers say that social media has become more important to their company over the past six months.

“The more that you read, the more things you will know.

The more that you learn, the more places you'll go.”

The ultimate mix of inbound & outbound marketing

Now let me tell you there is a magic place where you can make the most of both Inbound and Outbound. Two magic words: trade shows. Trade shows are the place where you can make the most of your outbound marketing.

• Choose the right trade show: take into account the size of the show, your personal goals, who else will be there. Before going, make sure you understand why people will be going to this event and build your presentation around that.
  
  
• Maximize exposure: do your homework beforehand. Check if they need extra speakers at the event and whether they have an official magazine or maybe a blog. Check if you can get an article or a guest post; even enquire for advertising space.
  
  
• Don’t wait for the trade show: use social media to be, well, social. Check with your contacts to see who else will be attending the event and use your social media platforms to let your fans know you will be attending. Furthermore, almost all events have social media accounts- start meeting people before the event. Use the appropriate hashtag to see who is also getting ready for the trade show.
  
  
• Make personal connections: be friendly, dress smart and keep your booth presentable. A small non-obvious piece of advice from Rand Fishkin:unusual and consistent fashion, appearance, or grooming may help you be more memorable.

And after the show, with all the leads you’ve managed to generate with outbound, let the inbound marketing work its magic.  Keep notes on business cards or wherever convenient during the event so that you can follow up with personalized replies. You’ve made a good impression, now build up on it and create a sustainable relationship.

And since we’ve mentioned magic (again),  you might want to plan on attending OpenText Enterprise World, it will be the most magical and exciting event ever: attendants will have exclusive access after closing to The Wizarding World of Harry Potter™. All night long, guests will experience the all-new, spectacularly themed environment, The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Diagon Alley™ at Universal Studios Florida®, as well as The Wizarding World of Harry Potter - Hogsmeade™ at Universal’s Islands of Adventure®. The OpenText Enterprise World is a great chance to try all of the advice above. You can still register by October 9th, if you still haven’t .

“You have brains in your head. You have feet in your shoes. You can steer yourself any direction you choose. You're on your own. And you know what you know. And YOU are the one who'll decide where to go...”