From Outbound to Inbound: Working at an Inbound Agency When You've Always Worked in Traditional Marketing

It can be a little bit of a shock to the system when moving from an outbound to an inbound marketing agency. Hearing that the way you’re used to doing things is outdated and ineffective isn’t easy and adopting a new methodology can take some time. If you’ve always worked at outbound agencies and you’re considering making the switch, then here’s what you need to know.

Inbound vs. Outbound

One of the key differences you’ll notice when working at an inbound marketing agency is the approach you’ll take to customers. Whatever your role, you’ll be working with the aim of attracting customers to you, rather than chasing after them.

To put it simply, outbound marketing focuses on pushing a message out to the world and actively pursuing customers, regardless of where they are in the buyer’s journey.

Inbound is the opposite. The aim is to pull people towards you by offering something that they value. It might be the answer to a question, advice on an important topic or a free download. To do this, you’ll create blogs, websites, emails and more that are tailor-made for your audience.

At a traditional outbound agency, you might have put more focus on cold-calling, targeted adverts and a persistent email campaign. Outbound marketing is interruptive and can feel like searching for a needle in a haystack because there’s no real approach to targeting the right customers.

Inbound marketing focuses its efforts on people who’ve already shown an interest in you. This means more of the right kind of prospect. You determine what the right kind of customer looks like by carrying out research into the typical customer. Segmenting your audience allows you to better understand the visitors to the website, making it easier to make informed decisions in the future.

Transitioning from Outbound to Inbound

There’s a lot to take on board when making the switch from traditional marketing to inbound. You might need a little time to get your head around the parts that are new to you. To make the transition as easy as possible, your new agency should provide training and development support to make sure you’re brought up to speed quickly.

At Digital 22, it isn’t just the new starters that spend time learning everything there is to know about inbound. Because the industry is always shifting and evolving, there’s always more to learn.

There are HubSpot certifications on email marketing, contextual marketing and the basics of inbound to get you started. One of our core values is being hungry to learn and team members show this by sharing interesting blogs and articles with each other.

If we come across interesting pieces of content, we'll always try to share it with the rest of the team.

To make sure our agency is at the forefront of all things HubSpot, some members of the team are taken on an all expenses paid trip to the annual INBOUND conference in Boston, USA. It’s a fantastic opportunity to learn about any changes that HubSpot is implementing and hear from industry experts about innovative inbound techniques.

Whatever the agency’s process, make sure you throw yourself into the new ideas and strategies you come across. If you try and hang on to the outdated traditional methods you’ve used in the past, you’ll struggle to adapt to your new role and have problems settling in.

What it’s Like to Work at an Inbound Agency

If you’ve never worked at an inbound marketing agency, then you’ll want to know what it’s like to work for one before committing to a new role.

Each team works with the inbound methodology in mind, planning and creating different types of content that fit different stages of the buyer’s journey.

Awareness: At this stage, customers want to read infographics and blog posts that cover their pain points. They don’t want to see a long list of products that solve issues they might not even realise they have. ‘How to’ blogs and listicles work well at this stage.

Consideration: Customers have moved from being categorised as visitors to a website to being prospects. They need content that will help them to make an informed decision about the issue that you raised during the awareness stage. You’ve identified their problem and now you’re suggesting how they can go about solving it.

Decision: Prospects are now leads that are on the verge of buying the product or service they need to solve their pain point. At this stage, case studies and free demos are great for showcasing the product and giving the customer the nudge they need.

Whatever your role, you’ll buy into the inbound way of doing things and learn how to make the customer’s journey as rewarding as possible.

Interested in a Career in Inbound Marketing?

If you like the sound of inbound marketing and you’d like to make the switch from an outbound agency or in-house team, then we’re looking to hear from you. Our current opportunities include spots for Marketers, Developers and SEO Specialists, but we’re always happy to hear from new talent.

Browse our current open roles now using the link below. If there’s nothing available that suits your skills, then submit your CV and we’ll get in touch in the future if we think you’re a good fit.