Content Marketing Today

Why You Need Outbound Marketing to Strengthen Your Inbound Marketing

Great Advice from Singapore Blogger and Coach Celestine Chua on Kick Starting Your Business

We all tend to go overboard with any important trend. We get so excited about what’s brand-new that we forget about the tried and true. So it is with inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing.

Celestine reminds us that outbound marketing done right, particularly in the form of smart public relations can make a measurable and almost immediate positive difference. 

The concept behind inbound marketing is that you engage in a lot of information creation activities that will pull in folks who are interested in what you have to say. Business blogs and participation in social media such as Twitter and Facebook enable you to offer content that prospects volunteer to consume.

Obviously, I believe in that. Witness the existence of Content Marketing Today and the blog post you’re currently reading. But, as Celestine emphasizes, that’s only the first part of the equation that should also include smart outbound marketing.

Traditionally, outbound marketing was about advertising, trade shows, and public relations.  Big companies have a decided edge because of their huge budgets and their access to high profile media outlets such as the Wall Street Journal or the New York Times.

Today, even very small organizations can conduct effective outbound marketing campaigns by focusing on public relations. Celestine Chua brought this all home in a recent guest post on ProBlogger.com, titled: How To Get Featured By the Press (Repeatedly) Even If Your Blog is New. Celestine is based in Singapore and had previously worked in a Fortune 100 company. She abandoned that safe career to start a coaching practice which she markets via a combination of inbound and outbound marketing.

Although her blog does a terrific job of proving her expertise as a personal coach, her outbound marketing efforts focused on savvy public relations made all the difference in accelerating the growth of her practice. As she says, "If I were to look at the trigger point for my results today, it was the first media coverage which helped put me on the map. The amazing thing is, none of these came about due to any personal relationships or media contacts. Media coverage is something that you can get, whether you are a newbie blogger or a seasoned veteran."

When she writes about getting featured by the press as a brand-new blogger, she offers sound, timeless marketing advice which illustrates that some things in the marketing universe remain essentially unchanged.

Here are my top takeaways from her blog post:

• Getting traditional press coverage makes you distinctive from hordes of other bloggers and exposes you to a broader audience who may not read blogs regularly
• Traditional press coverage gives you credibility that is critical when you’re just starting out.
• Create an absolutely enticing news story because reporters are always on the lookout for great stories. (She even offers techniques for brainstorming great ideas in a 25 Brainstorming Techniques article)
• Create a press release that encapsulates your unique and newsworthy story.
• Use a ready, fire, aim strategy to get your story out to as many relevant channels as you can find including print, radio, TV and online.
• As soon as you are alerted to an upcoming story, publicize it among your entire extended network.

Smart outbound marketing builds your blog impact fast

I love the idea of adapting the best of traditional outbound marketing techniques to today’s online realities. You must have a business blog as your starting point. Normally, it will take a minimum of several months for your blog to have a positive impact on your business. You can accelerate that positive impact by using the be savvy outbound marketing approach that Celestine recommends.

Click to read her entire article: How To Get Featured By the Press (Repeatedly) Even If Your Blog is New. Then get started on an outbound marketing campaign that will reenergize all of your inbound marketing efforts.