Many people don’t know if email is an inbound or outbound marketing method. In reality, it can be either or both. Before we talk about why, let’s start by defining some terms.

Outbound marketing includes things like cold calling and buying media. These are ways to flood the market with your brand and “get it out there.”

Outbound marketing is also known for sending spam emails, which is a shame. Outbound marketing, on the other hand, is usually done through paid ads, face-to-face meetings, cold calls, and mass emails.

Typical examples include:

TV ads
Billboards
Flyers
Tradeshows
Email marketing done straight
Paid Google ads
Paid ads on Facebook
On the other hand, “pull” marketing is a type of “inbound” marketing. It means that the consumer will take action and show genuine interest. In inbound marketing, you make customers want and need your product or service, so they come to you when they need help.

Some examples of inbound marketing tools are:

Blogging
Social media
Podcasting
Marketing through opt-in emails for Ebooks, Videos, SEO, and Content
Even paid search is considered inbound because consumers only see results for a product or service they are actively looking for.

Email marketing is either inbound or outbound. What’s different?
Now, let’s get more specific about our topic and look more closely at how email marketing can affect your marketing strategy and bring in business.

Email can be used to “cold call” prospects, but it works better and is more common to use email as a way to get prospects to contact you.

Inbound email marketing is a great way to build trust and keep in touch with customers, which can lead to more sales.

Here are some of the most important parts of good inbound email marketing and how it compares to outbound email.

1. Emails that come in are targeted
   Marketers no longer buy email lists and send a “blast” of marketing emails to everyone in the hopes that someone, somewhere, will be interested.

The General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR) say that things like that are against the rules (GDPR).

Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software is used in today’s email marketing strategies to divide your audience list into groups based on a number of factors, such as:

Potential for growth
Position at work Industry
Location on the map
Statistics on people
kind of relationship you have with me (B2B vs. B2C)
The good news is that you can use any metric to divide your target audience into very specific groups that let you tweak your emails for higher conversions and a higher click-through rate.

The best part is that these people have already shown interest in doing business with you because they signed up through your blog or website.

2. You can share incoming emails
   Incoming emails that are easy to share on social media or that you can quickly forward to a coworker, friend, or family member can help you get more views for your work.

First of all, emails with infographics and videos can increase the number of clicks and opens by up to 55%.

And people like and share image-based marketing like infographics up to three times more than other content.

That’s three times as good for business!

To make an inbound email with a video or infographic, you put a link in it that goes to the content on your site. With one click, customers can send the URL to coworkers.

Sharing is harder with outbound emails because they don’t do half of what research says is needed to make a shareable email: they aren’t personalized or broken up into groups.

3. Emails that come to you are useful
   When you add new opt-ins, inbound email marketing is subtle and powerful. A good strategy is to make sure your content does at least one of the following:

Makes them better at their jobs
answers the most important questions
Tells them more about what your product or service can do for them.
Being a source of information is a great way to build a relationship that will lead to a sale when you send more emails.

Even though outbound marketing emails can be useful, many of the people who get them don’t need or want the information they contain because they are sent in a “batch.”

4. Emails that come in are personalized.
   You can also fine-tune the timing of your marketing based on customer triggers or the natural flow of your sales cycle. This will make your prospects feel valued and cared about.

This example from Campaign Monitor is personalized in two ways: the recipient’s name is used, and the email looks like it came from an account manager, not a random email address.

Most emails sent out are not personalized, and this shows in how many people click on them and how many people just ignore them. To make an outgoing email more personal, you’d have to do research on each contact, which takes time and money.

Here’s a Hubspot example of a personalized message sent out:

Even though it has a personal touch, the customer might find it annoying or dishonest because the marketer has never met them before.

On the other hand, emails that are sent when a customer does something can move a prospect through your sales funnel in a gentle and effective way.

Take a look at these great examples of inbound email marketing:

Information was downloaded.

Your prospect joined your email list when they downloaded an ebook, PDF, or white paper from your website or signed up for a mini-class or webinar.

Inbound response: the next step’s call to action

You can add “housekeeping” information like the time of the class or “how to download” instructions. You can also introduce yourself and your product or service.

Then you can ask them to take the next step, like giving them a free trial, asking for more information, or sharing on social media.

From Social Media Examiner, here’s a great example:

This email is fun and interesting because it has colorful graphics and social links that you can click on.

Trigger: Online content was viewed.

If you have a number of landing pages or ways to sign up for content, you can divide your audience into groups based on their interests and pain points.

Incoming response: Tailored content for follow-up

Now that you know what your prospect is interested in and/or what problems they are having, you can send them a follow-up email that is specifically designed to meet their needs.

Here’s an email from HubSpot that does this perfectly:

This new content not only helps you get to know them better, but it also brings them back to your site.

Trigger: I did the first thing in your series, then I stopped.

After signing up for a trial, a class, or content that is tailored to their needs, customers sometimes lose interest.

Incoming response: Give me more details and options

There are many possible reasons why they didn’t finish or continue that first action. It’s possible they had more questions, hesitated to fill out a form, or just got too busy and forgot.

A good follow-up inbound email could show them related content or resources, give them other things to do like calling customer service or getting a demo, or even ask them straight out why they aren’t ready to buy yet.

Sending a “Can we help?” email can lead to more talk and contact and help you keep your relationship going strong.

Here’s one from the website Litmus.

This example addresses hesitation head-on and gives the lead the chance to choose how they want to be marketed to.

5. Emails that come to you are a good value.
   Inbound emails are one of the most cost-effective marketing tools because they target people who have already shown interest in your product or service by signing up for your list.

Statistics show that the average cost per lead for inbound marketing is $134, while the average cost per lead for outbound marketing is $332.

A recent Hubspot report found that whether you run a B2B or B2C business, inbound marketing is three times more likely to give you a higher return on investment (ROI) than outbound marketing.

Wrap up
So, does email marketing come in or go out?

Email marketing can be both an inbound and an outbound part of your marketing strategy. However, most businesses find that using inbound email to target and keep potential customers is a cost-effective and successful strategy.

With inbound emails, you can build a real, long-term relationship with your customers, which can move them through your sales funnel in a subtle and effective way.

Best of all, inbound email is easy to change so you can easily segment customers, personalize messages, and even make changes to your marketing strategy. This makes it a great way to keep up with new trends and changes in customer pain points.