Glossary
Inbound marketing
Inbound marketing is a strategy that attracts buyers through content, search, social media and events they find on their own, then turns that attention into leads with useful offers, forms and follow-up.
What Is Inbound Marketing?
In short HubSpot coined the term in 2005.
Inbound works by publishing what your buyers already look for: articles that answer their questions, comparison pages, templates, free tools and webinars. A visitor reads, then trades an email address for something more valuable, like a report or a trial. Marketing nurtures that contact until it is ready for a sales conversation.
The appeal is cost over time. A page that ranks keeps bringing visitors without paying per click, and buyers who arrive on their own are often further along. The catch is speed and control: content takes months to build traffic, and you cannot choose which companies show up.
Inbound Marketing Example
Example: a payroll software company publishes a free salary benchmark report. In one quarter it gets 12,000 visits, 600 downloads and 90 sales-qualified leads. The SDR team then emails 400 lookalike companies that never visited, offering the same report.
Inbound Marketing in Practice
Most B2B teams run inbound next to outbound. Inbound catches buyers who are already searching; outbound reaches the accounts on your target list that never will. Outbound teams also reuse inbound content as proof, linking a case study or benchmark report instead of making a claim.
FAQ
What is the difference between inbound and outbound marketing?
Inbound pulls buyers in with content they find themselves. Outbound reaches out first, with cold email, calls, LinkedIn messages or ads to a list you choose. Inbound captures existing demand; outbound lets you pick the accounts.
What are examples of inbound marketing?
Blog posts that rank on Google, comparison and pricing pages, free tools, templates, webinars, podcasts and downloadable reports. In each case the buyer finds the content first and leaves contact details to get more.
What are the stages of inbound marketing?
HubSpot, which coined the term, describes three phases of its inbound flywheel: attract, engage and delight. You attract strangers with useful content, engage them with offers and conversations, and delight customers so they refer others.
Who coined inbound marketing?
HubSpot coined the term in 2005 and built its marketing software and methodology around it.
How long does inbound marketing take to work?
Usually months rather than weeks, because search traffic to new content builds slowly. That is why many B2B teams run outbound for near-term pipeline while inbound grows.
Do This in Ken
Do This in Ken
Ken covers the outbound half. Find the accounts your content never reaches in Ken Search, then send them that content through email and LinkedIn sequences in Campaigns.
- Module
- Campaigns
- Open in Ken
- /how-it-works
The new Ken opens to the waiting list in batches.
Related
- GTM Glossary
Every GTM term, grouped by topic.
- Demand generation
- Lead generation
- Marketing funnel
- Buyer persona
- Lead scoring
- Cold email
- How Ken works
Sources
| Source | Checked |
|---|---|
| HubSpot: What is inbound marketing | |
| HubSpot: The flywheel model | |
| TechTarget: What is inbound marketing |
Changelog
- Page published.