CASS BUSINESS SCHOOL, MSc Management, Group A9.
1. HubSpot, founded by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah was established to "convince America
that the rules of Marketing had changed". The traditional marketing programs involved outbound
marketing in which consumers were approached by businesses through promotional means such as
Television Ads, Billboards, Banners and so on. According to Hubspot, such a strategy is interruptive
and continuously "drives a message into a crowd like a sledgehammer" only in the hope that
customers will can catch on. The bombardment of commercial messages in the form of outbound
marketing is therefore having diminishing effectiveness. Furthermore, such strategies appealed to
same audiences again and again, thus bringing in less new business . 1
Hubspot identifies that search engines, blogs and social media generate new business faster
than any other means in this information age of digital global communications and networking.
Businesses must transform their marketing strategies as a result of the 'changed rules of marketing'
created by the web through adopting an inbound marketing strategy. As opposed to the traditional
outbound marketing strategies, inbound marketing occurs where rather than pushing a message
towards a mass audience, customers are pulled only towards goods or services that they are
interested in. Inbound marketing is customer orientated through as opposed to the product
orientation of most outbound marketing campaigns.
Businesses are operating in highly competitive environments and therefore cost cutting and
efficiencies are key to surviving. As inbound marketing costs five to seven times less than a lead
generated by outbound marketing, this can prove more efficient for businesses. Furthermore, the
rate of small businesses has increased significantly in economies such as the US and the UK
therefore this offers them an opportunity to promote a good or service within a small budget and
compete effectively, even...