Outbound marketing measures can, in most cases, be identified as advertising even if they are not clearly marked as such, meaning it’s no surprise to the customer. This is definitely the case with classic examples of outdoor advertising: passers-by read ads on billboards and the products become stuck in their minds. Also with TV commercials: advertising melodies and images are unconsciously linked to a certain product and influence people when they decide on a brand or product.
The point, however, is that most people are able to see right through outbound marketing methods and are already tired of them. This results in the onlooker ignoring obvious advertisements and becoming immune to them (this is known as 'banner blindness'). Nowadays, consumers have to filter out countless pieces of information every day, which means that anything that doesn’t immediately appeal to them, will be ignored.
For this reason, marketers are forced to use new forms of outbound marketing (an extreme example of this is guerrilla marketing) – or even to completely forgo it. It goes without saying that it is important to differentiate between the location, the target group, and what you’re advertising. For the local grocery store, leaflets and circulars may be the best choice. However, a start-up that wants to promote its innovative product may opt for a completely different strategy, such as an advertising campaign on social media.
Another problem with outbound marketing is that the relationship between the cost and the success cannot be verified because there is no direct feedback. Advertising e-mails, for example, are often sent to the recycling bin without being opened. This means that the target group could be passed by. The worst case is that potential customers could start to have negative thoughts about the brand since they’re being annoyed by all the ads. In order to prevent this from happening, it is advisable to keep current e-mail marketing trends in mind
Nowadays, outbound marketing is much less significant than it used to be and is often replaced by web-based inbound marketing. This is not least due to the change in the media landscape.