Inbound Marketing VS SEO

So what makes inbound marketing so special?  How is it different than SEO?  Well.  The two are the same in a sense, in that by blogging, or putting other indexable media on the internet, you are increasing the likelihood that a potential customer's keyword inquiry typed into a search engine will lead them to you.  Inbound Marketing is more commonly used for businesses who's potential clients practice long research cycles, as generally a high dollar value purchasing decision is at stake.  (Real Estate, Automotive, Electronics, etc.)  Building trust is key in these situations, and offering valuable insight and useful information can establish yourself as an authoritative source of information for your industry.

Is Inbound Marketing better than traditional forms of advertising?

How beneficial is Inbound Marketing vs other traditional forms of advertising?  Well, for starters the effectiveness of TV Commercials and Roadside Billboards are declining.  With the invention of the DVR, most consumers are zipping right through those spots.  Online video commercials aren't safe either.  An infographic shows that over 85% of consumers skip through commercials.  Direct mail doesn't fare any better, with less than 45% of recipients never even opening it.

Inbound Marketing and SEO go hand-in-hand, in that the act of Inbound Marketing itself adds valuable authoritative information to your website.  This in turn (if done correctly) can increase your rankings, and lead to more traffic.  Once the visitor gets to your website, hopefully all the hard work of producing quality content pays off, and you convert a researching consumer into a loyal customer.