Remember this classic scene from a brilliant movie? Take the 1:19 to absorb the message.

“Have I got your attention now?” That was the classic line delivered by Alec Baldwin in Glengarry Glen Ross when he threatened to fire the entire sales staff. He couldn’t understand why they couldn’t close more business. After all, they had the good leads –  the Glengarry leads! They paid good money for those leads. Now go out there, interrupt your prospects when it is convenient for you and “get them to sign on the line which is dotted”. Classic outbound marketing.

I have spent most of my career engaged in outbound marketing: building and selling television commercials, radio spots, outdoor campaigns, newspaper ads, magazine ads, etc. We spent millions of dollars trying to get the “good leads.” Then, when our clients asked us at the end of the month if the millions of dollars they spent were working? Sales are up, so the strategy must be working. Let’s go play golf. Sales are down? The mix must be wrong. More TV, less print. Let’s go play golf.

According to Wikipedia, Inbound Marketing is based on the concepts of earning the attention of prospects and making yourself easy to be found. Makes sense right? Instead of talking, you are listening. Instead of pushing, you are pulling. Instead of sending press releases and collateral, you are building communities through blog posts, podcasts, Facebook updates, Tweeting, and Linkedin activity. Inbound higher education marketing is about delivering prospective students the information they want when they want it. With all due respect for Alec Baldwin, Al Pacino, and Jack Lemon, it’s no longer about tricking someone into signing on the line which is dotted. It’s about creating a dialogue and being easily accessible when your prospects find you and are ready to engage with you.

Outbound vs. Inbound Chart

So, how can you do inbound marketing better? Ask yourself three questions.

1.) Are you doing enough to bring visitors to your site?

2.) How are you doing when it comes to converting traffic to leads and leads to clients?

3.) How are you measuring which activities are working and which ones aren’t?