Inbound And Outbound – As Communication Channel Biases

Inbound And Outbound – As Communication Channel Biases:

This is the second post in a series from the Definition Of Inbound Marketing Versus Outbound In PERSPECTIVE.

The channels for sending and receiving messages have been evolving since humans began communicating.

From our surroundings like drawings in caves and gatherings (events) to creations like the printing press, radio, telephone, TV, and the Internet.

“Channels” can also be defined in both the “physical” as well as in the “marketing” or “business” sense.

Just like in science we can also view channels in the micro and macro scale.

Marketing channels have traditionally been viewed as the bridge (or conduit) between producers and users (buyers and sellers). These can be “direct” between producers and consumers or more complex “mix mode” channels involving other parties such as resellers, distributors and franchisees.

Exchange relationships, and thus marketing channels themselves, have emerged from market needs as a way of more efficiently serving them.

We can also break “channels” down into sub-channels or slices. Where “marketing channels” in the (macro) business sense are considered everything involved with getting a product or service into the customers hand and “marketing communication channels” (the micro) are specifically the individual channels that allow messages to flow between the producer and consumer.

So marketing communication channels for simplicity could be seen as things like;

• Online – made up of the Internet (fixed and mobile), email, social media.
• Offline – consisting of direct mail, print advertising, telemarketing, tv, radio.

It should be noted that modern “marketing channels” like the Internet can be considered a business channel that not only facilitates communication but also the delivery of products and services.

Today though, the term “channel” is becoming less relevant as more communication channels are converging (such as TV and mobile with the Internet) with each other and also buyers are tending to use multiple channels in a mixed mode strategy.