Inbound marketing is a marketing practice that focuses on attracting visitors and potential consumers rather than forcing a brand, product, or service onto prospects in the hopes of generating leads or sales.

In terms of digital marketing, this implies attracting people's attention through a creative combination of marketing channels, most typically content marketing, search engine optimization (SEO), and social media. A good inbound marketing campaign uses 'earned' and 'owned' media to improve reach and drive quality visitors, engagement, and conversions.

HubSpot, a provider of inbound marketing software, created the term 'inbound marketing' in 2006. Inbound marketing is defined by HubSpot as the process of acquiring, converting, closing, and delighting consumers.
Inbound marketing vs outbound marketing
The clue to understanding the differences between inbound and outbound marketing is in the name. Inbound marketing focuses on drawing potential customers in, while outbound marketing is about outwardly pushing a business’ offering. Inbound marketing is about earning attention, while outbound typically involves buying it.

Inbound marketing: owned and earned media

Inbound marketing uses owned and earned media to engage potential customers in creative ways.

Owned media are those channels that a business has control over. For example, your website, blog, brand social media profiles, product landing pages and YouTube channel. You choose what to publish, how to publish it, and when.
Earned media is the coverage you earn as a result your hard work. Offline, this includes traditional coverage in newspapers and magazines. Online, it includes coverage on news sites often gained through digital PR, but also mentions on social media, use of a campaign hashtag, conversations in online forums, and online reviews. You have less control over earned media, but it should be a reward for the work you’ve put into your inbound marketing campaign.
Outbound marketing: paid media

On the other hand, outbound marketing is more readily associated with paid media. This could be traditional offline advertising, PPC and display advertising or paid emails.

Paid media also encompasses social media advertising, for example, Facebook advertising or boosted Twitter posts.

Although typically associated with outbound marketing, it’s worth noting that social media advertising is often an effective way to boost the performance of inbound marketing campaigns. Advertising on Facebook, for example, allows you to promote your content and campaign to your target audience, no matter how niche it might be.