The Anthropology of Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing and Outbound Marketing

The Emic and the Etic

As you read this article, you will probably question my thinking…and perhaps my sanity. Nothing in this  world is a simple as either-or. And yet, we see that sort of thinking all the time.

Interestingly, when we see either-or/neither-nor thinking, it is usually because someone has a vested interest in a certain point of view, one perspective over another.

Significantly, we are witnessing this sort of thinking right now in marketing.

The debate comes down to this:

• Outbound marketing is an intrusion, an interruption
• Inbound marketing is about persuasion, permission, and relationships

I would argue the world of marketing is neither black nor white, inbound nor outbound, it is whatever works for a given brand at a particular place and time.

The question, the first question, you must always ask when reading a report or reviewing data or considering a product or a point of view is:

• Who is offering the information?
• What do they have to gain by taking the position they are taking?
• What interest do they have and what do they have to gain, short term and long term, in making the point they are arguing?
• If they are offering a product, are they offering full disclosure?
• The investment after the fact?
• If this is a company, do they have a vested interest in your acceptance of their point of view?
• If it is a “guru,” does he or she have a vested interest (i.e., financial, personal, other) in your acceptance of their information as based in fact and above reproach?
• I could go on and on….

My point is this, and I heard this a long time ago from someone far more successful that I and certainly as successful as anyone in the marketing game today:

Everyone has an agenda…everyone!

The first question you must ask yourself before making a purchase or buying into a particular line of thought is:

What are the facts?

Perhaps this way of looking at a question was solidified by my academic background in anthropology. You see, in anthropology you are taught to look at things holistically, to look at things from the emic and etic perspective. For the most part, it refers to fieldwork and different kinds of data but the same sort of dual perspective can be useful when analyzing a particular argument or point of view.

Meaning, you look at things from the point of view of those invested in a particular objective or point of view, how they behave and react, and how those not invested in the same activity or outcome will perceive it.

In other words, one has an investment in whether or not you buy into a particular mindset or product or solution and the other has no emtional involvement or investment.

Who do you trust? Perhaps both!

But it is important to look at the debate from within and from outside in order to understand how others may react…or fail to react.

To quote Wikipedia:

Emic and etic…refer(s) to two different kinds of data concerning human behavior. In particular, they are used…to refer to kinds of…viewpoints obtained.

• An “emic” account is a description of behavior or a belief in terms meaningful (consciously or unconsciously) to the actor; that is, an emic account comes from a person within the culture. Almost anything from within a culture can provide an emic account.
• An “etic” account is a description of a behavior or belief by an observer, in terms that can be applied to other cultures; that is, an etic account is ‘culturally neutral’.

I would argue that inbound marketing has become a cultural phenomenon and within it we have many entities (i.e., individuals and companies). Significantly, they can no longer be thought of as culturally neutral, they have too much invested in you buying into their perspective.

Does that make them wrong?

No!

It simply makes them salespeople for their particular point of view.

We are all selling. The inbound marketing culture is heavily invested in their point of view.

The outbound marketing world is alive. Perhaps not alive and well in the way it once was…but it is going strong.

Yes!

There is a transition taking place and inbound marketing is center stage in the transition but it is not the only player.

Agreed!

Outbound marketing is intrusive and the YellowPages, newpapers, radio stations, and other media will have to adapt or they will most certainly go extinct.

But there are millions of people in the USA and around the world who do not turn on a computer daily, weekly, or even monthly. Nor are they likely to any time soon.

Effective marketing must accommodate the various target markets receptive to our clients’ messages…and not all of our clients have Internet savvy audiences…and we must reach them too.

Ultimately, what I am trying to say is that marketing is not an either-or proposition…it is inclusive.

The more of an audience you can include, the more successful your marketing will be. To be fully invested in one form of marketing to the exclusion of another is folly and will leave a great deal of money on the table.

Your money and your clients’ money!

So, before you invest completely in the party line ask yourself one question:

Who gains?

If you can answer that to your satisfaction?

Great!

If you can’t?

Keep asking questions!

BTW, the answer to who gains?

The client!

If the client gains you are on the right track. If you can’t honestly say the client is the big winner?

Then it’s time for an agonizing reappraisal!

John Zajaros
The Ultimate Internet Image
Lakewood, Ohio 44107
Skype: johnzajaros1
216-712-7004

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