Inbound Marketing: What is it?

"Inbound Marketing" is a keyword I've been seeing more and more lately. I think that I understand the basics, but am looking to learn more.

My aunt and uncle own a boutique agency that focuses on marketing, but offers planning through execution as well. More about Weidert Group can be found at www.weidert.com.

I asked my uncle more about Inbound Marketing and to what it is in 100 words or less. Here is what he said:

Inbound marketing is a strategy and associated tools & processes focused on content creation, search engines and social media, engineered to drive online awareness and attraction of your business and feed your sales funnel with the best prospects.

I needed a little more than just a definition, so I asked him to tell me why it was essential for companies. Here's his response:

What makes it essential is the evolution in human behavior resulting in the increasing importance of search as a critical element of any purchase decision. Whether we're acting as a private individual or as part of a business or formal organization, we rely more and more on search to find product and service providers, research their skills and qualifications, look for corroborating recommendations or referrals, and ultimately guide us to selecting a provider. So if your business isn't fully engaged in performing well in the search game, you're in trouble, because your competitors are hard at work.

I've been working to gain a better understanding of the concept to benefit me in the future. A great resource has been Weidert's blog, Whole Brain Marketing.