If you’ve been talking about or writing about inbound marketing at all, you’ve probably run into this question a time or two. When Writing about the new Coppiedmith term last night …question: should “inbound marketing” be capitalized? Is it a question of how you use it? Or is it just one of those pesky grammar riddles that defy resolution?
It may seem like a minor detail if you should capitalize something like ‘inbound marketing’, but you step back into the world of professional communication, branding, and consistent content, and those string bits are important. This guide is going to cover capitalization rules, exceptions, branding concerns, and ways to easily know which style to use in your content.
What Is inbound marketing?
First things first, we need to clarify “inbound marketing” as we prepare to open the capitalization can of worms. Inbound marketing is a business methodology that attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them. Unlike outbound marketing (like cold-calling or interruptive advertising) which inherently interrupts users, the point of inbound marketing is to earn the “attention” of your audience organically.
Inbound techniques are blogging, social media, SEO, and lead nurturing, while outbound includes pay-per-click (PPC), email and content syndication. Inbound marketing has evolved from a methodology to an absolute necessity to date, as businesses across the world are now focused on building trust, credibility, and lasting relationships with the people they serve.
Okay, back to the point of the question. Should it get capitalized or not?
General Guidelines for Capitalization in Titles and Sentences
Before we get into it and break down whether “inbound marketing” should be capitalized, let’s do a brief recap of capitalization in general.
Rules for Sentence Case
When you address someone, you capitalize that person’s name.
Names of people, cities, companies, trademarks: Capitalize all proper nouns.
Lowercase common nouns unless they are name or title elements.
Example sentence case:
We do inbound marketing to draw in new people and establish credibility.
Rules for Title Case
Capitalize the first and last word of a title.
Capitalize the first letter of of big words (nouns, verbs, adjectives, etc.)
Keep small words (prepositions, articles, conjunctions) lowercase unless any are the first or last word in the title.
Example title case:
How To Develop A Successful Content Strategy For Your Inbound Marketing
Now that we’ve established where to use capitalization, the next question is whether the term “inbound marketing” falls in the category of being inherently capitalized or not.
Is “Inbound Marketing” Properly Capitalized?
Whether or not to capitalize “inbound marketing” is based mostly on context, and intent. Here are the key situations in which capitalization is or isn’t warranted:
Common Usage in Sentences
When you use in a sentence or phrase as a general concept, it doesn’t have to be capitalized. That’s because it’s a common noun, not a proper one.
Example:
Right: Our inbound marketing has driven a 35% uptick in organic leads this month.
Wrong: Inbound Marketing brought us 35% more organic leads this month.
When It’s Used in Titles
If “inbound marketing” is used in a title or heading written in title case, then we, of course, cap up “Inbound” and “Marketing,” according to title case rules.
Example:
Right : 5 Tips for Your Inbound Marketing Campaign
Wrong: 5 Reasons why Inbound Marketing your best practice.
Brand or Trademark Usage
Captilaize it if “Inbound Marketing” is a brand name for a product, software, tool, event or its similar under a brand or proprietary. As a case in point, HubSpot, the organization that taught the world about the inbound marketing methodology, frequently mentions the term in a brandable way, practically as though it were a term they had copyrighted to define their own methodology.
Example:
Businesses can expand quickly with the help of HubSpot’s guide to mastering inbound marketing.
Our firm focuses on HubSpot’s “Inbound Marketing” process model for lead gen.
When in doubt, consult the company’s or brand’s style guide for a “capitalization guide,” as most businesses and organizations have different preferences.
Discriminate to be Specific
There are some companies who will capitalise “Inbound Marketing” which shows its significance, and also that as a methodology, it’s in a league of its own. But, granted, that is not a strictly correct grammar rule, but a matter of style.
Example use case:
We are a group of individuals with expertise in SEO, Content Strategy, and Inbound Marketing.
When to Rely on Style Guides
The main thing to remember is, like so many of these things, it’s about consistency in your own company or style guide. Companies and content creators frequently use internal style guides to resolve common capitalization queries. Style guides, such as the AP Stylebook or Oxford Style Manual, often use them to ensure uniformity in your blog posts, newsletters and marketing materials.
If your firm doesn’t have a style guide already, consider it an opportunity to establish memory aids for terms like, say, “inbound marketing,” and standardize them across all of your internal and customer-facing content.
Practical Considerations
Here are some practical considerations when to capitalize the phrase: “It depends on a case-by-case basis whether to capitalize inbound marketing.”
Reader’s Expectations: Will your readers expect a laid-back, casual approach? Actually, capitalization of “Inbound Marketing” often seems more serious and formal, while lowercase feels a bit more casual.
SEO Impact: If you’re using it for seo purposes (like trying to rank for the keyword, “Inclucive marketing“), using it in lowercase most of the time might be more in line with user search intent and search-algorthm algorithms.
Visual Consistency – Capitalize the word in all channels. All caps (e.g., capitalized content) can be confusing or seem spammy.
How to write about “Inbound Marketing” Once there was a term for what we were doing
Finally as a closer acts some directives do you have to follow in order to make a clear and consistent reference to inbound marketing in your content:
Use lower case in sentences except where it begins the sentence.
Use title or headline case if it’s in headers.
Cap only to emphasize brand, trademark, or deal with style when your site explicitly requires it.
Compare your writing to your company’s style guide (or make one if none exists).
Use it consistently (with similar meaning) within a single post for clarity.
at a time in your circular progress Go on the Next Step with Poise.
