We know, change can be a little scary. But it’s time to put a hold on that snail mail and pare back your print ad placements and start writing a blog, sending out tweets and optimizing your site. Inbound marketing is here to stay. A recent report indicated that 54% more leads are generated by inbound marketing than outbound marketing.¹ So, let’s explore some of the key inbound marketing concepts, why inbound marketing is necessary and how it fits seamlessly into your marketing plan.
What is inbound marketing?
At the most basic level, inbound marketing is a permission-based marketing strategy focused on the process of attracting your target audience, converting and closing leads, and delighting your customers.
- Attract: The inbound marketing process begins by attracting your target audience through various inbound marketing strategies, including relevant blog posts, engaging social media tactics, strategically designed landing pages and search engine optimization.
- Convert: Once you have attracted a visitor to your desired destination, you then convert that individual to a lead through various conversion strategies. These include strong calls-to-action and effective landing pages with forms that efficiently collect contact information for future interaction.
- Close: Acquiring contact information is a critical step in the inbound marketing process. It allows you to proficiently nurture leads and convert them to customers by providing additional relevant, targeted content either by email or another appropriate contact method.
- Delight: Delighting your customers should be the ultimate goal of any marketing effort. Delighted customers will recommend your products/services to their friends, family, co-workers and even perfect strangers through conversation, social media, blogs and more. Essentially, they will become trusted promoters of your brand, enhancing your brand awareness and, simultaneously, your credibility.
Why is inbound marketing important?
“The continued proliferation of media messages may be impacting how well they resonate with their intended audiences on various platforms.” - Randall Beard, Nielsen Advertiser Solutions
Randall Beard’s quote illustrates perfectly why inbound marketing is not only important, but absolutely critical to effective marketing today. The concept of inbound marketing is based on the premise that traditional outbound, interruptive forms of marketing (e.g., telemarketing, direct mail, email blasts, print ads) are less effective. Marketers must recognize this change and appropriately adapt to the new landscape.
Inbound marketing can help you break through the clutter and better compete in the marketplace by being in the right place at the right time. This occurs not by randomly sending someone a pricey promotional packet, but by attracting your target audience with valuable, relevant content when they are actively searching for information or a solution to a problem that you can solve.
How to develop an inbound marketing strategy
Want to know more? Find out what your company can do to develop an effective inbound marketing strategy that will help you attract your target audience and achieve your business goals.
Want to talk to an inbound marketing specialist? Contact ZAG Interactive to receive a free inbound marketing consultation.
¹HubSpot