It can be really tricky when you have to pick from a pool of options, not knowing which of the choices presented would actually work best when applied to the circumstance you’re in. But that’s what we’re here for. We know, and we’re here to share what we know with you.
We are aware that as a business owner or as a marketing manager, beating the competition, let alone being the sort of competitor that other brands would be honored to be up against, would take a lot of work and plenty of hours put in. And we know that you want to find out what approach works best. When it comes to marketing, we only know of one strategy that drives home results that you would actually like– Inbound Marketing.
What is Inbound Marketing, and what makes Inbound Marketing different from the type of marketing the world has been accustomed to since people learned how to sell?
Read on to find out!
Inbound Marketing is a marketing strategy that attracts customers and retains them over time, by creating and sharing content that is valuable to your target audience. These kinds of content are informative and helpful, and more importantly, relevant to the topics that interest your prospects.
Inbound Marketing is not disruptive, it is not irritating, and it doesn’t take away value while pretending to offer you something you don’t even need. That familiar, disruptive, hard sell approach that is characteristic of outbound marketing those salespeople of old used to do may have instilled the value of patience and persistence in previous generations of salespeople but that approach no longer works in this day and age.
The world has become ultra fast-paced. The present era of consumers are distracted and over-stimulated by the internet and all the time-consuming entertainment in today’s technology offers. But the need for answers and efficient results only increases with time.
What makes Inbound Marketing different from the obsolete outbound marketing approach is that it does not involve cold calling, cold emailing/spamming, or in-person hard selling. These examples of outbound marketing are time-stealers. Sure, there are outbound marketing practices that many companies still observe– we still see a lot of billboards, tv and radio commercials, trade shows. These strategies may or may not work, but it requires you to invest so much more time and resources to get to your customers, who may or may not respond to these gimmicks.
What makes Inbound Marketing different is it deviates from all that. Inbound Marketing, instead, draws people in. But with what, you might wonder. Well, with something as simple and relatively easy to produce: helpful content. Valuable information that your prospects may actually want or need.
Now you know what is Inbound Marketing and what makes Inbound Marketing different from the older and more annoying kind of marketing that the world has known. But despite having learned all that, you probably still aren’t sold on the concept. That’s alright, we love a discerning audience.
Still wondering why Inbound Marketing is the better marketing approach in this day and age?
Let us tell you why!
This strategy helps you draw people in. It works and succeeds in helping you generate leads, convert them into customers/clients, and over time, retain loyal customers/clients by becoming a producer of content that people can trust and rely on for helpful tips in solving their day to day problems.
Inbound Marketing is all about providing value first and earning customer/client trust and, surreptitiously, making people want to use your product or making them realize on their own that you have a solution to their existing problem.
Moreover, the success of this strategy relies on the proper implementation of the Inbound Methodology, which, as we have already established, is a methodology that’s carried out in three stages namely: Attract, Engage, Delight.
When done right, the Inbound Methodology helps you in growing your company through meaningful and lasting relationships you get to build with customers/clients. How do you build this?
With HELPFUL CONTENT.
At every stage of the Inbound Methodology, there are Inbound Marketing strategies that you can employ to draw people in and continuously build the reputation that you are someone whose tips and in depth content can be helpful to them, and that you are a brand they can trust.
In the Attract stage, you can make use of blogging, SEO, Social Publishing, paid search ads, and display advertising, among others. Notice how these are all avenues to reach customers, make them aware of your brand and what product or service you have, and provide them with content they would gladly consume without you being disruptive and instantly earning their ire.
In the Engage stage, you have your website, personalized emails, segmentation, marketing automation, lead nurturing, and communication over different social channels. By this stage they are already aware of your brand, you have already shown them, albeit surreptitiously, that they need the solution your brand provides. These engagement efforts from your end allow them to interact with you on their preferred hour and venue, be it emails or social media. In the process, customers don’t feel pressured to buy, but they are shown that they have a need and they can meet that need by availing your service, or purchasing your product. This is practically smooth selling.
Last, in the Delight stage, you assist customers in meeting whatever lofty aspirations and goals they may have, whichever stage they are in their journey. This is where Customer Loyalty programs, exclusive or member’s only content, customer reviews that strengthen customer regard for the brand, as well as fun prize giveaways across social media channels come in.
Inbound Marketing is basically an approach in marketing that appeals more to the new generation of consumers. It is one that draws people in with helpful content, and allows businesses that use this approach, to meet customers where they are in their buyer’s journey. It is helpful, respectful, and never disruptive.
So now you understand what is Inbound Marketing. And now you know what makes Inbound Marketing different, it incorporates the Inbound Principles, Buyer Personas, Buyer’s Journey, among others– the basic essentials of an Inbound Strategy, a strategy that helps you generate leads and eventually convert them into trusting customers/clients.
Determined to grow your business exponentially? Download our eBook and learn more tips on how to do Inbound Marketing right!