It's great to see your interest in pursuing sustainable growth with inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is one of the most effective ways to convert visitors into leads and then into customers, but it doesn't stop there, as referrals contribute significantly to business growth as well.
Since 2011, we have fully embraced this method and are 100% committed to inbound marketing.
Here you can discover the concept of inbound marketing, the strategies involved, and the techniques employed in this approach.
What is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is a methodology based on attracting attention through relevant and helpful content. This approach focuses on sparking the interest of target individuals or groups, encouraging them to reach out to you independently to establish a personal, trusting, and lasting relationship.
The concept of inbound marketing is a complex customer-oriented approach that is geared towards the needs of your target group. This approach, being natural, organic, and subtle, significantly increases the chances of visitors turning into high-quality leads and customers who will then refer you to others.
What is Outbound Marketing?
In outbound marketing, companies actively approach a broad and dispersed target group. The aim is to attract attention and get an immediate response. This includes utilizing communication methods like advertising, cold calling, and direct mail.
This form of marketing is frequently seen as intrusive and annoying, yet it can be effective in achieving short-term sales success.
What is the inbound methodology?
The inbound methodology is a strategic approach that aims to attract, engage and delight potential customers through valuable content and positive interactions. The concept relies on the notion that customers will naturally reach out to a company when they encounter pertinent information and solutions to their issues.
The inbound methodology consists of three stages:
1) Attract
Creating a clear vision of your ideal personas is an important element in identifying the pain points of your target customer. The goal is to provide the right content at the right time through search engine optimization (SEO) and social media.
This includes informative and understandable information on your website, details about your products or offers, blog articles, social media posts, videos, e-books, white papers and possibly also paid content promotion (advertising).
2) Engage
Provide your website visitors with the right information and service they seek and require to convert into your customers.
Optimal customer interaction requires a holistic communication concept covering customers' preferred times, contact methods and channels to encourage open and effective communication, as for example, online meetings, live chat and bots or an additional service channel on social media.
3) Delight
Inbound marketing focuses on delivering outstanding content and service to your prospects, leads, and customers, while keeping them updated on news or offers through dynamic content, social media, and trigger marketing, ensuring they remember your brand.
Inspiring people goes beyond making them happy. Help and support them whenever you can and turn them into advocates of your company.
A key component of inbound marketing is the flywheel, which describes the continuous process of customer loyalty and development. In contrast to traditional, linear models, which typically have a defined start and finish, the cycle model perceives the customer relationship as a continuous and evolving process.
This not only enhances customer satisfaction but also fosters organic growth through referrals and positive word of mouth.
The fundaments of a successful inbound marketing strategy
A successful inbound marketing strategy is based on a deep understanding of the target group and their needs. The first step in a successful inbound marketing strategy is the creation of detailed buyer personae. It is best to start with 2 - 3 personas. Next comes the depiction of the buyer's journey.
Buyer Persona
These are semi-fictional representations of your ideal customers. These are created using concrete data and plausible assumptions about demographic data, behavior, motivations and goals.
This means researching, analyzing and knowing and understanding existing customers.
The 3 steps to create a buyer persona:
- Conduct research, interviews, surveys
- Recognize trends, patterns and similarities
- Create a profile stories
Buyer's Journey
This is the active research process of a person on the way to a purchase. The better you know the person, the better you can provide the desired content and service.
These 3 phases are to be considered:
- „Awareness“ - The realization that there is a problem and that there is a solution
- „Consideration“ - Search for possible solutions
- „Decision“ - Purchase decision
As website visitors may arrive at your site during any of these phases, it's essential to have the appropriate content ready for each stage.
What tools are available for inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing uses a variety of marketing tools. The goal is to ensure that the buyer persona's journey is as smooth and enjoyable as possible, providing assistance, information, and functionality.
Website:
Your website forms the foundation for the communication and content of your inbound marketing strategy. It increases your brand awareness and provides information about your services or products.
Content:
Content in context - This is why you need informative and helpful content for your persona.
SEO:
Optimize content for search engines with specific (longtail) keywords and search terms for your services or products. In the same way, your website should be technically optimized so that search engines can access it easily and index the content accordingly.
Distribution and Social Media:
Distribute the right content via the right channels, at the right time for the right person.
Calls-to-Action (CTAs):
An effectively crafted CTA is tailored to your buyer persona and aligned with the stage in their journey that directs them to a unique offer.
Landing Pages:
A successful landing page focuses the reader's attention on a single objective: completing and submitting the form, while omitting a navigation menu.
Thank You Pages:
On this page, you will receive a thank you message, and if suitable, an extra offer may be presented. The website navigation will be restored.
Analytics:
Evaluate your marketing strategies to determine their effectiveness and areas for improvement, allowing for ongoing optimization.
Lead Nurturing:
Lead nurturing is the process of addressing a lead at the right time with further relevant information.
Follow-up Emails:
Once an action is completed, an email is sent to present an additional offer, update the current status, or serve as a reminder.
Pop-ups:
Pop-ups are particularly favored on specific pages like newsletters or blog subscriptions. Depending on their function or settings, they might only appear after a set time, during scrolling, or when exiting the page. Utilizing this option is recommended, as it also improves mobile loading times since they load later.
Live Chat and Bots:
Interaction and conversation in the now. Live chats can be found during normal business hours, while bots can be used around the clock.
Videos and Podcasts:
Engage your audience with video and audio content to increase lead generation. Use analytics to continuously enhance your strategy.
Inbound marketing is measurable
Some of the most important KPIs are:
- Number of website visitors
- Bounce rate and time spent on the website
- Website or CTA clicks
- Conversion rate from visits to form submissions (leads)
- Conversion rate of forms (leads) into Sales Qualified Leads (SQL)
- Conversion from SQL (Sales Qualified Lead) to customer
In some cases, you may not be able to track the number of generated leads as a direct result of your campaign, but you can track how many downloads your content has had, how long visitors have watched your video on average and how many new social media followers you have gained.
This approach allows for the gradual enhancement of your inbound marketing strategy.
Is inbound marketing suitable for every company?
The inbound marketing approach works for all companies in every industry!
It is also highly appealing to small and medium-sized businesses or start-ups, as the campaigns are tailored to your potential customers and are continuously evolving and adapting.
In order to successfully implement inbound marketing, a good understanding of your goals is crucial. You also need to continuously provide information, service and content that informs your ideal customers and meets their needs at every stage of the buyer's journey.
If you are not sure whether inbound is right for you, we will be happy to advise you.
Image source: Unsplash © Marc-Olivier Jodoin
