Updated: Aug 7
Inbound marketing gets its name from the fact that it draws the customer ‘in’ by providing useful content that resonates with a customer’s pain points – it lets customers and prospects find you, instead of you having to find them.
This is the opposite of traditional (or ‘outbound’ marketing), which involves throwing marketing activity ‘out’ there and hoping some of it results in customers.
In the UK and elsewhere, people have grown tired of being interrupted and don’t want this anymore. Inbound rejects the constant interruption, instead it encourages prospects to:
Visit the website
Pick up the phone
Ask for a meeting
Engage with social media conversations to find solutions to the challenges their business is experiencing
Have positive conversations about the brand
When any of the above takes place, social media will be working for you and should be judged on how it influences the channels that close. Because it acts as a gateway to bring customers down the consumer path.
Inbound marketing is a strategy that focuses on attracting customers, or leads, via company-created Internet content, thereby having potential customers come to the company. This type of marketing tries to make it easier for customers who are already actively looking for services and products via the Internet – before they ever find you – to find what a company can do to help.
You can be certain that before a decision is made to engage with a company, the company website, company LinkedIn page, an individual’s LinkedIn profile, and other digital platforms will be checked out online – and if the company’s digital presence appears to be neglected and isn’t speaking directly to the prospect, this will reflect on the perception of the service or product.
Taking steps to:
provide the right content (it should resonate with what your target audience wants today)
in the right place (digital platform your prospect is on)
at the right time (when your prospect’s challenge needs your solution)
……. makes your marketing messages relevant.
Examples of Inbound Marketing content and tactics include: blog posts | photos | infographics | videos and video messages | podcasts | webinars | SEO | social media marketing | white papers | e-newsletters.
What works best for you to catch your ideal client’s attention, is it any of the above-mentioned? Leave a comment so that we can learn from your experience.