Attract More Customers With Inbound Marketing

Attract More Customers with Inbound Marketing  

Think about the last big purchase you made. Likely, your purchase started with a problem or need that you had. From there, you probably began to do a bit of research and compare your options. Lastly, the purchase was likely made online.  

The way we buy has changed drastically. Rarely do you meet door-to-door salespeople trying to sell you vacuums... in today's world, you notice that your old vacuum isn’t picking up your dog’s hair as it used to, so you’re in need of a new one. You begin researching your options online by Googling "best vacuums for pet hair". Before you know it, you're getting a Facebook Ad for a Dyson... That’s inbound marketing.  

What is Inbound Marketing?  

Inbound Marketing is a non-invasive form of marketing, that's based on providing the right content, to the right customers, at the right time. Instead of going to the customers, we let the customers find us. In today's market, buyers have all the power. They have more information about your product, industry, and competition than ever before. Inbound Marketing is a better way to market, sell and help your customers succeed. Because when your customers succeed, your business does too.  

Inbound Marketing is all about getting your customers to fall in love with you, so deeply that they become a part of your ongoing marketing machine. The goal of Inbound Marketing is to turn people who were once strangers to our company or product into promoters, the ones who are going to recommend us to everyone and anyone who will listen.  

Outbound Marketing vs. Inbound Marketing  

Our customers are having thousands of marketing messages thrown at them a day. It can be exhausting to sift through all that information. Traditional forms of advertising, also called outbound marketing, are these marketer-centric messages. Additional examples include commercials, billboards and print ads. These types of marketing are interruptive, non-targeted, it pushes the audience and sells. Meanwhile, Inbound Marketing is customer-centric, permissive and targeted. It pulls the audience, and it educates. Additional marketing tactics for Inbound Marketing include…  

• Social media  

• Pay-per-click ads  
• Search Engine Optimization 
• Influencer marketing  
• Press releases  
• Guest posting  

And when adding Inbound Marketing into your marketing strategy, consider creating the below content:  

• Blog posts 
• Videos 
• Ebooks & guides 
• Infographics 

• Podcasts 
• Segmented email lists  

Why Use Inbound Marketing 

The people you want as your customers are out there right now with questions. They’re looking to solve a specific problem or thinking of buying new things. Your product or service might be the answer, and with Inbound Marketing we can help them get there. Additionally, Inbound marketing allows you to empower your customers. It helps build a perception among your target audience that you're a thought leader in your field. Inbound Marketing is also the most natural and customer-centric way for people to learn about your brand and can perfectly complement your existing marketing strategy. 

 Here are five more reasons to use Inbound Marketing:  

1. Inbound Marketing helps create brand awareness - By regularly creating and distributing content, you can educate your customers about your brand and establish a firm, trustworthy impression in the minds of both potential and repeat customers. 
2. Inbound Marketing is cost-effective - Inbound marketing leads cost on average 61% less on average than outbound leads, while delivering 10 times more effective lead conversions than outbound leads. 
3. Inbound Marketing helps generate more leads - Because it’s easier to track and gain insights into inbound marketing, businesses can easily find out which content is working for them and increase their efforts accordingly. 
4. Inbound Marketing helps sync your team - Because inbound marketing content provides a solution for the needs of potential customers, input from the sales team is important. This helps to remove the barriers between sales and marketing and allows for better communication. 
5. Inbound Marketing creates permanent content - Unless you actively decide to remove it, the content that your business creates will remain online permanently. Traditional advertising campaigns end, meaning it’s difficult for these methods to remain memorable for potential customers. 

The Inbound Marketing Methodology  

The inbound methodology is the method of growing your business by building meaningful, lasting relationships with consumers, prospects, and customers. 

• Step 1: Attract - Draw in the right people with valuable content that establishes you as a thought leader with whom they want to engage. Use relevant content to attract users to your brand, like social media or blog posts. The goal is to help alleviate their pain points or challenges.  
• Step 2: Engage - Present insights and solutions that align with their pain points and goals, so they are more likely to buy from you. In the convert stage, your goal is to use more content to help the individual solve their problem while also gaining more information. Here, you want to communicate and deal with leads and customers in a way that makes them want to build long-term relationships with you. For example, having an easy to navigate websites or access to links on social media are key if you want a customer to convert and close in this stage.  
• Step 3: Delight - In the delight stage your goal is to continue to keep the customer engaged. Focus on helping them succeed by offering more solutions. Delighting inbound strategies ensure customers are happy, satisfied, and supported long after they make a purchase. Engage in social media listening in this stage and reward your customers for positive feedback like comments on posts or positive reviews online.  

Where can I learn more?  

In today's world, buyers have all the power, which is why Inbound Marketing is so important. This technique attracts customers by creating valuable content and experiences tailored to them, forming connections they are looking for and solving problems they already have. 

And that’s why at SWFL Inc. we created our Digital Marketing Courses, designed to give our region’s small businesses the tools they need to grow in an ever-changing world and give them the power to thrive.  

In SWFL Inc.’s upcoming Digital Marketing Course on Inbound Marketing, we will dive deeper into the basics of Inbound Marketing, why it’s important for your business and help you implement the Inbound Marketing methodology into your current marketing plan. To register, click here. 

If you’re unable to attend the upcoming course, sign up for SWFL Inc.’s Business Builders updates where we provide valuable information to our local businesses on the industry’s latest news and trends.