For those of us who live and breathe marketing every day we are all too familiar with the intricacies involved in formulating comprehensive inbound marketing strategies. We know that in order to be successful, you have to be more than just a specialist in one area of marketing and branding. Instead, you have to be a jack-of-all-trades with multiple skill sets in areas of writing, social media, search engine optimization (SEO), graphic design, website design, email marketing, pay-per-click (PPC), online form creators, Google Analytics, and the list goes on.
First, let’s define what inbound marketing is if you haven’t quite grasped the concept. According to Hubspot, the enterprise SaaS behind the movement, “Inbound marketing is a method of attracting, engaging, and delighting people to grow a business that provides value and builds trust. As technology shifts, inbound marketing guides an approach to doing business in a human and helpful way. Inbound marketing is a better way to market, a better way to sell, and a better way to serve your customers. Because when good-for-the-customer means good-for-the-business, your company can grow better over the long term.”
The methodology behind the term is quite simple. It’s comprised of three different stages: attract, engage, and delight. Here is Hubspot’s inbound marketing wheel:
We also put together a helpful infographic that visualizes this definition even further. Click here to see it.
How do I use inbound marketing for my business?
Often times when we work with clients on inbound marketing strategies, the conversation involves a discussion about specific tactics and priorities. Questions like what we are going to do, how we are going to do it, how often, what works best for specific business models, along with how to implement the proper functionality to generate online leads all come up at some point during the discussion.
Whether you are launching a brand new consulting business or looking for ways to revamp your current marketing for enterprise businesses, having a solid blueprint can make a huge difference in the speed and success at which you achieve growth. Here is the rough plan that we use here at Boldthink for our inbound marketing methodology.
Define Your Buyer Personas
When you know exactly who you are selling to, you can begin to understand their behaviors and what motivates them to buy. Start by researching and talking to your customers. If you need help, check out our persona blog.
Set Your Goals and Benchmarks
Having SMART goals can help you be sure that you’ll have tangible results to share at the end of your campaign. A few examples of what we typically measure in a given time are leads generated by the marketing offer, click through rates, cost per click, and landing page visits. These are just a few of the many metrics that are out there. So you’ll need to figure out what is most important for your business to monitor and measure.
Create Your Offer and Landing Page
Next, you’ll need to create your marketing offer. Think about various offers that you can do based on your buyer’s journey. This is where you may likely need some help from a designer that can design the look of the offer. You’ll also want to create a specific landing page with a unique URL that will allow you to monitor and measure the effectiveness of your campaign.
Use Automation and Nurture Flows
Most people fall short of ending the campaign once a marketing offer converts. But the truth is, it doesn’t stop there. You’ll want to follow up with other marketing campaigns and nurture leads through the sales funnel.
Write a Blog
Having a blog is a vital tool in inbound marketing. Use your blog as an opportunity to introduce your readers to the valuable content that they’ll find in your offer.
Share It on Social Media
Be sure to promote your blog and offer it through social media to drive traffic to the top of your inbound marketing funnel.
Track and Report
Now it’s time to see how your marketing campaign did. Analyze your results using metrics from Google Analytics (or whatever you’re currently using) to measure your success.
Need help with your inbound marketing strategy? Don’t hesitate to reach out to us with questions.
