What is inbound marketing and how does it differ from outbound marketing?
To help you better understand what inbound marketing strategies are and what they do, let us first define their opposite. When you receive a 'cold call' from a telemarketer or get a knock on your door from a knife salesperson, this is outbound marketing. This kind of marketing is not only ineffective, but it is also difficult to track its return on investment or optimize the approach.
Inbound marketing, on the other hand, uses internet marketing strategies to get customers to come to you, doing so by earning the attention of users through meaningful content and other inbound marketing tools.
What makes for an effective inbound marketing campaign?
Since inbound marketing is all about getting the attention of your customers to bring them in, this means that good content is always the most important thing. Inbound marketing strategies utilize digital marketing strategies such as SEO (search engine optimization), and PPC (pay per click). Almost half of all online shoppers begin their buying process using a search engine, such as Google; there has never been a better time to utilize SEO strategies. For SEO, it's important to analyze the keywords that your business and competitors use and rank on for Google, and to incorporate those keywords into your content. While SEO is important, you should always aim to create content that grabs the attention of your audience, is thought provoking, and leaves them waiting for the next post, video, or whatever you choose to put out there.
What kinds of content can my company use to drive more traffic to my website?
When it comes to content, your company should use a plethora of mediums to communicate important news, updates, and musings relevant to your field. One great way to do so is via social networking. In a recent survey, about 51% of the survey respondents reported that they interact with their favorite brands and build further brand trust through social media. And when it comes to social media sites, it has been reported that interesting content is one of the top three reasons customers follow retailers' social media sites. Other effective means of generating content are through blog posts, videos, podcasts, guest blog posts, and webinars. When you create this kind of content, you can then continue by sharing it via your established social media outlets.
When will I start to see results?
Effective inbound marketing strategies do not manifest into results overnight. Rather, it takes a turnover rate of at least 90 days (three months) to really start seeing any results. The key to a successful inbound marketing strategy is producing consistent, quality content and vigilant monitoring through tools like Google Analytics, and by making sure that your site and content cater to the most important thing: your audience.
