Why inbound is the way forward
‘Inbound’ or ‘inbound marketing’ is the phrase that’s on most marketers’ lips these days. Unlike other marketing trends that are here one minute, and gone the next, inbound has been around for a while now and looks set to be sticking around for the foreseeable future.
But why is that? What is it about this particular marketing trend that’s so effective? And for those who haven’t ventured into the world of inbound just yet, what is it that they’re missing out on? This blog explains all.
Embracing the digital era
There’s no denying the fact that we live in a digital era. And it’s an era where today’s consumers are more digitally-switched on and savvy when it comes to doing their research and shopping than ever before. According to Smart Insights, more than 6 billion internet searches are made a day worldwide!
The creation of rapidly-improving technologies, coupled with the fact people have a wealth of information at their fingertips, thanks to the worldwide web, means traditional marketing methods are no longer achieving the cut-through they once used to.
This is because of a number of reasons, which include the fact people are busier than ever before and they’re being blasted with marketing messages from all online and offline directions, day in, day out. As a result, it’s increasingly difficult to capture their interest and sustain their attention.
Instead of marketing at people, inbound marketing markets to people by providing them with the right message at the right time. So, next time your target buyer’s in the market for your particular product or service, they’re more likely to come to you because you’re providing them with information that they actually need, not information that you think they might need.
Proactively engaging with customers
In this day and age, everybody’s on the go, and it’s a pace of life that shows no sign of slowing down. People are checking their emails on their phones as they flit from meeting-to-meeting, reading the main headlines of the day during their daily commute and making that must-have purchase on their laptop as they half-watch the TV at night. And that’s only a tiny glimpse of just how permanently switched on and accessible information is to people these days.
While today’s rapidly-evolving world may be great for today’s consumers, it’s a real challenge for marketers, as they strive to keep up with the fast pace. Gone are the days when you could simply send out an advert and wait for a response.
Inbound lead generation is all about being proactive. You create your relevant and highly-targeted content, work across all of your communications channels to nurture and educate your prospects and leads and consistently build an on-going customer base. It’s also important to note, that inbound doesn’t just focus on your prospects and leads, it concentrates on retaining your existing customer base too.
Delivering data-driven results
Inbound marketing is driven by data. And thanks to today’s digitally-minded consumers, there’s lots of it for marketers to leverage.
From gaining insight into people’s motivation for visiting your website, to seeing what they’re looking for in the likes of Google and monitoring which of your blog posts peak their interest or not, inbound thrives on data.
By taking and analysing this information, marketers can then review and refine their campaigns to ensure they build on the lessons learnt from their previous activity and are 100 per cent focused on hitting people with exactly what the need, when they need it.
Employing customer-focused tactics
As well as being incredibly proactive, inbound also keeps you focus on what matters most, implementing customer-focused tactics, otherwise, what’s the point of doing it?
The most effective inbound marketing campaigns are driven by metrics and buyer behaviour insight. Ideally, baseline performance measures should be established before any form of engagement starts. Performance should then be measured against the agreed goals and adjusted accordingly each month.
Over time, the continuous improvement aspect of inbound marketing starts to accelerate results. As more people subscribe to newsletters, blogs and follow social media channels, the true power of the machine that is inbound marketing, really starts to take effect.
