Inbound Marketing – It’s Easier Than You Think
[ORGINALLY WRITTEN FOR AND PUBLISHED ON KEYMEDIASOLUTIONS.COM]
You’ve probably heard the term “Inbound Marketing.” You’ve seen the hub-bub about it in every marketing related resource you follow. But what’s the big deal? Why is Inbound Marketing so popular and how can you actually apply it to your business and marketing needs?
Hubspot explains Inbound Marketing as –
“Inbound marketing is focused on attracting customers through relevant and helpful content and adding value at every stage in your customer’s buying journey. With inbound marketing, potential customers find you through channels like blogs, search engines, and social media.”
That’s great and all, but it feels like a lot of buzz words shoved into a couple really long sentence. Let’s unpack what Inbound Marketing DOES and how you can start implementing it in your marketing strategy.
What is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound Marketing is a sales process and lead generation strategy aligned with the way consumers are interacting with and viewing media as a result of the digital era. Another way to say it is that Inbound Marketing is Consumer-Driven, or “Pull Marketing.”
Consider what made the “Mad Men” time in marketing so successful. They used what you could call traditional sales tactics, now categorized as Outbound Marketing. Think trade shows, seminars, cold calling, purchased email or phone number lists. In other words, Marketer-Driven, or “Push Marketing.”
Inbound Marketing is intentional. It’s strategic. And most importantly, it’s personal.
No more fighting for the attention of potential customers. Providing helpful information and resources to your audience and ideal customers guides qualified prospects right to your door step!
How Can You Use It?
Inbound Marketing is a subset of sales and lead generation techniques that resulted from consumers being bombarded with thousands of messages every day—most not even remotely relevant to their needs or desires. When your brand is focused on attracting new customers through relevant and helpful content, adding value at every stage of the buying journey, you’re using Inbound Marketing.
At KeyMedia Solutions, when we work with clients to develop digital strategies, we talk a lot about how consumers want relevant and personal content regardless of the platform they use to consume the content. It’s essential to the strategy that advertising technology, no matter how proven or how new, is paired with the right targeting, precise messaging, and impeccable timing to be effective.
Essentially, when you put the customer first, and give them what they want or need, YOU ARE USING INBOUND MARKETING.
Now that you know a little bit more about the buzz term, Inbound Marketing, and how you can implement it into your marketing strategy simply by putting yourself in your ideal customer’s shoes and taking a walk around the block. Similar to the way most marketing tactics work, Inbound Marketing can be most effective when it’s fully supported with its opposite, Outbound Marketing working parallel to create a well-rounded marketing strategy for your business.