Inbound marketing or inbound marketing is a strategy that is widely used these days. It's an incredible method to attract new customers, with almost nothing to do... except brilliant content marketing. Because thanks to inbound marketing, your salespeople no longer have to canvass customers, it's your prospects who come directly to you. What exactly is inbound marketing? How to implement such a marketing method? Here are a few tips.
What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is a web-based marketing discipline that aims to voluntarily attract potential customers through interesting and useful content, instead of imposing itself on them with annoying advertising messages as before. The term inbound marketing dates back to the two founders of HubSpot, Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, who in 2006 formalized this principle of inbound marketing which is primarily a digital lead generation tool. This term is now used by all marketing professionals who put it at the center of their strategies. Inbound marketing is based on both respect and transparency in customer relations, a controlled and profitable investment in the long term, which suggests that it still has many good years ahead of it.
Inbound marketing versus outbound marketing
Inbound marketing or inbound marketing differs from traditional outbound marketing or outbound marketing essentially by the fact that the customer approaches a company voluntarily and on his own as soon as he discovers a need. He then finds suitable providers, for example because he arrived at the corresponding website during his search via Google and found the content offered useful. Or because he learned about a company through an interesting post on social media. In the case of outbound marketing, companies instead try to actively entice customers, such as through phone calls, TV ads, billboards, print ads, flyers, etc. Because' it generally interrupts recipients in another activity, this is generally referred to as "interruption marketing". The goal of outbound marketing is almost always to achieve the greatest possible reach through advertising messages. Thanks to a greater mass of advertising recipients, one hopes to find customers for one's own offer. However, since many outbound marketing methods do not target specific target groups, the loss of circulation is all the greater here. This is because most consumers who see your ad currently have no need for your products. You can still use outbound marketing to grab the attention of potential customers. Compared to inbound marketing, however, it
Benefits of inbound marketing
If you compare inbound marketing to traditional advertising methods, the advantages are obvious:
Better targeting
With inbound marketing or inbound marketing, you reach consumers who have already expressed a concrete interest in your products or services. Targeted content makes it easier for you to attract people with a strong intention to buy, instead of advertising in a vacuum like with outbound or outbound marketing. This helps minimize waste, ensure qualified leads and reduce unnecessary advertising costs.
Measurable results
With the right analysis and monitoring tools, the effects and successes of the inbound marketing method can be measured at any time. On the other hand, in the case of classic campaigns such as the distribution of leaflets, it is difficult to assess how many recipients have found the leaflet interesting, how many have thrown it in the trash without reading it and how many new customers you have been able to win with this flyer. With inbound marketing, you can see exactly what content is being read and what “path” your customer takes, from first contact to purchase. This provides important insights into the buying behavior and needs of your target group, which you can use to further optimize your content.
Cost efficiency
New customers and prospects obtained through inbound marketing or inbound marketing are much cheaper than contacts established through traditional outbound marketing. This makes inbound marketing significantly more profitable than outbound marketing.
A lasting success
Investing in inbound marketing brings you lasting success. Indeed, once you have created quality content, it will continue to attract potential buyers to your offer for many years to come.
Expert status
With useful and quality content, you provide added value to users and prove your expertise, which builds trust in your brand. Inbound marketing therefore helps you gain expert status in your field of activity through quality content. This not only guarantees appreciation and recognition from your customers, but also from your competitors and other experts in your field. Gradually, you will become an authority that is difficult to replace.
What are the goals of inbound marketing?
As with outbound marketing or outbound marketing, inbound marketing has the ultimate goal of increasing sales. However, the way to achieve this is much more customer-oriented, which achieves many other goals:
- Generate new customers and leads
- Increase your turnover
- Build long-term relationships with your customers
- Build your brand image
- Increase your brand awareness
- Obtain expert status
Inbound marketing tools
What is inbound marketing based on?
Content Marketing
Content marketing is at the heart of any inbound marketing strategy: it is the driving force behind it. Indeed, inbound marketing cannot work without good, targeted content. You will take your prospect far in their sales journey if you adapt your content perfectly.
Search Engine Optimization
Optimizing a website for search engines is essential to the success of your inbound marketing. Indeed, most people's research process begins with search engines such as Google. Ranking well in Google for relevant search terms is therefore a great way to easily attract qualified visitors to your website.
Social media
It is often links on social networks that bring interested people to your website. Inbound marketing therefore also uses the power of social media to virally spread valuable content, engage with prospects, and put a face to a brand. Inbound marketing aims to turn fans into loyal customers and valuable brand ambassadors. If you opt for social media, focus primarily on the social networks where your target audience is actually active.
Blogging
An active and quality blog allows you to gain visibility on the Internet. On the one hand, your website will appear more frequently for various search queries on Google, and on the other hand, the likelihood that particularly interesting blog posts will appear and create buzz increases. This attracts even more visitors to your website, which you can turn into new customers and prospects. To unlock the full potential of inbound marketing, your blog posts should be as informative and useful as possible so that your readers can derive added value from them. Focus on blog topics that interest your target group and answer potential questions in a relevant way.
Public Relations (PR)
At first glance, public relations (PR) and inbound marketing don't have much in common. However, good public relations can improve your brand authority and therefore your image. And the better your image, the more valuable the content offered by inbound marketing or inbound marketing. Public relations is therefore a great way to provide additional support to the inbound marketing process.
E-mailing
One of the main objectives of inbound marketing or inbound marketing is to collect contact data from your prospects in order to convert them into customers. The most common contact information that users leave online is their email address. For example, to register for a newsletter or a demo version. Collecting email addresses is extremely valuable in inbound marketing because it allows you to reconnect with potential buyers at any time. Emails or newsletters are therefore a great way to remind your prospects and encourage them to visit your website again. Of course, e-mail addresses should not be misused for purely advertising purposes. L'
Top comments (0)