The essence of marketing is one thing and one thing only, value creation. It’s not the gimmicks, the forced innuendos (which apparently are jokes), or the charlatan promise. It is simply value creation. Inbound marketing in simple terms is the digital way of helping your customers find you.
Give value, get valued. This is the core philosophy behind Inbound marketing. As the name suggests, this is the form of marketing that focuses on pulling your customers towards you rather than going out there to acquire them. Due to the advancement of digital platforms and social media, inbound marketing has become a full-stack solution for business growth.
In brief, inbound marketing is all about:
- Having a long-term system for lead generation through a database of specific and targetted content with regenerative value.
- Drawing in the people who need you as much you need them.
- Educating your customers rather than providing them a product/service.
Here are 4 inbound marketing examples which will help you grow your business:
Now that we know what purpose inbound marketing serves, let’s try to understand the basics involved in its process:
Attract your audience
As stated before, inbound marketing is all about making your customers come to you. They’ll only come to you if you have something of value that attracts them to you. Here, in this case, the most valuable asset in attracting your audience is your content. According to the Demand Gen Report,”47% of the buyers view 3 to 5 pieces of content before deciding to communicate with the organization.”The content has to be focused, specific, and targeted with the essence of providing a sought-after solution. Tools at your disposal are videos, blogs, social media, ads, etc. Your content is valuable when it doe the following
- Educates your customers with something they are interested in.
- Solves a problem that they are facing.
- Available to them at the right place and at the right time.
Convert them to prospects
Once you have attracted the right audience by the compelling content you have devised, your next task is to make these visitors/viewers into leads. Have a landing page where visitors can sign up for your newsletter, strategically placed Call-to-Action buttons on your website that lead your visitors to a contact form. All in all, once they have expressed their interest in your content by providing their contact info they have become leads. Leads you did not go hankering after but acquired through providing value.
Connect with your crowd
This is the part where you as a part of your business play the most humanizing aspect in the whole process. Engage with your customers. They have come to you have provided them value. It is your duty to engage with them, build a connection with them. Proper engaging with customers will lead to gaining their trust. Their trust means you will be at the ned of some positive referrals and word-of-mouth.
“71% of consumers who have had a positive experience with a brand on social media are likely to recommend that brand to their friends and family”
Tools at your disposal are:
- Email marketing
- Conversational bots
- Marketing automation
Deliver to delight
Once you’re at this phase of the journey with your customer, it is time to deliver. This is mainly done by selling the solution to your customers because they feel you are the right person to help them through it. Chatbots, surveys, and collecting feedback are also some of the foolproof ways to delight your customer. One crucial thing that must be reiterated is that you and your team must be ready to help your customer at any point in time within your expertise. Use social media presence as a way to evoke your customers’ response in knowing their experience, problems, and thoughts regarding relevant matters.
Understand that, inbound marketing is a process that takes time and works best in a simultaneous manner. Now, that you are equipped with the basics, get started on your own inbound marketing plan.
