The term “inbound marketing” originated on Hubspot years ago, but it’s still critical for marketers today. You earn the customer or consumer’s interest, often in a more targeted way, rather than blasting it to the masses via traditional marketing.
4 Phases in the Buying Process
There are 4 phases in the a typical buying process: (1) attract, (2) convert, (3) close, (4) delight. The first step involves attracting strangers to your website, turning them into visitors. Then, in turn, interested visitors are turned into leads. You then attempt to close those leads, turning them into customers. Keep customers happy, and they’ll promote for you.
Image Source: https://www.hubspot.com/inbound-marketing
Step 1: Attract
The best ways to attract new visitors include: blogging, SEO, and social media. Blogging will often be the first content a consumer sees – write something they’d be interested in. You’ll then use SEO and social media to amplify this content and attract new visitors.
Step 2: Convert
Create calls-to-action at the bottom of any blogging content; the CTA should be a form of customer information. You can also use contact forms as a gateway for special content, like whitepapers and webinars.
Step 3: Close
Staying in touch with leads and tracking where they are in the process helps you close. Email, for example, is a great way to keep your brand top-of-mind.
Step 4: Delight
Change your approach if they’ve already bought, provide any necessary after-purchase customer service – follow up, answer any questions. Also, adapt your messaging to fit their part of the customer journey. This way, they stay happy with your brand and don’t feel like nothing more than a sale.
Keys for Driving Web Traffic
Have your content go further with these important traffic drivers.
Email Marketing
Email marketing is an excellent traffic driver. You’ll need to create an attention-grabbing headline and use on-brand language throughout the body of the email. Want your marketing to go further? Then be sure to segment emails based on where customers are in the buyer journey. Read more on email marketing – Email Marketing Strategy in 2018 Part 1 & Part 2.
Pay-Per-Click or PPC
Some keywords are highly competitive and, as a result, difficult to rank for. Here, use PPC campaigns to attract customer attention. Do some research on what your customer wants to see, use that to create the ad, and then attempt to outbid your competitors.
Social Media
Further broadcast your content through social media. Content should be highly visual (video, photos) and scheduled during optimal days and times. Also, be sure to respond to any comments or messages swiftly.
Measure Your Performance
Make sure your inbound marketing tactics are working; here are the most important metrics to look out for.
Website User Experience
Ideally, when a consumer visits your website, they’ll click on to multiple other pages. If they leave after the first page, you’re not doing enough to keep them on your site.
Lead Conversion
Even if visitors seem to enjoy flipping through your site, how many of them are converting into lead registrations or sales? That should be the ultimate goal of all your marketing, to lead buyers to the next step.
Track Traffic Sources
If you’re getting ample leads from Google, but few from social media, then good job on your SEO! Try to figure what you’re doing right and keep doing it. As far as social media, try to find where you’re lacking and improve it.
Engagement Rate
How is the engagement rate on the post and the social media you broadcast it on? Are people sharing, commenting, and liking? If no one is responding to your content or helping you amplify it to the masses, then something needs to change.
Number of Inbound Links
How many high-quality sites are linking back to you? Inbound links are crucial to good SEO. Unfortunately, there’s no real shortcuts here. You need to create content that others want to share or reference.
Return-on-Investment (ROI)
Ultimately, is the money you’re investing in marketing less than the sales revenue you’re bringing in? If a particular channel is not producing a significant ROI, then either fix it or forget it.
4 Musts for Digital Marketing Excellence
Inbound marketing is great, but make sure your webpage is ready for it.
- Mobile-Optimized: Google will never let you rank if you’re not optimized for mobile, and why wouldn’t you be? Consumers are increasingly choosing mobile devices over desktops to do their research.
- SEO: Speaking of Google, make sure to practice good SEO all-around, otherwise your competitor’s will outrank you. More resources on SEO here.
- Content, Content, Content: Make sure to have a healthy supply of content and update it frequently.
- Secure Your Webpage (SSL/HTTPS): This not only keeps your customers safe, but you as well. Plus, Google cares about this factor as well.
Focus on the Customer Journey
The most important thing we can take from Hubspot is the customer journey. Keep this in mind and adapt your messaging accordingly. This allows your inbound marketing tactics to do the work for you and will result in success.
Read more about inbound marketing from Hubspot here.
