Attract, Convert, Close, Delight

As the world of marketing progresses even further into the digital world, inbound marketing is quickly becoming the go-to approach to reach target audiences.

Inbound Marketing In a Nutshell

Inbound marketing attracts new leads by delivering relevant content to the digital spaces where your target audience spends the most time. Blogs, social media, and search engines are some of the most frequently used platforms for lead generation.

By creating relevant content that aligns with your target audience’s needs, inbound marketing attracts qualified leads, builds brand trust, and establishes credibility for your business.

The Inbound Methodology

Inbound marketing consists of four stages that represent the buyer’s journey; during each stage of the buyer’s journey, different digital platforms should be used to reach your audience (depending on where they are in the sales funnel). This is known as the “Inbound Methodology.” Below, we outline each stage to help you become a pro at inbound marketing.

(Image courtesy of Hubspot)

1. Attract

You don’t want just any traffic to your website—you want the right traffic. In the “attract” stage, the name of the game is to determine who your target audience is, understand where they spend the majority of their time online, and distribute useful content to those platforms.

2. Convert

Once you’ve attracted visitors to your website, obtain their contact information and convert them into leads. Offering visitors an incentive, like downloadable white papers or e-books, is an effective way to gain new leads.

3. Close

So, you’ve attracted visitors to your website and converted them into leads; now it’s time to convert the leads into customers. Direct your leads to the places on your website where they can purchase your products or services by sending emails with a call to action that points to the appropriate web page.

4. Delight

Inbound marketing doesn’t end at the sale—it continues by engaging with your customers for feedback on their purchase and the buying process, asking for reviews and testimonials, and providing promotional offers to facilitate repeat customers. Happy customers turn into happy promoters of your brand.

Inbound Marketing vs. Outbound Marketing

Outbound marketing, or “traditional marketing,” refers to marketing tactics that are initiated by the marketer with the purpose of spreading their message to a broad audience. Outbound marketing usually consists of newspaper ads, radio ads, TV commercials, email blasts to purchased lists, and cold calling. This type of marketing tends to focus on the marketer’s needs, rather than the audience’s needs.

While outbound strategies still work in 2017, there’s plenty of data to suggest that inbound marketing is where it’s at. Here are some statistics from Hubspot’s State of Inbound 2017 report:

• 46 percent of marketers say inbound marketing provides a higher ROI (return on investment), compared to 12 percent of marketers that say outbound marketing provides a higher ROI
• 59 percent of marketers say that inbound marketing strategies provide high-quality leads, compared to 16 percent of marketers in favor of outbound marketing strategies
• Inbound marketing-focused businesses experience 60-percent lower cost per lead than outbound-focused businesses

Ready To Get Started?

Just as Rome wasn’t built in a day, switching to an inbound marketing strategy is a process with several steps to ensure success. The good news is that we’re here to help! Contact us today to schedule a call with our inbound marketing experts and get your marketing strategies moving in the right direction.