In this article I want to share the essentials of Inbound Marketing, so that it can be a base from which to start if you want to enter this exciting world.
What is the difference between Inbound Marketing and Traditional Marketing?
Unlike traditional marketing, inbound marketing doesn't require you to struggle to get the attention of potential customers. By creating content designed to address the problems and needs of your ideal customers, you'll attract qualified prospects and build trust and credibility for your brand/company.
The world has certainly changed significantly: people no longer live, work, shop or consume in the same way as they did a decade or two ago. However, some companies still pretend to market and sell as they did in 1999. People have radically changed the way they communicate and interact. The Internet and digital communications have managed to create a new space for conversation and, whether we like it or not, traditional marketing as we know it is very exhausted.
People are ignoring traditional marketing practices like phone calls or TV ads, as seen in this graph from Hubspot:
Traditional marketing is broken
Source: Hubspot
This is why it is important to find new strategies such as Inbound Marketing. Inbound Marketing is a more effective way to attract, connect and please customers.
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It's about offering value in a non-intrusive way, unlike traditional advertising. So consumers don't feel like the goal is to get sales. With inbound techniques, your clients come to you and with outbound techniques, you are the one who must find them. In the first case, the key is to create quality content; and, in the second, the budget .
The stages of the Inbound Marketing methodology
The Inbound methodology has four phases that we must consider:
Attract.
Convert.
Close.
Delight.
The Inbound Marketing methodology
Let's see the details of each phase below:
1) Attract:
To generate traffic to your website, you must use different resources such as content marketing , SEO techniques , social networks, PPC, etc. It is important that you do it according to a strategic plan to achieve results.
The idea behind inbound marketing isn’t to get every user to visit your website. Instead, it’s to strategically focus on attracting those who are most likely to become sales leads. And, ultimately, satisfied customers. How do you do that? Well, to get the attention of the right customers, you need to offer them relevant content at the right time—that is, when they’re looking for that particular content.
2) Convert:
Once you have successfully attracted gambling data taiwan quality visitors to your website, the next step is to convert them into sales opportunities. To do this, you need to start a conversation in the way that best suits them. For example, through messages, forms, or meetings. Once you are in a conversation with your visitors, it is time to answer all their questions and offer them content that is relevant and valuable for each of your buyer personas, and continue cultivating that communication.
3) Close:
Once you have your database, you must manage the records, integrate them with a CRM or with automation and lead nurturing tools. In this way, you can create an automated content flow adapted to the purchase cycle of your potential client; linked to lead scoring, which determines the right moment to convert them into a client.
4) Delight:
I always say that many people forget about this phase! Once you have acquired clients, you need to keep them. In this phase, you must keep them satisfied, offer them useful and interesting information (maybe unique to them) and take care of your potential promoters so that they can help you close sales from their recommendations.
Don't forget that coordination is very important to achieve sales through inbound marketing. Therefore, everything must be perfectly integrated. I always like to think that there is great synergy in all the elements that come into play in the methodology.
Some data produced by implementing inbound marketing (according to Hubspot)
It helps increase a company's marketing qualified leads (MQLs). In some cases, it multiplies them by 7.3 in one year and by 9.8 in two years.
A company's leads increase by 3.8 in one year and 14.7 in two years.
Increase in visits to the business website. Multiplying them by 4.7 in the first year and by 24.3 in two years.
In a typical inbound marketing project, it takes an average of 198 visits to generate 11 leads and 1 marketing qualified lead.
In an inbound marketing project, organic and direct channels together account for 65% of visits, 52% of registrations and 53% of marketing qualified leads.
Inbound marketing is effective for businesses in any industry. B2B companies experience a higher conversion rate from visits to registrations, and B2C companies show a higher increase in cumulative visits.
Inbound marketing is growing in Latin America. In this article we give you the key points of the study “State of Inbound 2018”.
Now it's your turn!
You already know the basics of the Inbound Marketing methodology. We know that there are many concepts and elements to coordinate, but everything can be learned! Something important: inbound marketing requires time and constant effort. But it will surely return positive results and, above all, will have an impact on the business. If you need help with your Inbound Marketing strategy, you already know that we are here ready and happy to accompany you.