There are a lot of assumptions out there about the best way to market. And there isn’t one right answer, so understanding how to craft your approach using multiple moving parts is key.
But, one principle has become fact: content must be tailored to your customers. Otherwise, you won’t convert leads, you won’t build brand awareness, and you won’t engage your audiences.
This is where inbound marketing steps in. Inbound is centered around the customer, what problems they’re experiencing, and what solutions they need. This is how you create better connections and drive business growth.
So how the heck does inbound marketing work? And what are the most common myths circulating about it?
Inbound marketing can be summarized as campaigns aimed to engage prospects or strangers and attract them to a brand’s products and services. It’s centered around content that excites target audiences and generates interest. The goal is for a lead to take the desired action, like making a purchase and becoming promoters of the brand.
Inbound encompasses the following:
These components require great content. More than that, the content you create must be optimized for SEO with keywords, anchor text, and tags; it must be well-written and engaging; and it must be relevant to the target audience.
Content marketing may include blog posts on the brand’s website, for example, and that content works in conjunction with the email newsletter and social media posts. In addition to copy, content may include images, infographics, videos, eBooks, white papers, and more.
We’ve talked about the flywheel marketing guide on our blog before: the marketing model that helps you generate leads and prospects and is self-sustaining. This is a crucial component of inbound marketing. It gives you the structure for attracting strangers, engaging and delighting customers, and turning them into brand promoters. When it really gets going with enough momentum, the flywheel drives business growth.
As you begin to create content on your inbound marketing journey, there is a lot of information to take in. We’re here to bust some of the most common inbound marketing myths.
It’s important to recognize that your first piece of content, say a social media post, will probably not in itself drive a purchase. It’s not so cut and dry with inbound marketing. That piece of content has to be part of your overall strategy that attempts to attract leads by providing valuable information that they are seeking, engage them, and then convert them.
While social media is a must-have component of your inbound strategy, it’s not enough on its own. In fact, posting on just one social platform is not enough. Your plan needs to encompass all the online resources available to you. The way you post on each outlet will depend on engagement numbers and audience preferences but remember that you’ll have several moving parts that create an overall strategy.
Content marketing is part of inbound marketing, but they are not one and the same. Content marketing is solely focused on creating relevant content for audiences, whereas inbound is the larger system that aims to attract and convert leads.
Again, SEO is a part of your inbound plan, but it’s not all. SEO helps you get better leads to your website and content through search using keywords, the right tags, links, and more. SEO enhances your online content so you can focus on engagement. But it’s just one piece of the inbound pie. It helps you drive traffic and build brand awareness.
Marketing priorities and trends do change over time. But there are a few reasons why inbound marketing isn’t temporary. Marketers have always been concerned with the customer journey, thinking of ways to attract their attention and convert. Inbound just gives you the tools to do this effectively. And because the world has moved digital, marketing may look different today, but these principles are here to stay.
It’s easy for brands to think that they can just create a checklist of things to do, and they’ll have a successful inbound marketing approach. But the inbound concept needs to be a mindset adopted across the company. It focuses on the customer and how they find information. What they care about. Ways that they become engaged and inspired.
So, there is no one size fits all approach. It’s about knowing how to manipulate each component of your strategy to work together to build attention and excitement around your products and services.
This takes lots of data analysis from your different outlets. Make sure you’re always tracking engagement metrics on social media, email, blog, and website to know which content excites your particular target audience. You can then make changes accordingly. It’s an ongoing system that will need constant attention and regular updating.
When you need a hand with your inbound marketing strategy, ContentBacon has your back. We offer a content subscription service, so you only pay for what you need. Our strategists help you create the right content plan based on your audience and goals, and our writers and editors deliver the quality content you need to start feeding your sales cycle.
Get in touch with ContentBacon today to learn how we help you increase traffic, generate more leads, and build brand authority.