With the ever-expanding landscape of online marketing, you can’t afford to get left behind. Traditional marketing isn’t enough these days; you need to find a more effective way of engaging with customers.
You may have thought of inbound marketing as a ‘nice to have’, but in today’s cut-throat industry, it’s a necessity. Here’s why:
What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is the process of converting strangers into customers by providing them with high-quality content about your product or service. Inbound marketing uses ‘pull tactics’ to ensure your marketing efforts are picked up by the right customers—it attracts specific audiences looking for information, instead of targeting a large group of people with generic marketing messaging. People don’t want to be interrupted, they want to be informed.
More and more people are embracing inbound marketing
Inbound marketing has become the norm in the world of online marketing – clients and prospects want to be nurtured and educated throughout their buying journey. People are tired of being bombarded with endless information from marketers, which is why you need a strategic, solid marketing campaign to stand out from the crowd and gain recognition. This is where inbound marketing comes in. According to Media Town Marketing, 54% more leads are generated through inbound marketing tactics than traditional strategies.
Here are a few reasons why you should get behind inbound marketing:
It’s cost-efficient
The subtle, non-disruptive approach of inbound marketing generates more leads than any amount of TV or radio ads. According to this article on Purple Frog, inbound marketing generates three times more leads than traditional marketing and costs 62% less per lead. An effective Inbound marketing strategy leads to better Return on Investment (ROI) because there is less overhead cost. According to Hubspot, over 60% of companies have seen a visible traffic increase within just four months of switching to inbound.
It builds trust
Creating original, valuable content that is informative and professional shows your customers that you’re an expert in your field and earns their respect. And if a customer goes looking for you, it shows that they trust you as a company. Nurturing customers through inbound marketing is key to building rapport and eventually closing a deal.
It helps you reach more people
Since you can’t speak to each and every individual in your target market, you can get them to find your content through social media and, of course, trusty Google. This way, you can reach a bigger group of people and get them to come to you, rather than having to seek out customers with cold calls, radio ads and banner advertising. With inbound marketing, a lead’s interest is already there, which makes it easier to convert them into paying customers.
It’s immediate
We’re a society that craves instant results, and inbound marketing provides just that. If someone is looking for a solution online and they stumble upon your website while searching, they’ll have access to everything they need to know about that product. They’ll see you as a thought-leader because of your valuable content, and consider you more trustworthy and reliable as a result. This makes it easier for prospective customers to buy your product or use your service. According to Hubspot, 57% of businesses have acquired a customer through their company blog.
If you haven’t embraced inbound marketing yet, you’re living in the past. Consumers expect custom content for every stage of the buyer cycle they’re in. They don’t want a disruptive, sales-based approach. Smart marketers know that inbound marketing is the future, and businesses need to embrace it if they want to survive and thrive in the digital age.
Is your website your most powerful marketing tool? For more information on Inbound Marketing and lead generation, download our guide.
