Many recent conversations I have partaken in revolve around inbound marketing and the differences between push (interruptive) marketing and pull (inbound) marketing. Out of those conversations, I have realized that people struggle to fully grasp inbound marketing, and often over complicate the process.
The inbound marketing methodology is a simple four step process.
Attract
Attract your potential customers to your website by generating quality content that is of interest to them. We live in the world of information, and people constantly turn to the internet to get answers. By generating content that helps educate your potential customers, you are building a level of trust with them that will cause them to return to you over and over. Promote this content to them within social media and email marketing.
Convert
With traffic coming to your website due to your content generation, it is time to capture leads by offering premium content to your viewers. Premium content tends to be slightly more advanced than what you publicly offer on your blog, and can be in the form of ebooks, whitepapers, infographics, checksheets, or videos. Throughout your blog, implement calls-to-action that attract viewers to the premium content and drives them to landing pages, where the offer is given to the viewer in exchange for simple information. Once they complete the form, they are directed to a thank you page where they gain access to the premium content, and a new lead was input into your system. Congrats!
Close
As time progresses, prospective customers in your system continue to interact with your content and digital marketing efforts. The more interaction that happens, the warmer the lead becomes. Oftentimes, a warm lead who has show continued interest in your company becomes an easy sell.
Delight
While gaining new customers is important, once someone becomes a customer does not mean the process is complete. It is now time to delight the customer and keep them happy. A happy customer means a loyal customer and a long relationship. Make sure to focus heavily on customer support and customer happiness. Evaluate every contact point with your company that a customer may have. Is it the best experience possible? If not, make it.
To learn more about inbound marketing, check out PayProMedia and HubSpot.
