Inbound marketing is a set of strategies focused on attracting and converting customers by creating valuable content and personalized experiences for them.

 

Unlike traditional marketing, inbound marketing makes use of content marketing, SEO, and social media strategies to reach your audience through online channels.

 

The digital transformation and the radical changes in consumer behavior have changed the rules of the game forever. Therefore, companies needed to innovate and create new ways to win and keep their customers. Inbound marketing came on the scene and has been a major revolution in the digital market.

 

How does the Inbound methodology work?

What makes Inbound Marketing so efficient and useful for companies of all kinds is its operation process. It is divided into 4 simple steps to understand:

 

Attract: the number one rule of online conversions is to get qualified traffic to your digital channels. Therefore, the first step of the Inbound methodology is to turn strangers into regular visitors by means of relevant content;

Convert: the goal of getting a large number of visitors is to convert as many of them as possible into leads, that is, to turn them into real sales opportunities;

Sell: after nurturing the generated leads by using more relevant content, you need to assess who is at the right stage and              close the sale;

Delight: the relationship with the customer does not end after the purchase. Now begins a new journey, which aims to delight the customer so that he becomes a brand promoter and attract more clients to your business.

 

The Inbound Marketing process is perfect for bringing content to the right people at the right time.

 

Now that you understand how the 4 steps work, we will show you in practice which strategies you can use in each method to engage consumers and help your company grow:

 

1. Attraction strategies

Do you think it would be advantageous for an establishment to attract anyone to use its services, even if these people have no interest in buying or consuming its products? Certainly not!

 

In the digital world it is the same way. It is not about attracting lots of visitors, but the right visitors, who have a real chance of resulting in a future sale.

 

Relevant and interesting content can ensure that leads become loyal customers attracted by your brand. Understand how to use some channels to your advantage:

 

– Content Marketing: content is one of the main tools of inbound marketing, acting in all stages of the funnel. Content marketing attracts, converts, and delights customers and potential customers. This strategy involves the creation of personas, keyword research, and several other factors;

– Blog: it is the main content production channel that a company can use in Inbound Marketing. All the materials created pass, in one way or another, through the blog;

– Website: if the blog “sells” the content, the website is the one that sells your real product. As they hear your message, visitors and leads will naturally be attracted to see what your company offers;

– Social Media: Social media, which includes both social networks and messaging applications, is key to spreading your content and strengthening your brand image with the public;

 

– SEO: Google is the most used source by people to search for products and ask questions. SEO makes your website easier to find and gets much more qualified traffic.

 

 

2. Conversion strategies

After attracting people and making them follow your company’s work, you need to convert them into leads, i.e. potential customers.

By strengthening this relationship with your audience, the time has come to apply a greater power of persuasion. The following tools are ideal for this:

– Landing pages: also known as conversion pages, they are designed to convince visitors to accept an offer (usually a high-quality free material) in exchange for personal information;

– Forms: the information the landing page asks for is filled out on forms. The way they are created makes a big difference in the conversion rate, so be careful to make filling them out easy and pleasant;

– Call to action (CTA): it is a call to action, a direct invitation for the visitor to accept the landing page offer and fill out the form. Keep a high contrast of the CTA with the other elements on the page;

 

3. Sales strategies

 

At this point you have attracted the right people, and have a promising path ahead. But you still need to turn them into buyers, which will require more knowledge of your persona.

 

See how important marketing and sales tools are at this stage of the process:

 

– Marketing automation: how to maintain the level of personalization when you have hundreds or even thousands of leads? The automation tools allow you to keep the relationship close to the leads and lead them through the funnel, even on a large scale.

 

– Email marketing: it is not enough to generate leads without doing a management job and keeping them interested in your brand. Email marketing is the perfect channel for this, since it allows you to stimulate the interest of the leads with practicality and high level

of personalization;

 

– Lead nurturing: the goal of email marketing is not only to entertain the leads, but lead them through the sales funnel. That’s what lead nurturing is for – email sequences designed to bring the lead closer to the purchase;

 

– Lead scoring: Not every lead is at the same moment. Some have just been generated, others are almost ready to buy, and still others have cooled down in your contact base. The lead scoring is a score that helps you know who deserves the priority of the sales team.

 

4. Enlistment strategies:

 

Closing the sale is the main goal of this whole Inbound Marketing strategy, but beyond that, at this moment you have the chance to turn this new customer into a lead promoter of your brand.

 

Offering a high-quality after-sales service will keep your customer satisfied and turn him into an advocate of your product/service.

Invest in the following practices to delight them:

 

– Customer Success: if the customer has achieved real results with the product they just bought, they will surely do it again, and will recommend everyone they can to do the same;

 

– Active Relationship: don’t forget your customers, and don’t let them forget your company. Send messages and relevant content on a regular basis to keep the relationship active. This can be done through social media and newsletter;

 

– Advanced content: offering top-of-funnel materials to active customers would be a waste of time. Create content specific to their needs, and show real concern. This will make them love your brand and be loyal to it.

 

After this super complete guide to what is Inbound Marketing, you are now ready to take your first steps. But if you want to deepen your knowledge and see the results of this type of strategy, contact us and get to know our services!