This blog will walk you through you to the culture of inbound, and provide you with a big picture view of everything you need for a successful inbound strategy. So what of the first question that you may be asking yourself is why INBOUND?
To put things into perspective let’s look at traditional marketing and what it offers for a business:
In traditional marketing, companies focus on finding customers: Generally, they use techniques that are interruptive. These techniques could be anything from cold-calling, print advertising, TV commercials, and junk mail.
Technology is making these techniques less effective, impossible to track conversion, and more expensive. Caller ID blocks cold calls, DVR makes TV advertising less effective, and spam filters block mass emails. It’s still possible to get a message out using these channels, but it costs a lot more. So, Traditional marketing is interruptive and marketer-centric. The traditional way of doing things is convenient for the marketer because they can push content in people’s faces whenever they want, and even when those potential customers don’t want it. But it’s not an ideal experience for the user – the potential customer. Inbound marketing is the mirror version that. How? Keep on reading.
Inbound is a fundamental shift in the way we do marketing. An inbound methodology is not an interruption- based message where the marketer or salesperson had all the control, instead it’s about EMPOWERING potential customers.
The way it works:
- Instead of interrupting people day with television ads, they might create videos that potential customers want to see. Remember that one time you were looking for a quick solution to a problem like how to remove a stain from a brand new silk shirt? Or how to replace the battery in your mac yourself? Well, the inbound strategy will help you get placed on top search based on those queries.
- Instead of buying display ads in print publications, they could create a business blog that people would look forward to reading.
- instead of cold calling, they create useful content so that prospects can contact them when they want more information.
Inbound marketing focuses on placing you as the expert in your field, where the customer can find you when they need advice or information. It’s like having an expert by your side and you call them when you need them.