The enormous shift in marketing that has been brought on by the proliferation of websites, social media and the explosion of devices to access the internet. This has forever changed marketing and how customers behave. The shift to internet sales as part of a business development model is inevitable and inbound marketing plays a central role in that growth.
To help you wrap your head around the concept of inbound marketing – try this analogy on for size, traditional marketing and advertising is like looking for a needle in a haystack. Inbound marketing (done right) is like having the magnet that pulls the needle out of the haystack. Inbound Marketing is a phrase coined by Hubspot – a producer of an integrated all-in-one software solution which helps marketers make the most of all their inbound marketing tactics.
Look at any traditional media outlet and you will notice that the media has done everything it possibly can to prop up its channel with online resources. Every TV station, newspaper, and radio station worth its salt has a website and social media outposts to enhance the consumer and advertiser experience. Why? Because they know that the consumers have changed how they research, search for and evaluate products or services they need. The tide has turned – the largest percentage customer interactions now begin with an online encounter.
As a marketer, your willingness to put your customers at the center of your marketing efforts by making the commitment to understand who your customers are, what they want and need, and what questions they are asking will make your shift to inbound marketing much easier. The payoff will be a self-qualified prospect that you have “magnetically” drawn to you. Once you know who they are, how to reach them and what questions they have, you can begin the engagement that leads to sales, sales, and more sales. On top of that, with a fully implemented inbound marketing approach, tracking leads, testing messages, analyzing conversions to sales, and continuously improving product offerings will be a key part of your marketing mix leading to business growth.
To learn more about inbound marketing tactics you can find a list of inbound marketing elements here on my website. K.Donovan Consulting is an online marketing firm specializing in inbound marketing with a particular emphasis on content development.