When overwhelmed, people tend to tune out irrelevant input. They also react badly to being interrupted. Yet that is what some companies continue to do in the effort to acquire customers. In the hope that something will get someone’s attention, the marketing department uses a fire hose to drown every channel in advertising.
In other words, classic outbound marketing. Also known as interruption marketing, outbound marketing has been the practice for quite some time, and legitimately so when there were no good methods of tracking what marketing was successfully converting customers to buyers and what was turning them off. In today’s digital world, that is no longer true. Not only can everything be measured, it is much easier for the public to turn off the deluge.
Inbound marketing changes this dynamic. Rather than trying to grab everyone’s attention, you can instead invite select people into your world with the promise that what you have to say is of great relevance to them, allowing those who aren’t interested to, very simply, not be bothered.
Inbound marketing allows you to tightly target your marketing efforts to your most qualified and desirable customers. You become a trusted resource of relevant information that your customer’s want to visit time and time again; one who can answer any questions about your industry, products, and services without pressure to buy.
According to research from companies like Aberdeen and Forrester, inbound marketing doesn’t just bring in a higher quality customer; it saves money as well, as much as 62% less than traditional outbound marketing. When you take into account the high percentages of people who skip commercials, throw out direct mail unopened, and even opting out of a favorite website due to intrusive advertising, the possibility for a better revenue stream is even more striking.
What are the tools of inbound marketing?
- Social media, including a dependably updated blog; interactions on Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook; participation in industry forums; and other social outlets.
- White papers, articles, e-books, podcasts, video, and infographics.
- Targeted email, landing pages, and relevant offers.
In other words, content marketing — great content that fits your targeted customers like a tailored suit. And the more interaction you have, the better you will know your customers. You can quickly and easily tweak content to more closely align with their needs and desires. You can develop a marketing funnel with specialized content for each segment in the buying cycle. All leading to higher conversion rates, more qualified traffic, and greater customer loyalty while driving higher revenues and lowering your marketing costs.
Contact us to learn more about how inbound marketing can work for your business.
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