If you own a business, then bringing in customers or clients is almost certainly one of your top goals. But how can you bring in those clients, especially if you’re working on a budget? One of your best options is implementing an inbound marketing strategy. Here are answers to the top questions you’re probably asking about this unfamiliar term:
- What Is Inbound Marketing, by Definition?
Inbound marketing is a relatively new term, being coined only a decade ago by HubSpot’s Brian Halligan. It refers to a group of activities commonly known as content marketing, including search engine optimization, social media marketing and the creation of blogs, podcasts, video, ebooks, newsletters and whitepapers. The goal of inbound marketing is to earn attention so that customers come to a business’ website — your website, ideally — of their own accord, rather than a business having to actively advertise and persuade customers to choose its services (the latter being referred to as outbound marketing).
- Why Should I Invest in Inbound Marketing?
The biggest advantage inbound Internet marketing offers is a very good return on investment when compared to most outbound marketing methods. Of course, inbound marketing strategies don’t work equally well for all kinds of business, but they offer particular advantages to small businesses that offer knowledge-based products or services. Inbound marketing is based largely on how consumers tend to research these products. First of all, they’ll type queries into search engines and look at only the top few results, which is why SEO matters so much. And second, they’re much more likely to trust and reach out to a business that has demonstrated expertise by creating informational material rather than just hawking its wares.
- How Should I Choose an Inbound Marketer?
The hardest part of inbound marketing, honestly, is choosing the right inbound marketing company. Inbound marketing services vary widely in quality, which can have a major impact on the end ROI. If you’re looking at various inbound marketers, the best thing you can do is choose one that balances out SEO concerns with end-user concerns. In other words, that means choosing an agency that will boost rankings enough that visitors click through to your website often, but will also create compelling enough content that those site visitors will be impressed and become customers.
Do you have any other questions or something to add about inbound marketing? Discuss in the comments.
