In today’s over competitive scenario the “customer is the king” and reaching out to him is a must for any business to break even. However it is tough to find out a method of marketing which is not only effective but also achieves the target without much burden on the budget. While traditional marketing used less responsive methods like cold calling, advertising, and direct mail, inbound marketing uses a combination of various methods.
The only difference between the two however is that the customer response received to the latter is better. This also means that if you are able to finalize the perfect inbound marketing game plan it won’t be time before all your marketing goals become achievable.
Mentioned below are some essential tactics you can use for Strong Inbound Marketing Strategy Implementation.
1) SEO
Search engine optimization or SEO as it is fondly called is one of the tactic for strong Inbound Marketing Strategies. The success of the same however depends on the optimal utilization and placement of the keywords. While the aim of most marketers is to gain the first position in the search ranking the tricks they are using to do so may not be the correct ones. Below are mentioned five simple tips to get your webpage the much needed top ranking.
- Use of keywords strategically. Instead of opting for vague keywords try and pick up ones which are actually targeting the need of your customers.
- Avoid using duplicate content as it only harms your SEO ranking but you can also be pulled up for plagiarism.
- Focus on optimizing the in site elements like Meta descriptions and title tags. Go through those aspects of your website which might be your problem areas and fix the same accordingly.
- Concentrate on getting links of authoritative websites placed on your websites. More the number of links you are able to place more are the chances of your website ranking on the top.
- Social Media, Share the content regularly on social media handles. This may not contribute much to your SEO but would definitely bring in more traffic to your website.
2) Focusing on the content
Once you have gotten your website on board it is necessary that you have enough content for customers to come looking for. After your SEO is done and customers land on your web page the content should be such that the customer feels like having a look around. At times marketers think that if they are done with their content marketing then their inbound marketing strategy has been done. Though content is important but it is still only a part of your overall strategy. That the content should be engaging and able to keep them on the website is a given. There are multiple ways to do so.
- Creating a blog– Blogging and that too on something which the customer can identify with is necessary to attract new and retain the existing customers. Make sure you have interesting articles posted every day and for a better response, you can even link them to previous articles.
- Case studies– Getting existing customers to give their opinion of the brand helps the new ones to get a trusted source on which he can rely on.
- Guest blogging– Get your content published on renowned websites as a blogger and mention it on your website. Not only will it provide you strong link backs the fact that your content is being uploaded on such prestigious websites lends it a high level of credibility.
3) Landing pages help to increase your leads and sales
As an inbound marketer, you need to focus hard on your landing pages. The better they look, the more information you will get about your leads so that you can convert them into your customers. Landing pages should be short and should not have navigations.
If you don’t have a good landing page, it’s like going fishing without a net: you might land a big one on your hook, but you won’t be able to drag it into the boat.
4) Personal Branding
Many a websites and names have become successful only because they were able to create a strong brand value for themselves. Your brand should be strong enough to make the customer come back whenever he is looking for an answer to any doubt of his. He should be clear that you are the only source who can provide him the same information. This in turn leads to a certain level of brand loyalty which is the first step towards achieving success in your inbound marketing strategy plan. Here are some quick tips on how you can do so effectively.
- Place content which is totally relevant to your brand. This could include book reviews, presentations, Videos, podcasts, eBooks, news releases etc.
- Each morning take out 15 minutes of your time to place your shared content on relevant social media handles. Try to find out which ones work best for growth of your brand and place the same accordingly.
- Be updated with the latest trends and make sure to keep changing your offerings accordingly. You would not want your customers to get outdate information upon entering your website.
5) Influencer Marketing
In simple terms influencers are thought provokers, leaders and opinion holders who can easily convince your customer to reach out to you. The best way to do is contacting them through social media and letting your customers be a part of this discussion.
This though indirectly improves your reputation however using it for your benefit is something which you can understand in some time only. The tough part of implementation of this inbound marketing strategy is however finding the influencers whose opinion matters to your audience. Some tricks to be able to get the maximum out of this strategy.
- Provide them a mention on your social media handle or website. They would in turn retweet or share it on theirs which in turn would be beneficial for you.
- You can prepare an article and then mention their names in the background as indirect contributors. However do inform them that you are doing so as this would open new options for you to work together in future.
- Organizing a webinar or a small engagement between your customers and the influencers helps in bringing additional traffic. Try to keep the webinar reoccurring so that the regular customers keep coming back for more information.
Example
Naked Juice sought out this young, female influencer on Instagram to promote their product to similar “errand-running” and “project-planning” individuals.
6) Email marketing does work
A lot of marketers think email marketing doesn’t work but in actual a great number of customers buy sell products/products after reading their emails. So, in this way it should be counted as essential component of great inbound marketing strategy.
Patagonia
7) Google Adwords (Paid advertising)
When searching for a particular keyword your first few search results are generally paid ads. This tactic provides you with leads which are searching for a detail and may click on your landing page since it is at top of the list. While in SEO you have limited control over where your ads would finally appear the paid advertising ensures that you stay on top of the game.
Apart from that the fact that Google keeps changing its algorithms makes it difficult for any marketer to keep pace. In such a situation paid advertising gives you the choice to control your ad spend, target the mobile users, measure the ROI and even stop your ads during times it is not required.
This, however, does not mean that other inbound marketing tactics are not important and can be ignored. For maximum results, the trick is to achieve a balance between both SEO and paid advertising. Then only you would be able to get the best quality of leads in the least possible time.
8) Inbound marketing demands proper strategy
As inbound marketing comprises various aspects which cover email marketing, SMO, SMM, SEO just to name a few; so you need to make a strategy to avail leverage from it with keeping in mind all different aspect of inbound marketing at each level of the funnel.
9) Always try to turn your customers into your promoters
This is emphasizing the essentiality of the last step of the marketing funnel and i.e delighting your customers much that they will convert into your promoters. Provide them with informative and relevant content with their business so they can teach others and in this way promote your services and company’s name too.
Getting your customers to stay on your website and getting conversions is not easy as it seems. An inbound marketing plan is more about getting prospective customers to come in touch with you instead of you having to look out for them .
If you are among those who are still asking “ What is inbound marketing strategy” the usage of the above-mentioned tricks help vastly in achieving marketing success. This without having to devote huge amounts of money on the execution of the marketing plan. The scope of these techniques looks good and if most marketers are able to achieve a balance between all of them it won’t be much time before implementing any kind of marketing plan becomes super simple for them.