Inbound Marketing – What is it and why should you use it?

Digital Marketing is a constantly changing sector in which new concepts and methodologies emerge every two by three. That is Why I am sure that in the last few years you have heard constantly about the wonders of inbound Marketing. But what is Inbound Marketing? 

The concept was created in 2005 by Brian Hallingan, co-founder and CEO of Hubspot. However, it was years later coinciding with the publication of the book “Inbound Marketing: Get Found Using Google, Social Media, and Blogs« In 2009, when the term was popularized.

Inbound aims to move away from traditional marketing, which uses intrusive techniques and provides the user with information he has not requested. To do this, use the purchase of email lists, advertisements in the media, cold door, etc. This Marketing is no longer effective enough. On the one hand, consumers are too accustomed to advertising impacts and, at the same time, saturated by the vast amount of information. On the other hand, ancient techniques are increasingly expensive and less effective, and consumers have learned to avoid or block them. All This makes them no longer believe in advertising messages and with the emergence of new technologies have greater power of decision.

In the Face of this, the Inbound marketingIt is a methodology that combines several marketing techniques, based on the attraction of web traffic and the Marketing Automation, such as SEO, social networks, e-mailing or blogging. And among them, of course, is the Content Marketing, which is the most relevant technique.

Inbound Marketing is based on sharing and creating content to capture customers. But, not any kind of content, but Custom Content and to offer value to potential consumers. Brands must align the content they publish with the interests of their consumers and generate positive experiences. What purpose? Increase the number of visitors to a particular web, blog or social profile, and get them to register in order to end up becoming Leads.

When making an inbound marketing strategy we have to focus on providing value to our client and not exclusively in increasing sales, so it is necessary to take into account these two variables:

Buyer Persona:

Unlike traditional marketing, inbound aims to go to a very specific target. Before launching strategies, you must know who is your “Buyer person“As all your actions are going to focus on him. It is a semi-fictional representation of your ideal consumer based on socio-demographic variables, interests and behavior. To achieve this, three key actions must be carried out: research, identification of trends and creating a profile prototype. Don’t talk to the lot, talk to your ideal client!

Buyer Journey:

Every interaction your buyer has with your company should be categorized into the «Buyer Journey», the process by which a stranger becomes a loyal consumer. Users go through different stages when it comes to interacting with a company and you as a company should address them taking into account the stage in which they are. You Need to have content prepared for each stage. Instead of talking about top, middle or bottom in the conversion funnel, the buyer journey is divided into three stages: knowledge, consideration and decision.

What are the main keys to inbound marketing?

Content, context and distribution:

Create Content (blog, social media, podcasts, ebooks, etc.) designed for your target audience and answer your questions and needs. Has to be Optimized for SEO And you have to distribute it in your social profiles to get more viralization of content.

Multi-Channel and Multi-format:

Do Not focus on a single channel, use all that you think can host your target. Social networks are going to be our great ally to reach more people and also to share our content. Nor Do you ciñas to a single format, think of all the existing possibilities to attract your potential consumer, from Landing pages To ebooks.

Customization:

Once you have a base of Leads With your data, you can get to know your potential consumers better. This will allow you to personalize the messages to the fullest to send the content that users are really looking for and increase your selling possibilities.

Integration:

When you have created the content and published it, you have to go one step further and analyze how it is working through analytics and monitoring. Just like you have to analyze the types of leads you have and how to interact with them. Only then can you go polishing your strategy.

Finally, inbound marketing is based on 4 great pillars: Attract, Convert, Close and Fidelize. In each of these stages you have to use certain tools, although some of them can be useful in different stages.

Attract:

In the first stage you must attract “strangers” to your site and turn them into visitors. It’s not worth any traffic to your site, you need to capture the right traffic. We want those potential people to become our consumers. That is to say, our buyer person. The most important techniques to achieve this are blogging (keywords), optimized web site and social media.

Convert:

Once you’ve got new visitors, the next step is to turn them into leads by getting your contact information to generate a qualitydatabase. To Get this information you need to offer something in return, ie content: ebooks, whitepapers, presentations, etc. The most important techniques to use are the forms, the Calls to action and the landing pages.

Close:

Now that you’ve got the right leads, it’s time to transform them into consumers. The techniques you need to use for this are The Email marketing Combined with CRM To send the ideal information to the right leads at the right time. Not all leads are the same. Depending on the buyer journey phase in which they are located, the business opportunities will be higher or less. In This phase two techniques are essential to work the information related to the leads: the lead scoring and The lead nurturing, which will also help you get marketing automation.

Loyalty:

Once that “stranger” has become a consumer, you can’t forget him. You need to keep the customer satisfied. You have to retain it, making it an “evangelizer” of your brand, products or services. You can use surveys, social monitoring, etc.

In The following article I will explain more carefully the concepts of buyer person and buyer journey.