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Thoughts on Inbound Marketing?

Ryan O'BlenessRyan O'Bleness administrator Posts: 1,137 Site Admin
edited October 2016 in Marketing
Hello, all.

I wanted to get the community's thoughts, opinions and insights on inbound marketing. I am looking into potential solutions regarding inbound marketing.

For those who don't know, inbound marketing is a marketing strategy focused on bringing potential customers to you, rather than fighting for their attention. It is all about creating and sharing your content. By creating content, inbound attracts quality prospects to your business and keeps them coming back for more. The process goes something like discovering potential customers, turning them into leads and then converting those leads into subscribers or purchasers of your products.

Some strategies for this include using mediums such as blogs, email blasts/newsletters, podcasts, videos, social media marketing and much more. It is a multi-channel strategy. Having highly optimized content is important, so make sure your SEO tactics are solid.

Community, is inbound marketing/using a funneling strategy the best way to go in terms of marketing efforts? If not, which strategy do you recommend?
Ryan O'Bleness
Community Manager
StartupNation, LLC

Comments

  • tinbugtootinbugtoo subscriber Posts: 12 Bronze Level Member
    I would like to know this one as well. I currently use an email marketing tool, but there seem to be so many different tools on the market right now that I don't know what combination of things works best. There are some that will follow users and change the content of your site to better serve them specifically, then there are some that use an interruption method of putting up a gateway to submit your email or you can't read any further...I don't know what the best way to capture and convert. Any info from experts in this area would be appreciated. Thanks!
  • Ryan O'BlenessRyan O'Bleness administrator Posts: 1,137 Site Admin
    Hi, Tinbugtoo:

    It's kind of incredible what technology can do these days. One-on-one personalization that changes the content of the site based on the current user's preference seems kind of like an invasion of privacy to me. With that said, marketers must follow the current trends, or they'll get lost in the shuffle. I get it; they must try out the most cutting-edge solutions, not only when tracking analytics, but also with their attraction and retention strategies -- unless they have the money, time and resources to create their own unique software solution.

    I agree with you about the abundance of marketing tools/platforms available. It is hard to choose one. Budget comes into play, too, which may deter you from making the correct decision. Sometimes I worry that it's all the same. There isn't much originality anymore. As I'm sure you know, and going back to point about marketers following the trends, it seems to me that it's a copycat field.

    I think whichever company can set itself apart, and has a history of results, a friendly user interface (easy to use) and great customer service, would be the best criteria to use when deciding which email marketing platform, or in my case inbound marketing company, to use. Also, you would want a platform with solid reporting tools.

    Again, inbound marketing is a new territory for me, so I'm willing to take all of the advice I can get!
    Ryan O'Bleness
    Community Manager
    StartupNation, LLC
  • drdurham888drdurham888 subscriber Posts: 6 Member
    Hi

    A good question.

    From my experience, marketing all depends on your specific business and the sector you're in. What works for one business may be a disaster in another.

    Whilst, this has always been true to some extent in marketing, it is even more important today given the dozens of marketing channels which are available.

    Inbound Marketing, in a general sense, is likely to apply to the majority of businesses today. Why? Well buyers actively look on the internet for solutions to their problems, in both their personal lives and in business. So, as a company, you have to consider how these people might find you.

    A couple of important insights I'd like to share are the concepts of Focus and Ecosystems:

    Focus:
    Get focused with your marketing efforts until you know what works for you. E.g. One product, one market, one marketing channel.

    And, the flip-side of this is, don't go chasing after the next new shinny marketing tactic. There is a cottage industry out there just waiting to take your dollars with the next big marketing thing you simply 'must have'.

    Ecosystem:
    With Inbound marketing, you're creating an ecosystem that allows potential buyers to get to know you. With that been said, it needs to be managed carefully, it may take some time before it shows any results in terms of sales and often it's very hard to measure its' benefits.

    Could go on and on with this one. Inbound marketing is a huge topic.
  • Ryan O'BlenessRyan O'Bleness administrator Posts: 1,137 Site Admin
    Thank you for your insights, David.

    Thinking about it as an ecosystem makes a lot of sense, actually. It is essentially a funneling strategy focused on moving potential customers/website visitors from one facet to the next, using strategies like persona mapping, click history (tracking by cookies), calls-to-action, etc. We also have to be on our game in showing the potential customers who we really are and converting leads.

    Focus is key, of course. We must determine what works best for our particular business in the small business space, and maybe do some A/B testing, and then move to campaigns and email blasts.

    You said you can go on about this topic, please feel free to -- that is what the community forums is all about!

    Also, I see you are a copywriter. I have done some copywriting myself, mostly freelance gigs. I think this thread relating to copywriting would be an interesting topic for you to contribute to:

    viewtopic.php?f=22&t=2186&utm_source=community&utm_medium=2186&utm_campaign=existing-post%20
    Ryan O'Bleness
    Community Manager
    StartupNation, LLC
  • drdurham888drdurham888 subscriber Posts: 6 Member
    Thanks for the link Ryan.
  • PhillipsPhillips subscriber Posts: 68 Bronze Level Member
    I would like to suggest you Email Marketing.It is very effective in terms of performance,cost-effectiveness ,effeciency, but among all it is more effective in generating leads.For this I use a software called Easysendy Pro which which helped me in sending bulk emails to generate good business leads with NO SPAM.It is low cost ($23) than any other email marketing tool and also gives you 2000 subscribers free for each month.
  • arjun123arjun123 subscriber Posts: 114 Silver Level Member
    Inbound is a method of attracting, engaging, and delighting people to grow a business that provides value and builds trust. As technology shifts, inbound guides an approach to doing business in a human and helpful way.Inbound is a better way to market, a better way to sell, and a better way to serve your customers.
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