You’ve seen the challenge. You may have been challenged or challenged others; but, what remains is a lasting impression of how one campaign raised over 3,500 times what the entire organization raised in the same timeframe last year. Not through the use of commercials, billboards, or unsolicited email blasts, but by effectively purposing the public to become spokespeople for their brand, was the ALS Association (among other ALS organizations) able to benefit from an inbound marketing campaign started by those affected by ALS.
As you may have noticed, companies and organizations are no longer relying on the pushy and impersonal methods of outbound marketing. Rather, with a focus on articulating a meaningful message to an engaged audience, the trend to inbound marketing is seen almost everywhere. Although developing effective inbound marketing initiatives such as the ALS campaign may sound like a daunting undertaking, following these 5 simple steps will help your business seamlessly implement a successful inbound marketing strategy.
1. Know Your Goals
Without pinpointing what you are good at, you will not be able to attract qualified traffic. Identify what you are selling, supporting, or servicing in order to create harmony with your target audience.
2. Identify Your Customer or Supporter
Use your Buyer Persona—or semi-fictional representation of your ideal customer—to understand what your audience is seeking, then educate them. In this digital age, leverage the 3.5 billion daily internet searches to drive qualified traffic to your brand.
3. Produce Great Content
Content, content, content. Become a thought leader in your industry by educating your audience with business blogs, social media sharing, and resources like eBooks and infographics. With the internet at their fingertips and motivation to research before every decision, 60% of a buyer’s decision is made before they speak to a sales representative. Let your ideal customer come to you on their search for a relevant answer.
By providing unbiased, educational content in your field of expertise, you can begin creating a relationship with your target audience. Take it a step further by personalizing the message through email campaigns that are centered on their preferences. If your audience considers you a trusted source of information, they are more likely be interested in more sales-actionable content such as a trial offer or demo.
4. Solve the Problem
You have educated, built a relationship, and created rapport with your customer. Now they know you can solve their problem or provide them with the product or service they are seeking.
5. Share Through Digital Platform
Allow your customer to become a champion of your brand. The social networks that your customer interacts with would rather hear a recommendation from their trusted connection than experience an aggressive marketing campaign from a random brand—so make sure you are satisfying your customer beyond just the sale. Doing so will built up loyalty and foster long-term advocacy.
Success Stories
When searching the term “goal setting” in Google, one of the first results appearing is Lululemon, the Vancouver-based athletic-wear company that provides a goal setting worksheet and tips on its blog. As a brand that is focused not only on providing consumers with the ideal clothing to take them on their next adventure, Lululemon seeks to be a resource for achieving a healthy way of life. Lululemon is driving traffic to the company blog (and website) by targeting individuals searching for better ways to create goals; people searching for more than the latest in yoga pants!
In the B2B world, Hubspot is recognized as one of the top marketing technology brands. Because of their dedication to constantly create relevant content, the company has become a trusted source for other businesses and those in the professional sphere. As the purveyor of the “Attract, Convert, Close, Delight” framework for inbound marketing, Hubspot knows a thing or two about successful inbound strategy.
Implementing inbound marketing may not look as easy as a wave of people throwing a bucket of icy water on their head; however, by becoming more than just a brand but a thought leader, you can leverage inbound marketing to achieve your business goals. Are you up for the challenge?
This article was originally published by SyneCore
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