Your small business can enjoy huge benefits from Inbound Marketing strategies. But what is Inbound Marketing, anyway? If you’ve heard the term and wondered, this post is for you. If you haven’t heard the term, now’s the time. Let’s go.
Outbound Marketing
First, let’s talk about what Inbound Marketing is not. Its not Outbound Marketing which is its opposite and something we are all familiar with. Stay with me.
Outbound Marketing is the traditional approach where you cast your net far and wide, but because your message could not possibly resonate with everyone, only a few prospects result. Think: television or print ads, cold calls, trade shows, email blasts, and so on. Unfortunately, people feel interrupted by these messages; in most cases the message relates to a problem they may not have or hits them at a time when they may not be interested in solving it.
To summarize, Outbound Marketing is broadly targeted, potentially expensive, and often off-putting to the majority subjected to it.
Inbound Marketing: The Better Way
What if you could get your message to those who need your product or services at the very time they are looking for something like it? Your message is relevant and sought-after; not an interruption. Sounds promising!
And it may be simpler than you think.
To begin taking an Inbound Marketing approach, you need to do the following:
- provide quality content on your website (e.g. blogs, case studies, eBooks),
- be findable on search engines, and
- be interactive with social media sites like Twitter, Google+, and Facebook.
Its an overly-simplistic set of steps, but you basically want to have the right message ready when people come looking for it. And further, you want to be prepared to answer questions and elaborate on your message as needed. In short, build trustworthy messages and establish deep relationships with prospects and customers.
If you build it, they will come; then they may buy.
Getting Started with Inbound Marketing
Inbound Marketing can start simply with a Blog and a Facebook Fan page. Any small business has the skills to do these—and they are FREE (other than your time).
Later, you could add videos on a YouTube channel or even podcasts. Videos and podcasts take a bit more skill and time, but are very doable and broaden the channels for your message. Aside from an initial investment in equipment, videos and podcasts are FREE also.
Remember, all this content is always available. 24/7. No paying for a radio or TV spot. No paying for a print ad.
Your Marketing Mix
I’m not saying you should ditch Outbound Marketing altogether, rather I’m suggesting that you may want to re-evaluate how much effort you put into both Outbound Marketing and Inbound Marketing. You are likely doing each already, but are your efforts correctly balanced?
The best way to know the answer is to get started and then measure your results. Each business is different. The right mix for your business may not match another business’ mix. That said, the suggestion here is to err on the side of Inbound Marketing.
Ready to get started?
{ 0 comments }
