Cold calling and mass emails are dead (and not very effective anyway). Inbound marketing uses various digital marketing techniques to create valuable content that attracts customers to your brand.
You found this blog, didn’t you? That’s inbound marketing, whether you discovered this blog in an email, advertisement, Google search, or social media. No one contacted you out of the blue to say, “Hey, read this blog.”
While you’re here, review our guide on attracting customers like a magnet, or, how to succeed at inbound marketing using the best available methods.
Understanding Inbound Marketing Basics
At the heart of inbound marketing is engaging with potential customers by providing content that aligns with their interests and needs instead of cold-contacting them.
You’ll need to offer value upfront that can organically draw your audience to your brand. It hinges on the understanding that today’s consumers, B2C and B2B, are seeking solutions on their terms. They are more inclined to engage with a company that provides relevant, helpful information without the hard sell.
For example, someone wants to enjoy their home’s outdoor space more often. So, they’ll search for someone to install a deck for them. Which content will they find? Hopefully, the most relevant. Cost will be a massive factor in this decision, so they could start their search for “How much does a new deck cost?” If you’re a deck installation company, consider having a campaign dedicated to the cost of installing a new deck at someone’s home.
Inbound marketing leverages various channels such as paid advertising (yes, that’s part of inbound), blogs, search engines, social media platforms, and apps to distribute this content. When customers are ready to purchase, your brand is prepared to move forward with a sale.
Inbound marketing respects the customer’s journey while building trust and credibility by positioning your brand as a knowledgeable and helpful industry leader.
The Universal Funnel & AIDA
The four stages of inbound marketing encapsulate a strategic approach to drawing in, engaging, and maintaining customers. HubSpot calls this a flywheel because it’s a continuous process that keeps customers returning to your brand while building a more extensive customer base.
Another way to visualize inbound marketing is through the universal funnel, which starts over once you reach the bottom.
Big Pxl uses AIDA as the concept for designing inbound tactics:
- Attract/awareness/attention
- Interest
- Desire
- Action
- Retention (AIDA-R)
Initially, the attract/awareness/attention phase focuses on using high-quality content, including advertising and SEO strategies, to bring potential customers to your website. Purists would say that paid advertising is interruption marketing. However, paid advertising is part of inbound marketing because potential customers must show interest in a brand. You have to search for a new deck to receive ads about a deck.
So, paid advertising is absolutely an inbound marketing technique. You have much more control over it based on budget, audience, keywords, and other factors.
The value of your offerings and knowledge captures the interest of your target audience. What content does someone see when they click on the ad? Is it a 10% discount on the cost of a new deck? A free grill with your new deck? What messaging will maintain the potential customer’s interest?
The interest phase is where you want to show the customer the reward they get in exchange for someone’s name, email, or phone number.
Following this, the desire (or contact or convert) phase involves turning those visitors into leads. After inputting their contact information, the person reads a newsletter, clicks on a web page, downloads the guide, fills out a form, gets a quote, or follows through with a CTA.
Next is the action phase, where leads are transformed into paying customers. Tailored email sequences, CRM tools, and targeted messaging play critical roles here, making the buying process as smooth as possible.
Some buying cycles are short, like purchasing a cup of coffee. Other buying cycles, like installing a new deck, can take a few months. Generally, the more expensive the product or service, the longer the buying cycle.
If you want to take the AIDA funnel one step further, it’s the retention (or delight, as HubSpot calls it) phase. You create content that encourages repeat business and referrals. Personalized content, timely support, and engagement strategies are vital in building brand advocates.
This is how your customer base grows. When retaining customers, you start the AIDA funnel over. But this time, you create messaging that fosters returning customers rather than new ones. For a deck company, this might include emails, text messages, or even physical mailers with QR codes related to deck cleaning services or deck repairs after your customers start enjoying their new decks.
This deck company will also want SEO-rich pages and landing pages with these types of messages on them, too, to foster conversions for people who already have a deck built by another company.
Now you have a handle on the basics of inbound marketing. Next, we’ll get into the nuts and bolts.
Your Website Serves as Inbound Marketing HQ
When building a skyscraper, your foundation has to be solid. It starts with a website because your target audience has to see what you’re all about. What are your services? Is it clear what your company does? Where is your company located? What’s on the website?
Your website serves another purpose. You’ll need to create landing pages tailored to specific advertisements. For example, Google Ads will measure the ad’s relevancy and score your landing page. Landing pages should have the right messaging, relevant keywords, cohesive branding, and one or two CTAs. The idea is to get your relevant target audience to that page.
You can perform keyword and competitor research for organic searches to develop service and product pages that could rank higher in a Google search. Yes, we realize there are other search engines out there, and even AI is starting to lower Google’s panache in the online world.
However, the GoogleBot Overlords still have a 90% search engine market share worldwide. So, if your brand wants to be found, get good with Google.
Content Creation Is at the Heart of Inbound Marketing
High-quality, engaging content forms the heart of inbound marketing through which all campaigns are run. This material can be anything: visuals, webinars, infographics, blogs, service pages, product descriptions, live streams, forms, QR codes on physical mailers, or anything you use to market your brand.
Creating content that resonates deeply with your target audience necessitates a keen understanding of their challenges, preferences, and informational needs while showing them you’re an expert. You have to get in your target audience’s heads, hearts, and minds with buyer personas.
- Why are they searching for your products or services?
- What emotions lead to their buying decisions?
- What problems do your products or services solve?
For a new deck, they want to enjoy their outdoor space more, invite friends over, or spend more quality time with family. So, an appropriate message might say, “Install a new deck to create family memories every day.”
Aligning with your customers ensures that every piece of content captures attention and holds it, encouraging visitors to explore further what you have to offer. A strategic omnichannel approach to inbound marketing turns your brand into a consistent and constant source of valuable information.
Leveraging SEO for Inbound Success
SEO (search engine optimization) is the silent workhorse running a long race. Whereas Google Ads, social media ads, and social media posts offer instant gratification, SEO is a long-term plan that leads to better overall health for your inbound marketing.
SEO strategies, such as keyword research, site speed improvements, various content formats, and on-page optimizations, make your website more accessible to those actively seeking solutions your business provides.
You have a ready-made audience searching for you. You just have to be visible.
SEO is often a balancing act. You have to cater to the searches your target audience looks for while crafting unique content that stands out from the competition. For example, a deck installation company focuses solely on creating wood or composite decking. However, customers in their target market might also look for patio installation (patios differ from decks).
To foster this target audience, the deck installer might create content on the benefits of a deck vs. a patio. The deck installer might even go so far as to have a page recommending another contractor for patio installation.
When someone from your target audience lands on a page, make sure the conversion path is clear and above the fold, meaning someone doesn’t have to find a way to reach out to your team. Think about a phone number, email, or simple form submission.
Social Media’s Role in Attracting Customers
If SEO is the long game, social media is for quick hits. Carefully crafted posts are generally much shorter, yet they could resonate with your audience’s interests and challenges. The key here is to make an impression within the first 5 to 10 seconds to truly sharpen your message.
Social media also provides a way to interact directly with followers, answer questions, and build a community around your brand. The key to social media is authenticity. By being authentic, you’ll be more relatable to your audience.
For example, posting a simple image on Instagram showing a couple enjoying their new deck with their two young children alongside Grandma and Grandpa can create an emotional message. It’s not about the costs of a deck. This photo is about tugging on the emotions of making memories with their parents and kids. Does that family want that lifestyle? You bet they do.
Powerful Landing Pages Convert Visitors Into Leads
Landing pages are instrumental in converting curious website visitors into actionable leads. We distinguish between web pages and landing pages, even though many people use the terms synonymously. Landing pages have a singular purpose: converting leads by encouraging them to take a desired action.
Conversion points might include:
- Clickable phone number
- Clickable email
- Sign up for a newsletter
- Download a white paper or gated content
- Watch a video
- Sign up for a webinar
- Make an appointment
- Request a quote
- Request a demo
The effectiveness of a landing page hinges on its ability to speak directly to the visitor’s interest or need that brought them there in the first place. By offering value in exchange for contact information, landing pages serve as the critical link between initial interest and the potential for a deeper engagement.
For example, an advertisement about installing a new deck would be served on a different landing page for someone who needs deck repairs. Therefore, you’ll need two different messages and two different types of content.
Crafting a compelling landing page involves more than just a well-placed call to action. Persuasive copy, attractive design, and a seamless user experience are must-haves. Each element, from the headline to the form fields, must be optimized to minimize friction and encourage completion.
A/B testing different elements and continuously refining the page based on user feedback and analytics help you create targeted messaging and a conversion machine.
Nurturing Leads Into Customers
The journey from capturing leads to transforming them into paying customers requires a careful, strategic approach to nurturing. Again, the higher the price of your products or services, the longer the buying cycle can become. Content and nurture campaigns can also be more complex.
Nurturing could include personalized emails that offer valuable insights and solutions, directly addressing the problems or needs that led them to your brand in the first place. Timely follow-ups and providing interactive content, such as webinars or exclusive access to tools, can further educate and engage your audience. This is where integrating a robust CRM like HubSpot comes into play.
Delighting & Retaining Customers for Long-Term Success
Creating memorable experiences that exceed expectations is the cornerstone of delighting customers, securing their loyalty, and encouraging them to become vocal advocates for your brand. They’ll buy more products or services in the future. This phase involves consistent engagement and support after making a purchase to ensure customers feel valued and important.
Personalized email follow-ups, customer appreciation events, and access to exclusive content can play a significant role in this process. Just like the nurturing of leads, re-engagement can be automated and continually refined until you hit the sweet spot for conversions.
Measuring Your Inbound Marketing ROI
To effectively assess the impact of your inbound marketing initiatives, it’s crucial to keep a keen eye on specific performance indicators that reflect the health and efficiency of your strategy. Metrics, such as the volume of organic traffic to your site, the rate at which visitors convert into leads, and ultimately, how those leads convert into paying customers, are pivotal when assessing how well your campaigns perform.
Additionally, tracking the engagement levels on your content, including shares, comments, and time spent on a page, offers insights into how well your material resonates with your audience. Monitoring the performance of email marketing campaigns through open and click-through rates and analyzing social media growth and engagement metrics can further illuminate the effectiveness of your approach.
Knowing these metrics can lead to further refinement as you better understand your actual customers. The more data you receive on your customers, the more refined and targeted your efforts will be.
How HubSpot Powers Your Inbound Marketing Strategy
HubSpot is the premier CRM for inbound marketing, offering a comprehensive suite of tools designed to enhance every facet of your strategy. Its tracking is unmatched. The platform has everything you need to turn leads into conversions, including tracking how much revenue a campaign brings your company. The content management system (CMS) lets you post and create content on a website while integrating forms, CTAs, and everything you need to run whatever campaigns you want.
HubSpot’s integration capabilities mean it can work harmoniously with other tools in your marketing stack, including HotJar, Google, social media platforms, event platforms, live chat, and hundreds of different programs.
We’ve seen a lot of CRMs. Nothing compares to HubSpot. We admit it’s pricey, but you get what you pay for. Can your marketing efforts afford anything less than the best?
Ready for Some Data-Driven Inbound Marketing?
BigPxl can help you build a successful inbound marketing campaign the right way from Day One. Contact us or call (417) 799-2233 for a customized consultation!
