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Majorly all businesses have two goals; to provide service and to make a profit. There is no way a company can make a profit if they are not getting the right customers. So what better way do you have in making a profit than engaging prospective clients in a long term relationship? Most businesses still find Outbound Marketing useful for them, but the question is 'for how long?' Some other business owners even agree to the fact that online marketing will affect them positively, but they do not know how to go about it. Even with this, some businesses and their owners are refusing the benefits that come with implementing inbound marketing. The traditional method still has its seat; with people that always enjoy watching ads on TV and answering cold calls. But not in every case are they useful, according to a report from Harvard Business Review, they only work 9% of the time. So why settle for such a deal when you can harness a better one?
What is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound Marketing is often referred to as the 'attracting marketing method'. It involves using various strategies like content marketing like blogs, SEO, social media and many more to attract potential clients and create awareness for a business. The whole process begins with the customers themselves. They go online sourcing for a particular product or service, a business that offers the needed products and has inbound strategies in place gets noticed. This means the company has content online that is relevant to the search of the customer. Unlike the outbound strategy that tends to chase after potential customers, making it intrusive, inbound helps you in gaining the attention of customers making your company visible.
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Why is Inbound Marketing Important?
We live in a world where customers have changed how they get the information that they need. So why then will you as a business stay put when there is evolution going on in the marketing world? Buyers can quickly get whatever information they want online. Information like reviews on a product, the pricing, comparison, and specification are just at the tip of their fingers. The strength of inbound marketing lies in its ability to customers answers to their questions the moment they want it. This alone builds trust and establishes the brand, making it known. You may think this sound impossible, no it doesn't, and there is no better time to do it than now.
So after you have concluded on going into Inbound marketing, how do you implement it?
1. Identify your target audience. There is no way you can create contents that answer people's questions unless you know about them.
2. After you might have identifies your audience, you then need to set your goal. Are you doing this to increase sales are making money?
3. Pick your niche. This is what you want people to know you for, like a specific keyword that is unique to you. Then create your contents around this unique keyword.
4. Decide on the platform you want to use. Is it the blog, or the social media channels?
5. After doing these, do not just relax. Follow through with the progress, keeping track of each lead generated and converted.
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After giving insight into what Inbound Marketing is all about, here are the reason why it is crucial for your business growth:
1. Let us first make it clear that Inbound Marketing is cost-effective more than the conventional method. The truth is you will spend more on billboard and TV ads than you will spend on a social media campaign.
2. Another benefit is that of brand awareness. With inbound marketing, you can position yourself for customers to see. With a strategy like SEO, your contents get featured online for users that require the information you have to share about your products and services.
3. With the coverage you get after implementing SEO, your sites get featured on the first page of Search Engine Result Pages (SERP). Which, in turn, gives customers that assurance that your brand can be trusted.
4. As a business owner, loyalty means a lot to you, so also your customers. When you give them the right information when needed, you build a long-lasting relationship with them.
5. Blogging is also an effective strategy that is used in inbound marketing. With blogging, you can get your contents across to customers and potential ones too. It makes your brand more visible to customers.
6. With content marketing, the only relevant information is sorted out for the user. This does not give room for anyhow intrusive ads. This means you must ensure that all your contents are created with the mind-set of answering customer's questions.