Many businesses use elements of inbound marketing without outsourcing services. While it's possible to gain search engine visibility just from effective SEO techniques, an inbound marketing team can maximize your web presence by making sure it stays active on a daily basis. Here are ways that your company can benefit working with content professionals on your inbound marketing strategies.
Common Inbound Marketing Services
- Keyword analysis
- Lead scoring
- Blog creation and management
- Website design and content management
- Provide tools for multimedia
- Email management and campaigns
- Marketing with PPC, press releases and graphics
- Social media management
One of the many reasons that website owners outsource to third-party marketing teams is that they simply don't have time to manage all the factors required for web success. Many companies rely on inbound marketers to bring traffic and leads to their sites through the attraction of blogs or other useful content as part of their inbound marketing strategies.
Blogs have become an effective form of content marketing, if they contribute useful information to visitors and they are regularly updated with fresh perspectives. One way to build a blog following is to constantly share relevant new content through social media networks. Interactivity is part of the blog mystique, since it can create new relationships online between like-minded individuals. Cross-promotion is common between established bloggers, which benefits both parties.
Skilled bloggers understand the long list of factors that search engines use to rank web content. Usually the content that exhibits expertise, originality and value to society gets the more favorable results. Plenty of time must go into crafting quality content, since effortless fluff can get a website penalized by search engines. Therefore, an enormous amount of care must be put into content creation to ensure that it is using proper SEO techniques.
Building a Sales Funnel
The foundation of the inbound strategy is the fact that people use search engines to find content they seek. Many surfers trust Google to provide them with the fastest route to the types of web pages they want to explore. Even though there's no exact science involved with SEO success, it still works as a useful approach to gaining search engine visibility. Search engines want to serve the best possible content to people making queries.
Your sales funnel begins with your content. Think of the funnel representing wide content at the opening and specific content at the climax. It's best to start with a well-defined niche so that you can dominate with certain keyword phrases. Within that niche should be plenty of topics to write about, based on how your product or service provides solutions.
The content that attracts new visitors can be wide enough to include any topic you like that serves as an appropriate introduction to your brand. Visitors should be able to instantly find plenty of information about what you are offering upon arriving at your site. Your home page should be easy-to-understand and provide easy navigation to deeper content. This information should educate followers as much as possible, so that they associate you with being a thought leader on the topic.
Information pages can link to product pages where a simple form can generate surveys, leads and conversions. Part of the sales funnel needs to include a means for interactivity, whether through the phone, email, chat or social media. This interactivity is necessary for the encouragement of the consumer to make purchasing decisions after collecting a wealth of information from articles and blogs. Here are some of the keys to generating leads at the tail-end of the sales funnel:
- Compelling rich content
- Q&A pages that answer common questions
- Effective Call-To-Action (CTA) statements
- Quick easy-to-understand forms
- Communication with customers via various channels
- Posting customer reviews
Gaining a Competitive Edge
The four stages of effective inbound marketing used by HubSpot are 1) attract, 2) convert, 3) close and 4) delight. These stages can all be outsourced or done in-house, depending on available resources. The firm must understand SEO so that your content is designed to be found by both followers and search engines. The content must answer user questions and give them reasons to explore more deeply. Closing depends on the clarity and effectiveness of the technology used to interact with customers.
One of the most valuable tools used by content developers is email marketing software. Usually, a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) platform has built-in email marketing software, which is useful for distributing content to people who have requested information. The platform allows you to distribute a newsletter, which can be part of your sales funnel. Providing links to products in a regular newsletter has been a useful vehicle for adding online revenue streams to a business.
Video can make a big difference between you and your competitors if they don't offer videos to show on their sites. One of the best types of videos you can use is a customer testimonial or review of your product. Consumers feel more at ease buying a product after they've encountered reviews that confirm satisfaction. Video has a way of making communication more personal. It's also useful for product demonstrations, showcases and interviews. Transcribing videos contributes to your SEO strength.
Inbound marketers understand the competitive landscape, importance of lead generation and maintaining customers. A CRM platform allows you to keep profiles on customers so that you can study their purchasing history and communication history. It helps you spot which customers need more attention in order to maintain their loyalty. There are plenty of software tools that the best content developers invest in to give you an edge in website presentation quality.
Your business can achieve a competitive advantage by hiring inbound marketing services, especially if all your competitors are ignoring SEO. The service tools that consultants provide can give you the essential ingredients to business success. Not only does inbound marketing strategies cut costs, it helps keep your operation more organized and positioned for future growth.
