It’s no secret that consumer behavior has shifted in recent years. Now, more than ever, we live in a world of convenience and disconnect. We live in a world where more conversations are held through Snapchat than they are in person, where Dominos can be delivered by texting a pizza emoji, and where groceries are delivered in the hopes of avoiding a friendly encounter with a cashier. Now, you may be wondering how the hell this applies to your business and marketing efforts. Frankly, it comes down to the simple fact that people don’t want to be bothered. Consumers want to seek out information on their own. They don’t want a salesman calling and force-feeding them information about products and services that they aren’t interested in. This is where inbound marketing comes into play.
What is Inbound Marketing?
Although it has been around for almost a decade, in recent years, inbound marketing has begun to gain significant traction in the marketing world. With a foundation built on strong content development, organically attracting and engaging consumers, cultivating trusted relationships and leaving customers satisfied, inbound marketing removes the interruption of traditional outbound sales and marketing tactics.
Inbound Tactics
Rather than taking a shotgun approach to lead generation, inbound marketing optimizes marketing efforts to bring qualified leads right to your doorstep. By developing relatable content that communicates specifically to your ideal audience, inbound marketing allows you to deliver customer-centric content that resonates with your audience and builds brand credibility. Take blogging for example, when you consistently develop strong blog posts that speak directly to a need or a want that your audience is looking to fulfill, you are able to instantly gain trust and establish longer-lasting business relationships. As a result of placing a focused effort on delivering content that your target audience is actually interested in, you are able to maximize your marketing resources while creating a more engaged and value-driven sales cycles.
Spend Less, Gain More
In addition to gaining increased effectiveness and efficiency in your marketing efforts, inbound marketing also serves as a more cost-effective approach than outbound marketing. Not only do you save money by reducing the size and range of the audience you are trying to reach, but because your leads are ‘warmer’ and more qualified, you increase your chances to generate quality opportunities, close more sales and retain more clients; all while delivering a more engaging, valuable and mutually beneficial selling environment.
Quantifiable Results
Lastly, inbound marketing removes the uncertainty businesses face with their marketing efforts. In comparison to outbound marketing, inbound marketing turns market data into quantifiable metrics that better gauge the return on your marketing investment. With a stronger understanding of who your audience is and where your resources are being spent, you are able to track and measure the performance of your inbound marketing activities. This visibility and insight allow you to effectively analyze what’s working, what’s not, and enables you to make educated decisions as to how you should adjust your marketing strategy.
So, how do you market yourself in a way that appeals to this buying generation built around digital consumption and instant gratification? The answer is inbound marketing. Unlike traditional marketing practices, inbound marketing allows you to leverage the modern consumer’s buying behavior to optimize your marketing efforts. With a focused effort on creating tailored content that delivers instant value to your target audience, you are able to cultivate long-lasting relationships that continuously deliver repeat sales and referral opportunities, increase the cost effectiveness of your marketing practices, and gain greater visibility into how your marketing efforts are paying off.
Interested in learning more about how inbound marketing can transform your marketing strategy to fit the needs of today’s consumer?
Visit www.revenueriver.co or gives us a call at 303-945-4341. Click below to find out what inbound marketing can do for your business.
Nicole Germaine works in the branding industry. A Canadian by birth, she played Division 1 hockey in Minnesota.