One of the most effective ways to increase business leads is to incorporate inbound marketing into your SMB marketing strategy. Inbound marketing is a concept you have probably heard a lot about, but what exactly is it? And how can you get started with inbound marketing today?
What is inbound marketing?
An inbound approach to marketing focuses on attracting customers to your business instead of going out and trying to draw them in with traditional marketing techniques. Instead of the outbound marketing methods that you are probably familiar with – including TV and radio commercials, direct mail campaigns, and intrusive website pop-ups – inbound marketing focuses on drawing in customers through valuable content, social media, SEO, and other means.
We have previously shared our Lead Generation Funnel, which perfectly sums up the inbound marketing process. The process starts with attracting visitors to your website and then moves to converting visitors to leads and converting these leads to customers. It ends by focusing on customer retention.
How to get started with inbound marketing
No matter how familiar you are with inbound marketing, it can be intimidating to get started on what may seem like an enormous undertaking, but by focusing on incorporating three key areas of inbound marketing into the online presence of your brand, you can easily get moving towards inbound marketing and lead generation goals. The three areas that we will focus on in this post are the most common marketing methods utilized by inbound marketers, and most importantly are all easy steps that you can achieve without any fancy training or knowledge. So what are they?
Content Creation
Social Media
SEO
Now that you know some of the basics of getting started with inbound marketing, you may be ready to delve a little deeper. If so, we have you covered with our Introduction to Inbound Marketing, that includes further information on inbound marketing methodology, a detailed inbound vs. outbound marketing comparison, and a closer look at the buyer’s journey from a visitor to a customer. If you are ready to get serious about lead generation through inbound marketing this year, what are you waiting for? Let’s get started today!
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Does your company rely on regular, new leads to sustain itself? Learn how inbound marketing can help create an automated source of quality leads for your company!
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Sources: Hootesuite, Moz, Hubspot