It’s common knowledge that if you want to compete in the online marketing world, your company must be more than just a cool website. It's true that starting a marketing strategy involving blogging, social media engagement, newsletters, etc. can seem overwhelming to most companies, but when these vital practices are neglected, your online marketing efforts begin to die.
To help you understand what needs to be done in order to see results from marketing your company online, we’re going to outline and simplify three basic and necessary principles of inbound marketing to help you start effectively marketing your company to the world.
1. Define Your Audience
Every business serves a particular kind of customer. So, instead of creating lots of different content for a variety of people, tailor your content to the people who are most likely to choose your business. You can do this by:
- Addressing the challenges or problems your customers have when they first come to you and how you help them.
- Researching who your ideal customers are and what interests and concerns they have.
Really get to know who it is you’re selling to.
2. Attract Them to Your Website
After you define your intended audience, how will you grab their attention?
- Create valuable content in the form of blog posts, eBooks, or white papers that address your audience’s challenges.
- Use keywords that search engines can pick up to boost organic traffic.
- Reach consumers through posting your content to social media and in newsletters.
Remember that consumers today do not want to see your commercial or listen to a sales pitch; they search for what they want and need online, and your job is to provide them with what they are looking for.
3. Encourage Prospects to Take the Next Step
After you’ve attracted people in your target audience to your website, you want to get them to take the next step so they’re closer to making a purchase from you. Here’s how:
- Outline the decision-making process that your customers often go through when making a purchase. Ask:
- What needs, wants, or concerns brought them to your website?
- What should they know about your products and services before understanding that you can help?
- What things would prevent them from choosing you?
- Then, create and direct them to more content that helps move them to the next step in the sales process.
For example, let’s say someone clicks on a link you sent out on Twitter to read a blog explaining how your service works. You could then include a link at the end of that blog post that leads to another post about why your product or service is better than your competitor's. In that post, present a case study from a happy customer of yours.
As people receive more content from you, they learn more about your company, and start to develop trust for you. When they’re ready to buy, your company’s name is at the top of their list.
These three steps should help get your inbound marketing strategy rolling, but if you’re still overwhelmed by all there is to do to make online marketing work, we can help!
If you're interested in adopting an inbound marketing strategy, Blue Frog can help you plan and inplement a plan to help you convert visitors into leads into customers! Give us a call at 515-221-2214 or click the button below to fill out an online form to let us know how we can help, and we'll contact you! We have offices in Des Moines and Denver but can serve any kind of customer from any location!
