Do you have a strong inbound marketing strategy in place? If you don’t, or want to improve an existing one, this article will detail the 5 important elements that your strategy must have.
To start with, here’s a question. What if you opened your mailbox and discovered a marketing email. Would you open it or send it straight to the bin? Or, let’s say you’re watching your favorite show. Do you enjoy the ad that suddenly cuts in, or roll your eyes at the interruption? Chances are, you hit delete on that email and used the ad time to check your texts.
These are the traditional outbound marketing techniques of cold calling and running a sales pitch by an unknown audience. And, they aren’t as effective today as inbound marketing strategies that focus on providing value to a targeted audience. Also, inbound strategies are more cost-effective and offer higher returns in the long run. So, it pays to have a well-thought-out inbound marketing strategy in place.
Here are the 5 key components of an effective inbound marketing strategy:
1. SEO
Search engine optimization is a process by which you optimize your website’s content and structure so that it ranks organically on Google’s search results. Naturally, you want your content to be found by the right people – the ones who will convert for you. Hence, done right, SEO is a sure means to direct your target audience toward your brand. Start with identifying the right keywords with your business and take it forward from there.
Here are some SEO basics to guide you.
2. Content marketing
SEO will bring your audience to your doorstep. However, great content will ensure that they stay with you. Fresh, valuable, and informative content is quintessential for an effective inbound marketing strategy. It is what helps to ultimately convert your leads.
Make sure your content fulfills a purpose – answers a question or solves a problem for your audience. It needs to be better than that of your competitors as well. Different people respond to different forms of content, so make sure you provide content via blogs, testimonials, e-books, Whitepapers, case studies and so on.
Find out how content marketing and SEO can boost your website traffic.
3. Social media marketing
Your marketing duties do not end with publishing great content. In order to keep attracting fresh views and growing your audience, you need to share your content on social media channels. Of course, this does not mean that you dilute your presence across various platforms. Start by identifying which social media channels are preferred by your buyer personas, and then create an effective social media strategy. You can look through our blog to learn how to organize your social media plan. It would also be wise to make sure you know the social media mistakes to avoid.
4. Call-to-action
‘Contact us’, ‘Buy now’, ‘Subscribe to our newsletter’, ‘Download this e-book’. These are examples of CTAs on various websites, that prompt visitors to undertake specific actions. CTAs have the power to convert a potential lead into a buying customer, so you want to pay attention to everything about it. Words matter, so begin by using strong words like ‘buy’ and ‘order’ instead of generic terms like ‘read more’. A strong CTA also tells readers exactly what they want or why they need it. Capitalize on the fear of missing out, and, since it’s all about your customers, make them feel invited with words like ‘your’ and ‘you’. Moreover, don’t forget to look into the shape and size of your CTA, the color you are using, and the position it occupies on your website. WordStream offers best practices for effective CTA buttons. You might want to grab a quick look.
5. Pay-per-click marketing
PPC is a paid strategy. It allows you to bid on certain keywords and rise to the top of search results, which help to attract high-quality leads. This differs from SEO in that you have more control over when and where you appear in SERPs, and with much faster results. A lot goes into a PPC campaign, starting from research for the right keywords, using them in disciplined campaigns and ad groups, to creating and setting up a great landing page that will encourage and enable conversion. Moz gives you very workable techniques on how to use PPC to grow your brand.
Of course, there are other elements like remarketing and email marketing that go into the inbound marketing strategy mix. However, begin with the 5 key components that we’ve listed here for you, and take it forward from there.
At Them You & Me, we help streamline your digital marketing through personalized strategies. Do give us a call if you would like some assistance with creating an effective inbound marketing strategy.
To know more about what we do and the services we offer, please visit our website.
