Blogs, podcasts, infographics, whitepapers…
As an entrepreneur, you’re seeing these content marketing terms pop up everywhere. And the reason is this: by producing useful content, a business can attract their ideal clients to their website, turning those visitors into potential customers.
This marketing methodology is known as “Inbound Marketing”.
Here are some fun facts about inbound:
- 3 out of 4 Marketers globally prioritize an approach to Inbound Marketing, over alternative forms.
- B2B companies that blog just 1-2 times per month generate up to 70% more leads than those who don’t.
- 93% of buying cycles start with an online search.
The challenge for a relatively new startup, with limited resources, is where to start? Have no fear though, below I’ll explain the exact steps you can take to get started with inbound marketing.
What is “Inbound Marketing”?
The phrase “Inbound Marketing” was coined in 2005 by Hubspot’s CEO, Brian Halligan. Since they started the inbound marketing movement, we figure that Hubspot’s definition is pretty accurate:
“Instead of the old outbound marketing methods of buying ads, buying email lists, and praying for leads, inbound marketing focuses on creating quality content that pulls people toward your company and product, where they naturally want to be. By aligning the content you publish with your customer’s interests, you naturally attract inbound traffic that you can then convert, close, and delight over time.”
4 Key Steps For Building An Effective Inbound Marketing Strategy
1. Create your buyer personas
Identify the specific characteristics of your ideal customers, this allows you to have a crystal clear vision of the type of content you’ll need to create. If you need help creating your buyer persona(s), check out this free tool from Hubspot.
2. Boost your search ranking with SEO
There are several tools designed to help you choose the keywords that you’ll want to target with your content, driving more traffic to your site through online searches. Google Keyword Planner is easy to use, and totally free. If you’re looking for a more robust solution, check out SEM Rush. Support your ranking with a mobile-optimized site and smart link-building.
3. Start creating
Once you’ve identified who you’re trying to reach with your content, it’s time to start creating it. Content comes in many forms (blog posts, videos, podcasts, slideshare presentations, whitepapers, etc), but if you’re just getting started, we recommend that you start by writing blog posts. If you need help writing great blog posts, use this checklist.
4. Promote your content
This is where most people fall flat on their face with inbound marketing. They spend an enormous amount of time creating epic content that their audience will love, then they hit publish….and nothing happens. Nobody comments on it or shares it, they never read it because you barely promoted it. Consider your initial strategies, and explore even more. Publishing your content one time on social media isn’t going to cut it. Here are 100+ ways to promote the content that you worked so hard to create.
About the Author: James Carbary is the Founder of Sweet Fish Media, a done-for-you content marketing service. James shares tips for small businesses and entrepreneurs looking to create interesting and useful content, generating customer attention and interaction.
