Why is Inbound Marketing Important?

"Marketing" this, "content" that. Staying ahead of the curve is a race that keeps moving. Here's why inbound marketing is the new top dog.

It’s safe to say that the marketing world has drastically changed since its inception and even more so within the last year. The emergence of ‘content’ and ‘value experience’ has driven the creation of what is known as Inbound Marketing.

Defined by Hubspot, Inbound Marketing consists of marketing efforts geared towards attracting customers by creating valuable content and experiences. In a sense, the idea is to create a value proposition that is impossible to pass up, therefore ‘pulling’ customers to your solution.

Why is Inbound Marketing Important?

Consumers nowadays are more knowledgeable than ever. Easy access to the Internet makes exploring opportunities very easy. The trend has shifted to customers taking the reins and controlling much of the buying process. As a result, the idea of selling has significantly changed. Consumers don’t like to be sold to in the “traditional” way.

Generally speaking, the way people purchase has changed. It has become a necessity to create content that provides value with a satisfying experience. This also builds relationships that create brand loyalty and fulfill a long-term inbound marketing strategy.

Content Marketing and its Power

Connecting with Customers

Given the changing market, priorities have switched from selling to connecting. Gone are the days of blindly spamming your offer to anyone you could reach. Inbound marketing now focuses on targeted strategies which come with significant benefits, discussed in a later section. In today’s world, identifying customer pain points and challenges is key. Acting as a helping hand to solve problems by selling solutions has taken king over mass marketing products with no communicated purpose.

Sharing Is Caring

Inbound marketing content is not all about how much you can pump out, the quality is the real winner here. Creating content that is original and communicates value is likely to catch the attention of other curators and customers. As a result, it is possible for your content to be shared by others, garnering a stronger outreach.

SEO

Search engine optimization (SEO) is a whole other world in itself, but we’ll cover it briefly to display what it can achieve.

The ultimate goal of SEO in inbound marketing is to rank high in search results. The idea is that ranking higher will result in more traffic, leads, etc. However, this is much easier said than done. Putting in the time and effort will add to your inbound marketing strategy and give your content more opportunities to shine.

If you’re looking to get into SEO and metrics, our beginners guide to website traffic will help you as you start to dip your toe in the ocean.

Benefits of Inbound Marketing

When it comes to the benefits of inbound marketing, some studies have shown that:

• Properly executed inbound marketing is 10x more effective for lead conversion than outbound.
• Content marketing costs 62% less than traditional marketing and triples the leads
• 80% of decision-makers favour getting information about a brand from an article series rather than an advertisement.
• Inbound marketing achieves 3 times more leads per dollar.

In addition, as mentioned by the Business Development Bank of Canada, inbound marketing content is cost effective. In the example of blog posts, an independent post can reach 1,000 or 100,000 users with exactly the same costs. Whereas direct marketing such as mail will cost more depending on the reach.

With a cost effective and more personalized inbound marketing strategy, you are likely to get better quality leads. This is where quality content marketing comes into play. By developing solutions to problems with quality content and SEO, you will have a better chance of attracting customers and being featured in other articles.

Putting It into Place

Creating an inbound marketing strategy sounds like a lot of work, and to be transparent, it is. Consistency is key in content marketing and maintaining quality becomes more difficult over time. But don’t let that get in the way of success. While you worry about the important decisions, let us take care of the heavy lifting, so you can see results without throwing time down the drain.

Want help getting your inbound strategy rolling? Get in touch.