what is inbound marketing an overview of the inbound philosophy methodology and toolset
contents 1 what is inbound marketing - the philosophy why inbound works 3 the methodology
how inbound works for the tools a playbook that works 5 additional resources 1 what is inbound
marketing what is inbound marketing instead of buying ads buying email lists or cold calling
inbound marketing focuses on creating educational content that pulls people towards your website
where they can learn more about what you sell on their own accord inbound is an approach to
marketing that reaches today's consumer get found by qualified leads online with content website
pages blog articles social messages optimized for search and social media understand what content
pulls your buyers through the sales funnel and use that context to personalize your marketing
at scale inbound marketing can be understood in three ways one inbound as a philosophy the why to
inbound as a methodology the how and three inbound as a tool set the playbook inbound marketing in a
nutshell markets with a magnet not a sledgehammer to the philosophy why inbound works inbound as
a philosophy inbound marketing is a philosophy based on the truth that consumers buy differently
today than they did 10 years ago think about it pre internet buyer relatively uninformed by a
journey linear marketing playbook interrupt cold calls and add sizing today buyer well-informed by
a journey fluid and random starts with Google marketing playbook thought leadership through
content creation how did this transformation take place there are three major reasons why consumers
are skeptical about brands and why interruptive advertising and cold-calling aren't nearly as
effective as they once were why interruption doesn't work reason number two a history of
deceptive advertising consumers are accustomed to false claims and deceit in advertising so even
when clever ads are seen by consumers they're thought to be dishonest according to the 2012
Edelman Trust Barometer 63% of consumers need to hear company claims three to five times before
they'll actually believe them interruption false claims over promising under-delivering increased
regulation brand egocentrism exploitation lawsuits this changed everything why interruption doesn't
work reason number three technology empowered the consumer consumers gained access to tools
and information that enabled them to dodge interruptive brand messages and instead
seek out information when they are ready VCRs caller-id DVRs the Do Not Call list spam software
broadband internet smartphones social media this changed everything that's why permission became
more effective than interruption by aligning the content you publish with your customers interests
you can earn permission to market to prospects that you can convert into leads closed into
customers and delights to the points that they become promoters of your brand there are several
major themes of inbound permission based marketing let's talk about them content creation you create
targeted content that answers your customers basic questions and needs and you share that content far
and wide life cycle marketing you recognize that people go through stages as they interact with
your company and at each stage requires different marketing actions personalization and context as
you learn more about your leads over time you can better personalize your messages to their
specific needs a multi-channel presence inbound marketing is multi-channel by nature because it
approaches people where they are in the channel where they want to interact with you integration
your publishing and analytics tools all work together like a well-oiled machine allowing you
to focus on publishing the right content in the right place at the right time in summary inbound
marketing is about building trust not skepticism among your prospects being loved not ignored by
your customers outsmarting not outspending your competitors 3 the methodology how inbound works
the methodology the inbound philosophy is backed by methodology that helps brands attract convert
close and delight visitors leads and customers through a variety of channels such as social
media blogging SEO landing pages forms and email the methodology facilitates the buyer
journey through the sales funnel from strangers to promoters of your brand the methodology visualized
as a sales funnel attract convert clothes delight let's go through the methodology step by step how
to understand the inbound methodology graphic along the top are the four actions attract
convert to clothes delight companies must take in order to obtain visitors leads and customers
note note the tools are listed under the action where they first come into play but that's not
the only place they're applicable several tools like email can be essential in several stages
of the methodology step one attract strangers and turn them into website visitors you want to
attract people that will potentially become leads attract your ideal customer or buyer persona by
creating content that's valuable and easy for them to find step to convert website visitors
into leads once you've got visitors to your site the next step is to convert those visitors into
leads by gathering their contact information in order to get this valuable information you
need to offer something up in return step 3 close leads into customers through lead nurturing once
you've attracted the right visitors and converted the right leads you need to transform those leads
into customers with targeted automated email nurturing and social media interaction step
4 delight customers to turn them into promoters of your brand using context and personalization
to deliver tailored messages continue to engage with delight and hopefully upsell your current
customer base into happy promoters of your company now that we've covered the methodology we're ready
to dig deeper into the tools you need to get visitors traffic leads and customers for the
tools a playbook that works step one attract strangers and turn them into website visitors
tools to attract strangers to your site include blogging social media keyword optimization site
pages we're going to take a moment to emphasize the importance of blogging because it's that
important company's blog because it's one of the most effective ways to attract potential customers
to your site seriously blogging works the average company that blogs generates 55 percent more
website visitors 97 sent more inbound links 434 percent more indexed pages companies that blog
generate 126 percent more leads than those that don't blogging is regularly linked to higher ROI
you need to be active on social media sites too you must share remarkable content and valuable
information on the social web engage with your prospects and put a human face on your brand you
should create content around targeted keywords as well you need to carefully analytically pick
keywords optimize your pages create content and build links around the terms your ideal buyers
are searching for just HubSpot software gives us EO advice as you type keep your website fresh
with easy to deploy site pages search engines and users like frequently updated websites so
you need to transform your site into a beacon of helpful fresh and optimized pages to appeal
to your ideal buyers without having to rely on IT now what tools you use to turn traffic into
leads step to convert website visitors into leads tools to convert visitors into leads include calls
to action landing pages forms contacts database entice your visitors to claim an offer with calls
to action calls to action CTA s are buttons or links that encourage your visitors to take action
like download a white paper or attend a webinar if you don't have CTAs or if they aren't enticing
enough you won't generate leads drive visitors to landing pages where they can become leads when a
website visitor clicks on a CTA they should then be sent to a landing page where the offer in the
call-to-action is fulfilled and where the prospect submits information that your sales team can use
to begin a conversation with them use forms to get the Meishan you need about your prospects in order
for visitors to become leads they must fill out a form and submit their contact information optimize
your form to make this step of the conversion process as easy as possible how's all of your
contacts in one place keep track of the leisure converting in a centralized marketing database so
you can make sense out of every interaction you've had with your contacts be it through
email a landing page or social media what tools do you use to turn leads into customers step 3
close leads into customers through lead nurturing tools to close leads into customers include lead
scoring email marketing automation closed-loop reporting use lead scoring to determine which
leads are ready for a salesperson you've got contacts in your system but how do you know
which ones are ready to speak to your sales team using a numerical representation of the
sales readiness for lead take the guesswork out to the process send targeted emails to leads
to pull them through the sales funnel what if a visitor clicks on your CTA and fills out a form
on a landing page to download a white paper but still isn't ready to become a customer nurture
them with a series of emails focused on useful relevant content until they're ready go beyond
email by using automation informed by context on life cycle if a visitor downloaded a white paper
from you in the past you might want to send that lead a series of related emails but if they follow
you on Twitter and visited certain pages on your website you might want to tailor the messaging
close the loop by integrating your marketing tools with your CRM know which marketing efforts
are bringing in the best leads and whether your sales team is focused on the most qualified leads
by integrating with your customer relationship management CRM system what tools do you use to
turn customers into repeat happy customers step 4 delight customers to turn them into promoters
your brand tools to delight your customers include smart call-to-action social media
email and marketing automation keep the cycle going by continually nurturing with personalized
content treat people like people and earn trust by using smart content and personalization tokens to
create a tailored experience based on prospects needs across all of your marketing channels from
CTAs to email to landing pages click to learn more about how smart content and personalization
works alas we're done with the tools here's how the inbound methodology and tools all
come together 1 attract get traffic create blog content search engine optimized SEO that content
and promote it on social media sites to convert get leads place calls to action throughout your
website blog social accounts and email to drive visitors to landing pages with forms 3 clothes
get customers send leads targeted automated emails to drive them through your buying cycle
provide your sales team with lead intelligence for more effective sales calls for delight
analyze and optimize analyze the success of your marketing campaigns and determine which areas need
further optimization or personalization for future success attract convert clothes delight thank you
you