Why Inbound is the Future of Online Marketing
In this blog post Mike Midgely, CEO of The SuccessHub, outlines what inbound marketing is, how it works and why it's the future of online marketing.
If you own or help run a business, it’s likely that you’re always on the look out for new and effective marketing techniques to help generate successful leads and get customers buying your services or products.
In this blog post the SuccessHub, a leading growth engine expert, explain why inbound is the future of marketing for businesses. Read on to find out more.
What is inbound marketing?
Put simply, inbound, as the word suggests, is a marketing method which aims to get customers to your business’ website, where they will then, by their own doing, find out about your products and services and register interest.
Picture the traditional outbound marketing relationship between company and customer and essentially reverse it. By creating a marketing method by which customers are drawn into a businesses website by providing relevant, useful content that is meaningful to them, the business will experience more meaningful lead generation, and as such, more lead-to-sale conversions.
How does inbound marketing work?
So, you know what inbound marketing is, but do you know the nitty gritty when it comes to how it works?
Afterall, the aim of inbound marketing, unlike outbound, it to create meaningful interaction with your business’ target audience, rather than just putting information out to the masses.
As such, the main way that inbound marketing works is by providing blogs, videos, guides and interactive content to those who are searching for this information. Through the remarkable content that you provide, you’ll do what’s needed to attract, engage and delight potential customers and create a trusted relationship. This increases the chance of the lead engaging with your company, gives your team the chance to show off their expertise and, as a result, increases the chance of closing a sale. By sourcing custom in this way, you’re presenting yourself as a trusted provider who is more likely to experience repeat custom, and even referrals, all of which help to increase the client lifetime value (CVL).
Why is inbound the future?
So, why exactly is inbound the future of online marketing? Well, it’s safe to say we’re living in a digital age, and as such the old-school outbound marketing methods just don’t cut it any more. Customers are all too used to computer generated advertisement emails, and pressing the delete button before even glancing past the first line!
As such, businesses now need to find new ways to get their customers, and that’s where inbound comes in. Inbound gives the customer control. It is by their doing that they land on your website, which tends to mean they have a reason for being there!
For example, if you’re a tool hire machinery company in Glasgow who writes a blog titled ‘Five Essential Questions to Ask a Tool Hire Machinery Company in Glasgow’, then there’s bound to be a few people who search that term and click on your blog because they need to hire machinery in your area!
In essence, this is why inbound is the future of marketing. Even if readers don’t create an instant lead, the fact that they have gained useful information from your content is advantageous. This is because they’re more likely to see you as an authoritative figure in your field, and as one that they can trust because you were the one able to answer their previous questions. As a result, they will come back to your website specifically in the future.
As online resources such as social media platforms continue to constantly develop, so does inbound marketing. If you want to stand out from the crowd and get your business meaningful leads, you need to approach inbound marketing in an innovative and creative way.