How Inbound Marketing Works: Marketing Strategies and Tips

Inbound marketing is a digital marketing methodology that helps draw potential customers to a business or organization by directing content to specifically address their needs or problems (also known as “pain points”). An inbound marketing campaign focuses on selling long-term solutions rather than a product.

The inbound marketing strategy uses forms of “pull marketing” to attract new customers to a company. Inbound marketing consists of three key elements:

1. 1. Attract: Inbound marketing is effective because it attracts your ideal buyers based on buyer personas (semi-fictional representations of potential consumer demographics). Rather than advertising to anyone who drives past your billboard or happens across a pop-up ad, inbound marketing focuses on a relevant target audience: people who are already looking for solutions, which you may be able to provide. You can attract an audience through social media platforms, search engine optimization (SEO), and blogging.
2. 2. Engage: Once you’ve drawn in potential consumers, you engage them with valuable content that helps them understand your service’s value. This content should be educational or entertaining and set up to make it easy for interested parties to find answers. The content should help build long-term relationships with qualified leads by establishing trust and reliability between them and your company. This type of content can include relevant content offers, excellent customer service, and marketing automation.
3. 3. Delight: The delighting stage is how businesses support their customers and ensure their needs are met. Checking in on your customers’ satisfaction while continuously looking for ways to improve their experience can signal your investment in their long-term happiness with your services beyond the point of sale. After all, happy customers often become promoters of the brand or business themselves, which can further your reach.

Inbound marketing techniques can be an effective way to draw and convert many leads to your services. Some prime examples of inbound marketing include:

1. 1. Social media marketing: You can boost your company’s visibility and engagement by providing quality content and accessible communication to your potential customers across various social media channels. Social media can help with lead generation and nurture those leads to ensure they become long-term customers.
2. 2. Search engine optimization: People use search engines to find information, and proper use of keywords can help direct traffic to your landing page or relevant site. Utilizing search engine optimization (SEO) can expand brand awareness by having your website rank higher on the search engine results page, improving your visibility, and making it more likely people will come to you.
3. 3. Call to action (CTA): A call to action is a method of inbound marketing that compels people to take action. Some general examples of CTAs are signing up for an email list or clicking a button to learn more about the company. Specifically, if you’re visiting a beauty website, their CTA may be: “click here to find out your skin’s undertone.” If you’re visiting a meal delivery site, their CTA may be: “order now for 15 percent off your first meal.”

If your marketing methods aren’t effectively growing your business, it may be time to retune your strategies:

• Identify the problem your business can solve. When it comes to inbound marketing, you’re not trying to sell a specific product—you’re trying to help the customer solve their problems through your business. For instance, if you’re a skincare company, the focus could be on alleviating chronic dry skin issues rather than trying to sell moisturizer.
• Attract your target audience. Use SEO or social media to promote brand awareness and make it more likely that potential leads will find your company through their own search, rather than disrupting their attention trying to sell a product they may not have any interest in purchasing yet. Most people don’t like to be pushed or “sold to,” so attracting their interest will make their engagement feel more organic.
• Provide valuable information. All the information the customer needs to make an informed decision on whether your company can help them should be on your landing page or main website. This page should include information about your business, why people should buy from your company, and what you have to offer. Include case studies or user testimonials to bolster the success of your products or services, and include contact information where users can ask questions or receive more specific information.
• Engage with the users. Not every lead will become a sale, but making meaningful connections with interested parties can increase the chances of a prospect becoming a customer. Ensure your content specifically addresses a problem and also explains why your company is the solution. You can use quality inbound customer service calls or interactive surveys to keep potential consumers engaged in your business. If your customers feel like your company truly cares about providing a resolution to their issues, they are more likely to continue giving you their business.
• Build your relationship. Try to maintain a relationship with your customers long after they’ve made their purchase. Sending out emails asking for feedback or providing additional support through social media lets buyers know that you still care about their happiness and satisfaction even after they’ve spent their money.

The main difference between inbound marketing and outbound marketing (also known as traditional marketing) lies in their focus:

• Inbound marketing is solution-focused. Inbound marketing focuses on providing solutions to interested consumers rather than trying to push a product onto a wide net of consumers who may not be interested.
• Outbound focuses purely on selling. Outbound marketing is disruptive—it interrupts the consumer field with one-way advertising tools designed to sell products, like pop-up ads, television commercials, and telemarketing. However, inbound marketing is more magnetic—it organically attracts a base of interested consumers to a business or company by letting the consumer drive the search.

Get the MasterClass Annual Membership for exclusive access to video lessons taught by business luminaries, including Chris Voss, Jeff Goodby & Rich Silverstein, Robin Roberts, Sara Blakely, Daniel Pink, Bob Iger, Howard Schultz, Anna Wintour, and more.