First of a 4 part series discussing the steps of inbound marketing.
Inbound marketing is now the most effective marketing method for doing business online. 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 brings the right people toward your company and product.
The first step to inbound marketing, is bringing the right traffic to your site. You want the people who are most likely to become leads and ultimately reliable customers. Every business, naturally, as different ideal customers, also called buyer personas. Buyer personas are holistic ideas of what you customers are really like. Personas include the goals, challenge, common objections to products, and personal and demographic information shared among all members of that customer type. Your buyer personas are key to the success of your business.
In order to attract these ideal customers to your site, you need to create content that appeals to them. Say you own a jewelry company. Start with the basics of what your customer might be looking for online – jewelry, perhaps fashion, beauty tips, luxury gifts, etc. Once you have gathered some details about your ideal customer, try one of the following tools to attract them to your site:
BLOGGING
Blogging is the base of all inbound marketing. A blog is the best way to attract new visitors to yoru website. In order to be found by the right prospective customers, you must create valuable content that speaks to them. For the jewelry website, blogs about styling jewelry for special events, different types of stones, or perhaps just introducing your newest lines could be a great choice. If your blog offers great content, customers will keep coming back to it, eventually making a purchase on your site!
SEO
Most customers begin their buying process with a search engine. Perhaps they’re searching “diamond engagement rings,” or “spring jewelry trends.” In order to come up in these searches, you need to make sure your site is optimized to appear prominently when and where they search. SEO starts with picking the right keywords, optimizing your pages, creating content, and building links around the terms your customers are searching for. Stay up-to-date on keyword trends to make sure you optimize to the changing industry.
PAGES
Your website pages often offer your first impression, so make sure you look your best! Design our website to appeal to ideal buyers, and make it easy to navigate and full of helpful content to entice potential customers to visit. A few tweaks to your website is all it could take for a customer to make a purchase or go running to your competition. Start with a clean theme and the most important content. Ask yourself questions a customer may have about your site or company, and make sure you answer those!
SOCIAL PUBLISHING
The best way to get your amazing content out there is to share it! Social publishing allows you to share all that valuable information on the social web. Sharing your content on social media gives a human face to your brand, and allows you to engage with potential customers. You can interact in real time to answer questions, promote sales, and keep an eye on what people are saying about your company!
Now that you’ve attracted the right customers to your site with strong content, look out for part 2 on converting those visits into sales! Head to the GiraffeBuilder blog next Friday for a continued discussion on inbound marketing. If you need assistance with your inbound marketing, please contact us and request a quote for SEO, social media, web design, and more.
