Marrying Inbound and Outbound Marketing Campaigns is Easier and More Important than You Think

Click the image above to view our inbound marketing infographic for a better overview of this latest marketing trend and how to incorporate it into your traditional campaigns.

Are Clients Knocking at Your Door?

Did you know that of all the daily online searches, nearly half (46%) are searches for information on products or services? It should be pretty clear by now that the Internet is king when it comes to finding what we need quickly and efficiently. And it’s because of the Internet that marketing itself is changing. While businesses can still court customers using standard methods such as advertising, direct mail, and newsletters, more and more often your potential clients are filtering out the noise of advertising and searching for what they need on their own.

In this new marketing landscape, businesses are shifting their focus from pushing their services out to prospective clients to pulling customers into their sites, also known as inbound marketing. According to Google, 70% of the links that search users click are organic, or not paid; which means that shelling out money for pay-per-click ads is probably not getting you the return on investment you were hoping for. So it’s time to start focusing on SEO, social media, and blogging, all of which can help bring potential clients to your virtual doorstep with real life requests for your products or services.

Strategize and Optimize
Many people are searching online these days, so having an online presence with a clearly defined and differentiated brand is the first vital step. However, inbound marketing is all about content: more specifically, relevant content that your target market will be searching for online. Optimizing a website, blog and social media efforts around targeted and location specific keywords and phrases is essential to having potential customers find your business when they are searching for your specific service or product.

Outbound marketing campaigns – print and digital advertising, direct mail, etc. – because of their nature, are designed and printed, which keeps them the same for long periods of time. Inbound marketing strategy, on the other hand, means that information is constantly changing and being updated. Search engine optimization and content, for example, are not one-time implementations. This is all because of Google’s periodic changing of the search algorithms that attempt to focus searches on the most relevant material on the web. Google just this past week did an update, and, interestingly enough, the main focus was to add weight to recency. Focusing on relevant, quality content for websites, coupled with a stream of consistently updated content, like a blog and/or social media site, helps promote a business’s website toward the top of the search engine’s rankings and positions the business for increased recognition when people are searching for products and services.

More than One Way
As with all marketing efforts, there is no one shot, perfect way to create an inbound campaign. Knowing your target audience and figuring out how to reach those people are the keys that will unlock the door to a successful inbound campaign. If your business needs an inbound marketing locksmith, contact the marketing experts at corecubed for help. And be sure to check out our upcoming webinar, Using a Website for Uber Marketing and More, for more information.