For many small business owners, inbound marketing is just something you do. You just spend as much money and time as you can on content, video content, Graphics, and ship it to social media. Then you hope that some of it works.
What if you change your thinking about inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing addresses the situation your audience finds themselves in, it offers a solution to their situation.
Have you ever stopped to think how much of your marketing is reaching the right people? Is it reaching the people who are willing to spend money on you?
Do you truly understand your target market’s situation?
Does what you deliver involve a message that gives them a solution that is of value to them?
How do you measure your effectiveness in standing apart from your competition?
Let’s dig deeper into your marketing:
What is the situation of those in your target market, more correctly your ideal customer finds themselves facing?
What solution can you provide for the situation in which your ideal client finds themselves? What is their urgent situation? How is your product or service a solution?
Does your content show that you actually understand how they feel, and what concerns them the most? Does your brand voice, message, and graphics resonate?
Are you just blindly putting out content, hoping that some of it will bring in new customers?
If you do, then even if you are actually getting your content in front of the right prospects, you are still wasting your time and money – because your content simply does not speak to the situation in which they find themselves.
What is relevance and why does it matter?
Are you mixing irrelevant information with your inbound marketing content? This is either in your content, video, graphics on your website and social media which in many cases is also picked up by search engines. Have you even taken the time to identify your ideal customer? Do you even understand what is irrelevant to your potential customer?
In what situation does your ideal customer find themselves? What information can you give them to ease their pain or increase their pleasure?
Are you sharing your information with consistency and with a professional appearance?
Here are some very important considerations:
What is the lifetime value of your typical client or customer?
How much will they spend with you over the course of their “client lifespan”, and how much will they be worth in terms of referring others?
Have you done any or enough research to truly understand the situation you are providing a solution to, for your ideal customer?
Inbound marketing is the tool of choice for long lasting businesses
Inbound marketing is a powerful tool if used correctly. It can help you to not only reach and attract potential clients and customers, but it can help you to establish credibility and build your market share.
As such, it is best to:
1. Get the message of your solution to your ideal customer. Help them understand that you provide their best and only real solution.
2. Be consistent with putting out content, and keep everything on-topic.
3. All marketing including inbound is about showing the value of your solution over the value of your competition. It is presenting your company as the only solution. Those who use brand colors and a company logo on all graphics, written, and video content are showing more value as the logical choice. After all, if you are already doing the work to attract people to you, why not build your market share and your brand while you are at it?
That way, not only will you attract potential clients and build credibility among future clients/customers, but your company brand name will be the first one to come to mind when they eventually need your products or services.
Author’s note
I wish to thank Tom Riach (tomriach.com) for some of the words used in this article. It is his understanding of the importance of the words used in inbound marketing that enticed me to write this article.