Being your own media allows advertisers to maintain a bond of trust with their target, while generating their commitment. But what is inbound marketing? Explanations.
Inbound marketing, translate “inbound marketing” into French, is a set of marketing techniques that are part of e-commerce and allow companies to become their own media by using several channels. Invented around ten years ago ( r https://blog.hubspot.fr/inbound-marketing-information / ), this digital marketing strategy then developed at great speed according to the following observation: Qualitative content influences the reader's purchasing behavior.
Inbound is therefore a new trend with an innovative marketing plan to create a funnel effect. By taking into account the change in consumer behavior and their expectations, inbound marketing works like a customer magnet. This method is thus oriented towards the needs of individuals rather than towards the valorization of the product, making a radical change compared to the functioning of traditional marketing.
Why use inbound marketing?
Does your website generate traffic? It's a good start, but faced with consumer demands, it is no longer sufficient. Inbound marketing therefore starts from the following observation: it is better to have fewer visits, but quality ones with qualified targets.
Indeed, trying to reach your target, who are really interested in your offer and your content, rather than a large number of visits which do not subsequently generate any purchase, will allow you to achieve better sales figures. . It is therefore a question of attracting a target, arousing their curiosity and then convincing them to buy using relevant content.
How it works ?
Concretely, inbound marketing makes it possible to attract customers via rich content through an Internet strategy rather than through brand content or traditional advertising often perceived as invasive and unwanted. As you will have understood, inbound marketing is therefore based on the creation of content with the aim of arousing the interest of the Internet user and convincing them to buy, for example through white papers.
Often, to obtain better results, it is combined with animation on social networks or e-mailing. It is thanks to all of these elements that the strategy is effective.
How does inbound marketing work?
An inbound marketing strategy is based on three main tools and can be used in both B2B and B2C. First of all, a corporate blog with quality content in line with the expectations of the Internet user and the values of the brand, then a perfectly defined editorial strategy and finally a transversal use of social media.
With inbound, everything is based on continuity. We must therefore not think that we are going to put a strategy in place only by creating some content, for example for the launch of the site, and then no longer produce anything. Inbound marketing is a long-term approach. The content must adapt to the context of the moment and be written according to what is in the news in order to interest Internet users.
Important: go to our blog article to know the differences between inbound and outbound .
How to think about the content to put in place?
The customer is no longer purchased but acquired by the content offered to them. Everything is based on this content. It is he who is at the heart of the success, or not, of the entire inbound marketing campaign.
The richness of this content must also be in line with the needs of the target: in this case we speak of “persona”. Depending on the sector of activity, the content will be of a useful or practical nature, sometimes professional and sometimes even more futile depending on the case.
What characterizes inbound marketing?
Beyond the capacity for strong engagement that inbound marketing ( https://www.definitions-marketing.com/definition/inbound-marketing/ ) generates, this strategy allows companies to obtain more independence from paid acquisition costs such as “Adwords”, but also to considerably improve SEO on search engines. All this is possible by distributing content on websites, the main levers for gaining customers.
What does inbound marketing change in terms of visibility?
This method allows you to communicate with your target, whether through a blog or social networks. Thus, the company is as close as possible to the questions, but also to the expectations of its customers and better understands how to reach them.
Creating original content also significantly improves the company's online presence. Indeed, producing content in various formats facilitates the natural referencing of a platform and improves digital communication. As you will have understood, with this web marketing method we can combine customer loyalty and company development as long as we don't do things by halves.
What are the main advantages of this method?
If we were to only remember a few advantages of using an inbound marketing strategy, they would be the following: it allows you to attract the buyer's attention, generate "leads" (i.e. points of contact with a potential customer) qualified, lasting results and remains less expensive than other marketing strategies. Inbound allows you to continually search for prospects and convert them more quickly and more often into active buyers and, if possible, then into ambassadors who promote the brand (if an influencer becomes an ambassador, the results will be even better).
Finally, it strengthens the innovative positioning of the company and improves its notoriety and e-reputation. Inbound marketing is a web presence strategy that allows your marketing offer to take a turn while carrying out a digital transformation.
How does inbound marketing change customer relationships?
Inbound marketing is a good digital marketing strategy that also fully benefits the company's image while converting its readers into customers. By using useful information as levers to reach consumers and helping them solve their problems, it appears positive and engaged in the eyes of consumers.
This digital strategy reduces the perceived distance between the brand and the customer, while highlighting humanist values such as generosity. Beyond this image of sympathy, the distribution of engaging content by a company also demonstrates its level of expertise in a specific field and gives it the status of expert after the Internet user.
How to quantify the results with this method?
Inbound marketing has many advantages in terms of traceability. With this method, we can easily quantify the traffic on a website, but also identify the time required for return on investment (commonly called “ROI”). Thanks to inbound, we can also count the number of new leads and new customers over a given period.
A few clicks are enough to find out where readers come from. Concerning the latter precisely, they fill out forms or subscribe on social media and thus become easily integrated into a database. Their coordinates are in fact retrieved in advance. Yet another advantage.
How does inbound marketing create a relationship of trust?
It’s really this notion of the undesirable that should be avoided with inbound marketing. This strategy is more effective than others because it considers all aspects of digital. Marketers thus easily retrieve information about visitors on Facebook or Linkedin, via download forms, using “Google Analytics”, or even via sales tracking software.
All these tools allow you to be perceived positively by the Internet user and the new data collected makes it possible to generate personalized newsletters. No more ending up in spam since emails will now be perceived as content with high added value for the customer. By doing inbound marketing, we improve our service to customers through segmentation of different audiences and sending concrete content.
Does this method have a good return on investment?
The real advantage of inbound marketing is the sustainability of the investment. Already, the content is accessible 24/7 by all Internet users. Their presence on the Web also improves SEO and therefore the visibility of the brand.
But where the sustainability of the investment is most illustrated, it is in the strong and stable relationship that has been created with the consumer. The fact that a company is recommended by an individual gives it a much more rewarding status than any advertising. The combination of the two can therefore have even more beneficial effects.
How does inbound marketing attract customers?
“Inbound marketing” makes it possible to reach a specific target who will almost automatically turn into a buyer, unlike outbound marketing or “outbound marketing”. Thanks to a text designed for its customers, a well-defined editorial line, associated with an adequate referencing strategy and an inbound marketing campaign , it is no longer the company which goes to seek the customer but rather the customer who comes to the company, at the same time enhancing the company's brand image.
What advantages do customers experience with this strategy?
The consumer therefore comes voluntarily to the brand, driven by his own motivations. He is interested in the message and is receptive to it. For him as for the brand, nothing is left to chance. To achieve this objective, the key is to build the digital strategy through key stages.
The customer does not waste time searching for answers on various platforms and the company does not waste time approaching individuals by email or telephone in the hope of finding its target. It's kind of a win-win combination.
How does inbound marketing reach the right target?
The content strategy is designed for its target by putting itself in their place. The latter will therefore automatically be intrigued by the subject. In addition, by using the platforms that Internet users favor on a daily basis, the company increases its chances of “crossing paths” with them.
To do this, you must define a strategy with “keywords” which must be found in the content, and analyze in advance the operating world of your target in relation to your offer. For example: is this a regular purchase? Is it a “crush”? Is it a spontaneous purchase or rather compulsive? By determining the ins and outs of the digital strategy and defining the content, you will attract leads to your site.
Why use this strategy rather than another?
Inbound marketing is a 100% Web strategy that is in keeping with the times, at a time when 80% of individuals obtain information on the Internet. The trend even tends to increase during this period of pandemic. Faced with the abundance of showcase sites, offering rich content to Internet users allows you to stand out from your competitors while establishing a bond of trust with your customers.
By thinking like his target and thinking about his problems, you appear as a solution for him. Today, consumers like to consider their purchasing decisions by asking themselves multiple questions. By providing answers, you become an ally rather than yet another sales prospect.
How does the relationship with the customer change with inbound marketing?
The relationship that will be built with the customer is much more successful than with other traditional methods and makes it possible to integrate the consumer into a content tunnel. The meeting takes place on the sole will of the consumer and reduces to zero the risk of being perceived as an aggressive and disruptive element.
Then, the relationship between the two evolves through exchanges and the company can thus more easily identify the desires of each person to offer them targeted content. The real advantage is therefore the sustainability of the customer relationship.
What does the content actually look like?
Just like press articles, the content created as part of an inbound marketing strategy is varied. If it is mainly blog articles (like this one), we can also think of the content in the form of infographics, questions and answers, boxes, videos and even podcasts. The goal is to lead the target to a landing page where they can make their purchase and thus achieve your objectives.
How does inbound marketing work?
To design an inbound marketing strategy, there is a whole process to follow, starting with attracting the visitor (thanks to content but also keywords).
Then you need to convert it into a lead. To do this, you must do everything possible to collect their personal information before they move on and to be able to engage them throughout their customer journey. Indeed, the Internet is vast and the temptations are numerous. There are several tips for collecting a visitor's contact details, such as offering "premium" content in exchange for a completed form.
What is Lead Nurturing and Lead Scoring?
Once this is done, all that remains is to convince him that you are trustworthy by sending him content likely to interest him and help him change his thinking about the purchase. We then talk about Lead Nurturing.
You have done the hardest part, now all that remains is to retain them thanks, in particular, to alert systems concerning their satisfaction and their user experience. We are talking here about Lead Scoring: it measures the “maturity” of the customer by analyzing their behavior.
How much does an inbound marketing strategy cost?
Like any marketing strategy, the price of inbound marketing fluctuates depending on the amount of work to be done and the duration of the market research. While large projects can quickly cost up to 15,000 euros, the “entry ticket” is more between 2,000 and 3,000 euros per month for small, or even very small, businesses.
What do these types of services include?
With this entry “pack”, the company benefits from an audit of the site and the digital environment, an analysis of the market, the competition and potential targets, but also the writing of a few articles each months, as well as customer relationship management and increased monitoring of audiences and statistics.
For a budget which is around 6,000 euros per month, more services are integrated, such as the design of emails, the development of the strategy or even the implementation of forms for Internet users. Finally, for a budget of around 10,000 euros all aspects of the marketing campaign are provided by the service provider.
Why are costs limited with this method?
Inbound marketing includes easily reducible costs. The company's internal resources can be used, particularly for the bulk of the work: namely the creation of content.
External resources can thus easily be limited to the creation of the website and the optimization of its referencing (SEO). Commercial costs are also limited since the consumer engages in the purchasing process on his own. The latter himself carries out the work usually carried out by salespeople: he obtains information, compares and tests the product alone.
Is the inbound marketing strategy malleable?
Most marketing actions are deployed by the company itself. In addition to the certain financial advantage that this provides, inbound marketing allows the company to quickly launch its operations.
By including an inbound marketing strategy in its mode of operation, the company arms itself with additional responsiveness and maintains control over the monitoring of operations: it can strengthen or correct it at any time, refine its choices when appropriate. seems to him, or simply stop it.
Does inbound marketing have managerial advantages?
Inbound marketing can be a strategy developed between the marketing department and the sales department. Given the longevity of the method, it is even imperative to have the different members of the company work together to obtain optimal results.
Concretely, marketing teams must generate traffic and a defined number of potential customers (leads), which sales teams will subsequently have to convert into customers.
Are there any downsides to this strategy?
Inbound marketing takes more time than a traditional marketing strategy. As you will have understood, it requires a clearly defined methodology, to be followed literally. Unlike buying space for example, the results are not imminent because it adapts to the target's purchasing journey. These are things to keep in mind before getting started, because it will sometimes be necessary to wait several months for SEO optimization and blog articles to start producing their first results.
Due to the multiplicity of tasks, inbound marketing, or content marketing, also requires a multitude of know-how to better target the prospect. So everyone must be on deck for the long term. Thus, changing working methods in a company can prove difficult and this new strategy may therefore be received with skepticism by employees. You should therefore not hesitate to be supported in its implementation by an inbound marketing agency.
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