We hear so much about making an inbound marketing strategy. The term has been kicking around for at least 10 years, but it was widely practiced before it became a business byword. We get the impression that it is almost universally practiced by companies that use the internet for marketing. Indirect marketers are bloggers, contributors to newspapers, experts on television and radio, talk show habitues and suppliers of expertise wherever possible.
Community Building
Inbound marketing has to do with building a community, developing a perception of you and your company as experts and as “go-to” people in your field. You are building a brand image, attracting potential prospects to your site using links, and then moving prospective customers through your website down a “sales funnel” with calls to action.
Indirect Marketing
The main departure point between advertising and inbound marketing is that inbound marketing is indirect. There are no direct sales pitches, and sometimes only indirect mention of your products. It's getting people interested in you, attracting them, then gently offering products that solve their problems that work. Indirect marketing means that potential customers qualify themselves.
What Do Inbound Marketers Blog About?
The best way to demonstrate what indirect may mean for your company is to describe, by living example, the kinds of things that experienced inbound marketers actually write about, so you can get the idea.
- A marketing company blogs about how to use data to make informative graphs and how to analyze the data so it makes sense and error is screened out.
- A lawyer who handles a lot of serious automobile accidents blogs about texting and the use of handheld cell phones among pedestrians.
- A company that offers software as a service (SaaS) blogs about the history and development of big data.
- A marketing company blogs about innovative startup companies controlling risk by using “lean” techniques.
The blogs focus on things the company ought to be expert about, but the connection to their product line is not always obvious. The blog is a gift of knowledge, information and experience that builds the credibility of the brand and the writer.
Clearly, the blogs posted by companies are ordinarily not completely irrelevant to their businesses. The company has to have a credible interest in the topic. But the blogs are offered as information and inspiration and do not push the organization's products directly.
Not Like Advertisements
When blogs begin to read repeatedly like product advertisements or promotional gimmicks, readers get bored with them with very fast. The blogs can actually backfire if they depict your company as deeply self-serving. Some companies write blogs that are distinctly opposed to their own best interest. These blogs can exemplify the company's public interest as well as the writer's expertise about far-reaching subjects.
Some more examples may make the point a little clearer:
- A consulting company that deals with risk and regulatory compliance blogs about the importance of separation of duties to enhance security and compliance.
- A company that supplies home assistance services to rural communities blogs about what it's like to live away from large cities and towns.
- An advertising company blogs about writing educational blogs about science.
- A company that makes trouble-shooting systems for mass-production machinery blogs about multichannel and omni-channel retail sales.
- A company that sells high-end knives to collectors writes blogs about the best kind of steel to use in knife blades.
Inbound marketing has to use materials that are perceived as a departure from traditional advertising. They have to be informative, inherently interesting, and well-written enough to draw in those people who have a passing interest in the subject. The blogs should also be able to attract visitors to enhance search engine rankings. Often blog posts use SEO techniques like linking to related pages. Importantly, each blog should point to or link directly back to your landing page. The landing page should be carefully designed as a selling funnel.
The Friedman Group, LLC helps individuals and businesses realize the benefits of email, inbound and social media marketing. Please contact us to see how we can help.
