Inbound marketing is one of the most effective ways to grow a business online. In the old days, before the rise of the internet, companies would rely on chasing people with ads, while inbound marketing focuses on attracting people who are already looking for what you offer.
If you’re new to inbound marketing, it may seem a little overwhelming and new. But the following guide aims to break the whole process down into simple, practical steps. By the end, you’ll understand how to build an inbound marketing strategy that brings in the right customers and helps your business grow.
What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is all about attracting customers to your business by providing value. Instead of bombarding large audiences with advertisements, you instead focus on creating quality content that informs your audience and solves a problem. This way, when people search online for solutions to their needs, they will find your content, and eventually discover your business.
Inbound marketing usually includes a range of different content, such as:
- Blog articles
- Long-form content e.g. whitepapers and ebooks
- Video tutorials
- Infographics
- Short form social media content e.g. Instagram Reels and TikTok videos
The particular type of content you use will depend on your target audience and the platforms you use. But however you use inbound marketing, the goal is the same: attract, engage, and convert.
So how do you create an inbound marketing strategy? The key steps are outlined below.
Define your ideal customer
Before you create any content, you need to know who you’re creating it for. There is no one-size-fits-all approach to inbound marketing, as different information will resonate differently across the board.
Start by looking at who you wish to target and building a basic customer profile. Ask yourself questions such as:
- What industry are they in?
- What job title do they have?
- What problems do they face?
- What are their values?
- What goals are they trying to achieve?
- What questions do they search for online?
This profile doesn’t need to be hugely complicated. Even a one-page summary of your ideal customer will help guide your content and messaging. When you understand your audience, you can precisely tailor content towards them, and your inbound marketing becomes much more effective as a result.
Set clear goals
Inbound marketing works best when you have clear business goals in mind. Ask yourself what you want to achieve from your strategy. For example, you might want to grow your website traffic, build an email subscriber list, get more qualified leads, or bring in more sales calls.
Once again, your particular goals will depend on the exact nature of your business but it’s important you choose them carefully and build your strategy around them. Blogging and search engine optimisation are great ways to increase organic traffic, while if your goal is to increase sales conversions, content such as case studies may be more effective. Whatever method you use, having clear goals will keep you focused along the way and enable you to measure your success.
Create high-quality content
When it comes to inbound marketing, content is king. Remember that your content should not be overly self-promotional, as this does not add value and won’t attract an engaged audience. Instead, focus on creating content that solves real problems.
Examples of inbound content include:
- Blog posts
- How-to guides
- Checklists
- Videos
- Infographics and charts
- Webinars
- Case studies
Remember that quality matters far more than quantity. Start simple with one high-value blog post per week and build up the momentum over time. Create a content calendar to help you plan and schedule your posts in advance.
Optimise content for search engines (SEO)
Search engine optimisation (SEO) helps people find your content through Google and other search engines. All content should be created with SEO in mind. Focus on strategies such as using the keywords your audience searches for, adding internal links between website pages, and making content concise and easy to read.
Done correctly, SEO enables your content to attract visitors organically.
Build inbound links
Inbound links, also known as backlinks, are links from other websites to your site. They are one of the most important factors in SEO. When a reputable website links to your content, search engines like Google see your site as more trustworthy and authoritative.
You can build inbound links by:
- Creating valuable content others want to reference
- Guest posting on relevant blogs
- Getting listed in industry resources
- Running digital PR campaigns
- Reaching out to relevant websites in your niche
Many businesses choose to outsource link building to save time and get better results. For example, companies like fatjoe specialise in link building services to help small businesses grow.
Promote your content on social media
Once you have created your quality content, you need to make sure it is seen by the right audiences. Share your content across your social media platforms to maximise its reach. You don’t need to use every single platform there is. Just focus your efforts on the ones where you know your audience will be. This depends on your customer profile. If your audience are businesspeople in their fifties and above, LinkedIn will probably be your best bet. On the other hand, if you are targeting Gen Z groups, TikTok will be invaluable.
Capture and nurture
The goal of inbound marketing is to turn visitors into leads, and then ultimately nurture them towards a sale.Adding conversion tools to your website is a simple way to capture information and generate leads. This may include email sign-up forms, downloadable resources, or newsletter subscriptions. A lead’s information is valuable to you, so you need to provide something of value in return for their email address.
Once you have captured your leads’ information, you can use email marketing to build trust. Send emails that continue to provide value, sharing helpful content and answering questions they might have. Introduce your products and services gently, avoiding being overly sales-focused. The worst thing you can do is come across as pushy. Over time, these emails will help you turn leads into customers.
Analyse and improve
Inbound marketing does not work overnight. You will get some things right and some things wrong. It’s important you track your metrics to ascertain what is going well and what needs to improve. Look at metrics like website traffic, keyword rankings, email signups and lead conversions. Update content and messaging accordingly and don’t be afraid to try new things. With patience, your hard work will pay off in the end.
