The Dos and Don’ts of Inbound Marketing [INFOGRAPHIC]

It is amazing the amount of small businesses who hire outside business consulting firms to help give guidance and ask the right questions. I believe we all have the desire to be told we are on the right track, and, at the same time, we have the sense to know that we won’t be right 100% of the time.

Failures happen, but some are preventable… like this tweet from Oprah about how much she loves the new Microsoft Surface:

I think sometimes we all need a reminder of what we are doing well and what we are doing wrong. Today we are looking at our infographic that shows 3 common ways that inbound marketing campaigns get it wrong and 4 ways to get it right.

A quick refresher on inbound marketing by way of definition from HubSpot:

“Inbound marketing is about using marketing to bring potential customers to you, rather than having your marketing efforts fight for their attention. Sharing is caring and inbound marketing is about creating and sharing content with the world. By creating content specifically designed to appeal to your dream customers, inbound attracts qualified prospects to your business and keeps them coming back for more.”

Now, to be clear, we are not talking about outbound (or traditional) marketing which focuses on you initiating the communication with your audience. With outbound marketing, you send your message out to your target audience. Examples of outbound marketing include: mailers, billboards, TV commercials, etc.

The key phrase for inbound marketing is: inbound attracts qualified prospects to your business and keeps them coming back for more. Odds are, this is nothing new to you as 3 out 4 marketers across the globe prioritize an inbound approach to marketing. Just ask yourself: Is there anything better than repeat, loyal customers who ultimately share their experience with others? When used correctly, inbound marketing will help develop relationships with the right people who are interested in what you have to offer.

Here we highlight the dos and don’ts of inbound marketing to help ensure that you will reach your target audience and increase sales:

Inbound marketing takes time. Allowing for your customers to get comfortable with who you are and the products and services you provide is key to your long-term success. It is imperative that you set realistic expectations on your marketing campaigns and how long it will take to see results.

Which leads to another key we want to highlight: Don’t forget to promote your content. Creating great content and just posting it on your website, and/or throwing it up on your Facebook page without promoting it, will only lead to frustration and missed opportunity. It takes spending time and money to ensure that your content is reaching your audience.

In Conclusion

Take time to understand who you are trying to reach and how best to find them and connect with them. It’s also a good idea to create a culture of references. Get people talking about your services and products to their friends and family. Word-of-Mouth advertising is the cheapest and can be the most effective way to gain loyal customers. But you have to plan for it. People talk. The question is: Will it be good or bad publicity? It depends on you, and your way of conducting business.

Here at i7 Marketing we pride ourselves on exercising innovation to meet the many marketing challenges your business will likely face. We can't wait to help you engineer your inbound marketing practices into a well-oiled success machine. Contact info@i7marketing.com or call (844) 777-7794 for a free consult.