Traditional marketing has a long history. If you’ve ever seen the popular Netflix series Mad Men, you have a general sense of what traditional marketing entails. You can think of it as being disruptive: a radio or television commercial, billboards, pop-up ads, and so on. No one is ever happy to listen to a commercial. But inbound marketing takes another approach. How is it different? Let’s take a look at how small business owners are using inbound marketing to generate leads—without annoying their customers.
Making Sense of Inbound Marketing
So we know things have changed dramatically since Don Draper was an ad man, but what’s new? Most essentially, inbound marketing is based on the drive to engage potential customers, rather than get their attention through disruptive means. We can think of inbound techniques more like an invitation.
This was quite the turnaround for marketing teams who adapted new strategies to keep up with tech innovations. And, it turns out that inbound methods are not only more effective, but they build longer lasting relationships with customers too.
Examples of Inbound Marketing
So we know that we don’t want to harass customers by spamming them with emails or obnoxious pop-up ads, but how do we get them to pay attention to our products and services? After all, we need to make a living.
Here are some trendy examples of inbound techniques that work:
- Social media campaigns
- Free webinars
- Podcasts
- How-to articles
- Infographics
- Blogging
- Useful or entertaining video
- Search engine optimization
- Downloadable guides and eBooks
Other Reasons to Choose Inbound Strategies
You may be wondering if there are other reasons to adapt your marketing, and there are! So what are some of the top benefits to successfully switching your marketing strategy over to inbound methods? When it comes to inbound techniques, your marketing efforts are spent on people who are interested in your products or services. This means high-quality leads are more likely.
It’s also easier to establish consumer trust when you aren’t bombarding potential customers with advertisements that they don’t want to see. Instead, you’re offering valuable content for free in order to engage their attention. As we learned in the section above, there are many different ways to accomplish this while beginning to build a connection with your target audience. And finally, inbound marketing can be more affordable than traditional marketing channels, which is always a bonus for small businesses that don’t have huge marketing budgets to spend on things like TV ads.
Take Your Marketing to the Next Level
The web has opened up new opportunities for small business owners and changed the landscape of marketing. Billions of people use the Internet all over the world, and we’re more connected than at any other point in history. This is good news for small business owners. Since potential customers are already searching for your products or services, your job is to become more visible than your competitors.
For help with your inbound marketing strategy, contact us at D-Kode technology for a free consultation. Schedule by calling (925) 332-1315 or use this easy contact form to get started today.
