Inbound Marketing

What Is Inbound Marketing? Definition, Advantages, and Examples

April 2022

Inbound marketing is a methodology based on attracting your target customers by accompanying them during the entire process from the time they first come into contact with your brand until they become loyal customers.


The inbound marketing methodology is based on a series of non-intrusive techniques which help brands to:

  • Attract visitors and traffic to their websites.
  • Push these visitors to become customers by encouraging contacts who are potentially interested in converting and who it's possible to establish a long-term relationship with.
  • Automate the marketing process so that conversions take less time.

It is necessary to emphasize that non-invasive techniques are key. It is about inviting the client to come to you instead of impinging on their daily lives with aggressive advertising.

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What is inbound marketing?

 

Index

 

Inbound Marketing Definition

The definition of inbound marketing is creating content or even experiences specifically tailored to your audience or the audience that you would like to attract. This helps you connect with them in a more natural way.

 

The Five Fundamentals of the Inbound Marketing Methodology

To better understand inbound marketing, it is important to know the five fundamentals of inbound marketing which are traffic attraction, conversion, marketing automation, loyalty, and analysis.

 

1. Attracting Traffic

The first step is to attract users to the brand's website. However, instead of seeking to generate visits in a massive way, focus on bringing quality users to the website, users who match your ideal client profile or buyer persona.


This can be achieved through a variety of techniques such as:

  • SEO: if you work on positioning your website within the first spots of major search engines, it will appear as a response to the user's needs at the right time.
  • Content Marketing: offering users valuable content at the moment they need it will reinforce the process.
  • Social networks: using them as diffusion channels to help your content reach users.

 

2. Conversion

Once a user has reached your website, you want them to leave their data, thereby becoming a lead and continuing to receive information from you.

 

To convert users into potential customers, the classic strategy is to provide them with valuable content in exchange for leaving their data in a form. But there are many other options, such as offering test demonstrations, meetings, or interacting with them through a phone call or chat. In any case, the objective will always be to get their data and add their information to your database.

 

3. Marketing Automation

This pillar of inbound marketing is based on systematizing the process by which you communicate with your leads until they become customers. For this, you can use techniques such as:

  • Lead scoring. A technique based on designing an evaluation system that allows you to objectively assess the likelihood of a lead becoming a client.
  • Lead nurturing. Based on the score obtained and the characteristics of the lead, you design a series of automatic flows to send relevant information to your contacts according to their needs.

 

4. Loyalty

The process does not end when you manage to convert a lead into a client. The next step is to get this client to stay with you for as long as possible as a result of loyalty strategies, such as newsletters, offers, and incentives.

 

Designing an effective loyalty strategy is very beneficial for the company, since maintaining a client is much less expensive than acquiring a new client from scratch.

 

5. Analysis

No inbound marketing strategy is complete if you do not have a plan to measure and analyze the results. For this, you will have to carefully define the KPIs (key performance indicators), which are the most relevant metrics to assess whether your strategy is succeeding or not.


It is also necessary to establish periodic controls to analyze the results and adjust previously established actions if needed. This will improve your inbound strategy.

 

 

The Inbound Marketing Conversion Funnel

Inbound marketing is based on accompanying users throughout the process from when they meet you until they become loyal customers. Therefore, it is important to know in detail how this process works and which strategies are the most appropriate for each stage.


The conversion funnel is an essential tool to understand this process. It is a graphic representation of the different stages of the consumer's journey. Its funnel shape is due to the number of users decreasing in each stage. If we want to achieve X conversions, the number of users we have to attract to the website will have to be greater than X.


Within the conversion funnel we can distinguish three main stages:

  • TOFU (top of the funnel or first contact). In this phase, users have just detected they have a need which they attempt to address. Therefore, in this phase we must have content that responds broadly to the different needs of users, such as ebooks, infographics, or tutorials. We can also use display advertising, video campaigns on social networks, and native advertising.

  • MOFU (middle of the funnel, when the user is evaluating different options). After the initial investigation, the user considers different options that could potentially satisfy their need. Here, it is necessary to offer content with a higher degree of specialization, such as interviews with experts, detailed guides, testimonials, or videos that show your product. Among the most appropriate advertising strategies are email marketing, social ads, and retargeting.

  • BOFU (bottom of the funnel or closing the sale). Here, the user is practically ready to convert. To encourage them, we can offer free trials, launch offers, and specialized services. SEM and social ads can be helpful here.

     

 

Benefits of Inbound Marketing

The benefits of inbound marketing speak for themselves. According to the study “The Results of Inbound Marketing,” this methodology enables you to:

  • Generate qualified leads and approximately 12 registrations for every 370 visits.
  • Duplicate the qualified marketing contacts of a company by two in one year and by seven in two years.
  • Multiply leads by five in one year and by 14 in two years.
  • Increase visits to your website. In the first year these can be multiplied by 4 and in the second, by 12.
  • Effectively market for companies in all sectors. B2Bs have more conversions from visit to registration, but B2Cs register a greater increase in accumulated visits.

However, numbers are not everything. It is also necessary to bear in mind that inbound marketing is a long-term investment that multiplies the assets of your company. Thanks to inbound marketing, we can achieve the following results.

  • Own content that positions the company as an expert in the sector and that can be profitable for years.
  • Own channels for organic and direct customer acquisition,  independent of the means of payment.
  • A database of qualified contacts that will grow over time.
  • Greater reach and community around the brand.
  • Strengthening your company's brand, thanks to a greater number of visits and interactions.
  • A series of marketing automation processes that result in permanent resource savings.

We hope all this information has been helpful to organize your ideas and know a little more about inbound marketing and how we do it at Cyberclick. If you want to continue learning, we recommend you take a look at these articles.

  • SEO: the advantages of SEO (search engine optimization) in inbound marketing and how it can help you attract qualified traffic to your website. 
  • Content: content strategy is an essential part of inbound marketing. Discover the keys to create relevant and valuable content to attract more visitors.
  • Social: social networks are fundamental channels of diffusion within your inbound marketing strategy. Discover how to take advantage of organic and paid options.
  • Generating leads the goal of any inbound strategy is to generate quality leads on a regular basis.
  • Inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing: both inbound and outbound can help you achieve your goals. Here, you can find out the differences between them and how to combine them in your strategy.

Do not forget the most important step: starting your own inbound marketing strategy! If you are looking for ways to attract new customers and retain them long term, we would love to help you with that goal and be part of your team. We can help you attract visitors to your website, accompany them throughout the conversion process, and automate the communication process to make your life much easier.

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