AWP Internet Marketing Primer 7 Inbound Marketing Strategies

Transcription

1 AWP Internet Marketing Primer 7 Inbound Marketing Strategies Marketing has changed. The days of relying solely on the traditional channels of newspaper, radio, TV, conference appearances are over. The fact is that consumer behavior has been altered significantly. The Internet has revolutionized the way consumers shop. According to Forrester Research, 90% of Internet users browse or research products online. For over a decade, this new Internet age has allowed buyers to be in control. Many marketers have not adjusted their marketing strategy to account for today s search-savvy consumer. Your job as a marketer is not to find the reader, but to help those readers find you. If you want to attract the right readers those coveted consumers in your target audience your marketing needs to change by incorporating marketing tactics. Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy that focuses on getting found by consumers and putting your brand where it can be easily found by an audience already seeking relevant topics, material or services. Any marketing tactic that relies on earning people s interest instead of buying it qualifies as inbound marketing. 1

2 Strategy #1 PLAN. STRATEGIZE. EXECUTE Great inbound marketing is no different than any other marketing program it needs a solid plan founded in strategy and flawless execution. Inbound marketing is not a one-size fits all strategy. Before you get started, it is important to create a strategy and tactics to implement and manage. A well-designed strategy can result in a very high return on investment. Listed below are a few things to consider: What are your objectives and goals? If the goal is not measureable, it is not useful. What is your competitive landscape? Evaluate your competition s assets in order to stay ahead. What is your social presence? It is key to conduct an online brand audit to see what are people saying about your company. Determine how to highlight the positive and suppress the negative. Who is your target audience(s)? Do you have existing relevant content for those targeted audiences or do you need to create more? Chose marketing channels that fit with your book. For example, Facebook ranks as the most popular social network, used by 71% of respondents, proves particularly appealing to women (76%), year-olds (84%), and those with household income of less than $50,000 per year (76%). 2

3 STRATEGY #2 ORGANIC SEARCH GET OPTIMIZED. GET FOUND Search Engine Optimization (SEO) is the process used to optimize your website to get ranked by the search engines naturally. It is an effective way to get the ball rolling by ranking your website high and attracting prospects to your website. SEO has been proven to be one of the most cost effective forms of online marketing, delivering a higher return for every dollar invested over time. Effective SEO can attract thousands of targeted prospects to your website, and increase conversion rates by displaying the solution to their keyword search terms. Increasing your rank to one of the top three spots on the first page of searches, where most clicks go, can provide a massive return on your SEO investment when done properly. Old OUTBOUND Direct Mail Print ads Cold (Spam) TV & Radio ads Banner Ads Tradeshows New INBOUND Social Media SEO & Blogging Content Marketing Lead Nurturing Landing Pages Marketing Analytics 3

4 STRATEGY #3 PAID SEARCH IMPROVES OVERALL RESULTS. Search Engine Marketing (SEM) or Pay-Per-Click (PPC) is the process of gaining traffic by purchasing ads on search engines (Google Adwords for example). SEO and PPC have exactly the same goal: to provide search engine users with the information they re looking for and getting those interested buyers to your website. The consumer is coming to you, whether you have to pay for the click or not. And free clicks from organic search have costs, too all the time and work it takes to rank on the first page and to defend your rankings, if you can get there on SEO alone. Industry research indicates starting with a 65% SEM to 35% SEO budget and then shifting dollars over time as organic SEO program proves successful. STRATEGY #4 STAY IN FRONT OF LEADS THROUGH THE DECISION CYCLE. Remarketing in Google AdWords is another form of PPC that can help you reach people who have previously visited your website or landing pages. You can show these previous visitors ads that are tailored to them based on which sections of your site they visited. Your ads appear to them as they browse other sites that are part of the Google Display Network or as they search for terms related to your products on Google. Remarketing is extremely popular because of its cost effectiveness (your ads are being delivered to consumers who ve already engaged with you including those you ve already paid to get in front of via search) and ability to stay in front of leads throughout their decision cycle. If they don t convert to a warm prospect (companies and individuals with whom you've previously spoken or met) with the first interaction, you re able to try again while that consumer continues to search the Internet in the process of making their buying decision. 4

5 STRATEGY #5 SEARCH LOVES SOCIAL. Social media is crucial to your inbound marketing strategy and can be used to attract visitors, convert leads and even delight existing consumers. Social helps build your brand presence; it also impacts your natural search results. When it comes to impacting your website s position in search engines, you need to create both optimized and compelling content if you want to be found. Part of this is so that other websites will find your content and link to it, thus boosting your search ranking. What social media does is allow you to broadcast your content out to a wide range of interested prospects that visit your website, tell their friends and ultimately link to it. Google and Bing both pay attention to social signals like this when they decide how to rank links on the search results page. Social media can reduce your overall marketing costs. The ability to tweet a message or post something to Facebook is dramatically more cost effective (and measurable) than mailing thousands of marketing pieces or creating a television ad. According to a report from Gallup 2013 and posted on The Financial Brand, financial institutions saw an 18% lift in conversions of leads from social channels compared to 10% for newspaper ads and 8% via a rep on the phone. STRATEGY #6 GREAT CONTENT BUILDS YOUR BRAND. The only guaranteed way to reap significant dividends from inbound marketing is to create targeted content that addresses your prospective buyers burning desires or most pressing problems. Creating great content includes everything from writing compelling PPC ads to thought provoking blogs to informative and educational websites, microsites or landing pages. 5

6 Great content can set you apart from the crowd. If it s link-worthy, then your audience will spread it virally across their online networks. Social media is excellent for amplifying reach, bringing you quality traffic for weeks, months or even years. High quality SEO/SEM delivered in a personalized fashion by a truly versatile expert can inoculate your business against these risks ensuring that it not only survives but thrives. The same is true of other popular inbound marketing channels like marketing. STRATEGY #7 TRACK. MEASURE. REPORT. Beyond its ability to significantly aid lead generation, inbound marketing is praised for measurability. Understanding the demographics of your audience is important to determine which aspects of your marketing are working best in order to adjust your tactics. When it comes to the ability for consumers to find you online, you cannot ignore the power of today s Internet and inbound marketing channels. In 2013 alone, Google released 665 updates to its search algorithm or user interface. In the face of such rapid and frequent change, organizations cannot afford to remain static. You must decide if you re going to stay ahead of the competition or lag behind in the race to the top and staying ahead begins by changing the way you think about marketing. Thanks! Best of luck to you. I hope you find this roadmap helpful in making your marketing decisions. Moderator: Patti Frazee (pfrazee@pattifrazee.com) Participant: Gordon Thomas (gordonthomas@earthlink.net) Participant: Ellen Krug (ellenkrug75@gmail.com) Participant: Joe Lusso (joe@ijoe.us) 6