The role of content in a good Inbound Marketing strategy

Lately, it seems that everyone is talking about Inbound Marketing as the potential solution to the problems of almost any company. The truth is that often, the subject of what exactly inbound means is ignored.

Before going into detail, let’s take a few steps back to get one thing straight: what is Inbound Marketing and what distinguishes it from traditional marketing?

The main reason why traditional marketing is no longer as effective as it was years ago is that is focuses on promoting a product without paying attention to what the customer wants or needs.
From this breakdown comes the need to create a strategy which is 100% focused on customers and their needs. This is Inbound Marketing: providing customers with effective solutions for their current problems.

The time for aggressively pursuing customers has come to an end. Though there are those who still believe in this form of advertising, the results speak for themselves.

 

The four stages of Inbound Marketing

Although it may be true that the future of marketing is inbound, you may be asking yourself: “Where do I start?”.

The first thing you should understand are the four stages of this methodology: attract, convert, close, and build loyalty. Each one of these stages represents a step your prospect – or customer – takes along the Customer Journey.

The “attraction” stage of the methodology should focus on turning strangers into visitors by attracting them to a website.
The perfect hook is usually an article on a blog or an attractive post on social media. Once they are visitors, the next step is to turn them into potential customers.
How do you do this?

By collecting their contact information. The crucial element for setting up a new line of communication is their email address.

 

 

But, of course, you will have to offer something in exchange for someone to want to provide you with their information. In this phase, we find ebooks, technical documents, and specialist guides. There are infinite formats which work, as long as they provide value.

The next step is to turn those potential customers into real customers. To take this step, it’s likely that you will need to use emails or another CRM strategy.

Of course, your efforts can’t stop when you achieve a sale. You should aim to delight your customers and have them participate after this to generate loyalty to your brand.

Why? Because a loyal customer becomes, generally, a “word of mouth” promotor of your brand, therefore attracting new customers.

 

Content Marketing = Inbound Marketing?

 

In many ways, content marketing and inbound marketing are very similar.

The aim of both is to attract customers instead of invading their space with an advert, for shoes for example, when they are looking for something completely unrelated (such as medical services).

The main difference is that content marketing is one element of inbound, or in better words, it’s THE most important element. It is the king and the main player in this methodology.

Because, think about it: once you get visitors, what are you offering them in return?

Content is your most effective and cost-effective ally when it comes to pleasing your target. This is more than proven.

Now, it’s possible that the term “content” is too vague or too broad, so let’s make it as clear as possible:

In Inbound Marketing, this is what we understand by “content” and what brands use to achieve the majority of their objectives.

• Content for social media (this includes all types of posts in all formats. Photos, videos, boomerangs… Facebook, IG Stories, Twitter, Pinterest. The list is infinite).
• Blog posts
• Ebooks
• Web seminars
• Tutorials
• Infographics
• Case studies
• Practical guides
• Testimonials

If you go about it in a smart way, you can develop a strategy which combines the qualities of several of these formats to attract visits and generate conversions like never before.

Content and SEO, always hand in hand

What do you need in order to position your brand? Among other things, to make sure it appears as one of the first results in search engines. You achieve this with SEO. SEO, for its part, is based on great content.

In fact, a long time ago Tech Client established that the creation of content is the most effective SEO tactic. So much so that websites which publish content appear indexed in search engines 434% more than those which don’t publish anything. Basically, Google rewards you for creating content.

Remember that Google has the ability to identify the quantity and quality of the key words, among other things, that you have used in your texts. In addition, the more texts you publish and the more words they contain, the more your visitors will have to explore, which will increase the time they spend on your website. Again, Google will reward you for this.

So just for this reason, I’ll write this sentence for the sole purpose of keeping you reading a few seconds longer. Sorry. Couldn’t resist.

More conversions, lower price

If there is still any doubt in your mind as to the relevance of content in an inbound strategy, prepare to say goodbye to it as you read the following statistics:

• In a survey carried out by Curata, 74% of the companies in the sample attributed the quantity and quality of their leads to content marketing.
• The conversion rates of content marketing are six times higher than those for other marketing strategies, according to ABG Essentials.
• According to a study by Econsultancy, 61% of consumers in the United States buy a product or hire a service after reading a recommendation.

These are just some of the statistics showing how much content, more than any other tool, can help you to achieve conversions. Why? It helps you to connect with potential customers, educate them, and attend to their needs. This allows you to build a relationship of confidence which leads to them choosing your brand above any other.

And, in case all we’ve mentioned up to now isn’t quite enough, content marketing is also one of the most cost-effective ways to grow your business. According to a study carried out by DemandMetric, content marketing is 62% less costly than traditional marketing and generates 3 times more leads for each dollar invested.

So, have you decided on your next content strategy?

Don’t let even one more second go by.