Inbound Marketing: Providing Value to Your Audience

The Internet is loaded with all kinds of information - the good, the bad, and the ugly. Since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, consumers have been spending more and more time scouring the endless pages of what Google has to offer. So much so, that screen fatigue has become a common occurrence for both children and adults alike. What does this mean for marketers? In order to truly capture the attention of an audience, the content you put out into the world must be relatable, valuable, and genuinely desired by your target market. One way this is achieved is through inbound marketing.

What is inbound marketing?

Inbound marketing, or content marketing, is a type of campaign where the user initiates engagement with the brand, rather than the brand reaching out to gain consumer’s attention (HubSpot). The latter is called outbound marketing, and can be thought of as traditional advertising, sales calls, email campaigns - you name it. 

A common example of inbound marketing is a user researching a particular topic, then stumbling upon the blog section of a site where they find the answers to their questions and more. Once the user is on the site, they may choose to take a look at the other pages and maybe even make a purchase. Aside from blogging (which is great for getting people directly to your website), social media is the most popular method of inbound marketing. Social media is unique in that brands can engage back and forth with customers on a regular basis, while also feeding off of the energy and conversations already happening on the site. 

One way that some businesses simplify the distinction between inbound and outbound marketing is through price. Inbound marketing is almost always free whereas there is often a cost associated with outbound marketing (Adobe Experience Cloud Blog). This lower price point is one of the many benefits of inbound marketing. Another important benefit to mention is how effective inbound marketing is.

Why is inbound marketing so effective?

According to HubSpot, inbound marketing gets three times more conversions than paid advertising - this is quite a significant difference! There are countless reasons for this vast difference but today I’ll be highlighting just five of the most influential ones.

• CREDIBILITY: Content marketing offers something that is difficult to find elsewhere - credibility. Of course, reviews and referrals can bring credibility to the table but those methods rely on outside sources. Providing your audience with valuable information via content marketing proves that you are an authority in the industry and know what you’re talking about. This also leads to greater consumer trust in your products or services!

• LEAD GENERATION: Inbound marketing brings all kinds of new users to your website. Since they are already interested in the content you’re creating, it’s safe to assume that they would also be interested in your products or services. This means that the leads you gain from content marketing are more valuable than leads you may get from other methods, such as traditional advertising. 

• INCREASED BRAND AWARENESS: Even if a user isn’t intending to make any purchases, they can still benefit from your content. If your brand creates something that is valuable and worthwhile, then the user will notice and begin to trust your brand. Even if they don’t make a purchase for a long time, your brand will be at the top of their mind when they do eventually make that purchase decision. Additionally, if they have a social circle that is interested in the same topics, then they may share the content with others. This act improves both your brand’s reach and awareness! 

• CUSTOMER RETENTION: Content marketing is the gift that keeps on giving. If your brand is consistently releasing high-quality, relevant content, then your audience will stick around to see what’s coming next. By providing value that is separate from your products or services, customers will stay engaged and interested, even if they are not planning on making a purchase in the near future.

• IMPROVED SEO: By publishing content related to your industry, you are naturally filling your website with relevant keywords that potential customers are searching for. This means that search engines are ranking your website higher on the results page, therefore offering your brand greater visibility. Imagine the impacts if you intentionally use specific keywords to elevate your business! 

It’s important to remember that inbound marketing is only as effective as the methods used to create the content. Unrelated and unwanted content won’t yield the same results as well thought-out and well researched content would. Thus, it’s important to know your customer when creating content. 

Know your customer

If you don’t know what your target market’s needs and wants are, then how are you supposed to get them to engage with your content? It’s absolutely vital to perform market research before creating content or else your resources will be wasted. One way to perform this market research is by creating buyer personas. 

Buyer personas allow marketers to target their audience better by tailoring content to each segment’s wants and needs. Buyer personas are based on two things: demographic insights and buying insights (HubSpot). Demographic insights include factors such as age, income, and hobbies, while buying insights cover topics such as priorities and barriers to conversion. Combining these insights gives businesses the opportunity to know who to target and how to do so successfully. 

Getting to know your customer is also beneficial because it makes customers feel heard and appreciated. It helps build a stronger relationship which leads to increased brand loyalty, which, of course, leads to more sales in the long run. As always, understanding your customer is the key to great marketing, as it is with content marketing specifically. 

Great examples of content marketing

To wrap up this blog post, I’d like to highlight a few great examples of content marketing and explain what’s great about them.

• Grow With Google: Google offers countless courses in various topics to help bring more users to their services. Given the brand’s size and notoriety, these courses offer real value that is recognized and appreciated in many industries. 

• HubSpot’s Educational Resources: Much like Google, HubSpot offers various courses that are valuable to marketers. However, they took it a step further by creating blogs, podcasts, newsletters, and more in order to consistently have new content to share. They are leaders in the industry, in fact, they even created the term “inbound marketing.” Their innovation is admirable and is one of the many reasons why they are an industry leader in content marketing. 

• San Gennaro’s Recipes: San Gennaro is a client that I have worked for via Rhino Fine Foods. They sell something called polenta, which is a cornmeal-based food that is well known but not quite “popular.” Many people don’t know how to serve polenta, so they resolved this issue by sharing over 10 recipe ideas on their website. San Gennaro is one of the largest polenta producers in the US, however, these recipes still bring new customers to their brand in an organic and meaningful way. 

Overall, inbound marketing is one of the best and most cost-effective ways to expand your business’ reach. I hope I’ve inspired you to try it out for yourself and see what great content can do for you. Thank you for reading and happy creating!