Introduction to Inbound Marketing

JeetrainerCEOJeetrainers.com Twitter: @jeetrainers

This course is courtesy of inboundmarketing.com

Value of Inbound Marketing

Inbound marketing pulls buyers into your business

What is Outbound Marketing?

What is Outbound Marketing?

• Outbound Marketing (or traditional marketing) is the strategy of pushing your message onto your audience using techniques like telemarketing (cold calling), trade shows, direct mail, email blasts, print ads and TV/radio ads

Problem: Outbound Marketing Isn’t Working

800-555-1234AnnoyingSalesperson

Problem: Outbound Marketing Isn’t Working

• Outbound marketing strategies are becoming less effective in today’s world.

– We now have devices (e.g. spam blockers,

TiVo/DVRs, caller ID, etc.) that allow us to block out the messages being pushed onto us

– People are doing their own research to figure out which products and services they want to buy

Solution: Inbound Marketing

Content SEO Social Media

Solution: Inbound Marketing

• Inbound Marketing (or modern marketing) is marketing using techniques focused on getting found by prospects; inbound marketing is a more efficient and cost-effective way to do marketing. Pull in customers to your business by creating content, optimizing that content for search engines and promoting and sharing that content in social media

• A helpful overview of inbound marketing can be found at http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/4416/Inbound-Marketing-the-Next-Phase-of-Marketing-on-the-Web.aspx

Good News About Inbound Marketing

Budget (Outbound) Brains (Inbound)

Flickr: Andrew Magill

Flickr: Joakim Jardenberg

Good News About Inbound Marketing

• Outbound marketing depends on the size of your wallet; inbound marketing depends on the size of your brain!

– You can only do outbound marketing if you have a lot of money.

– If you have a lot of brains (intelligence), do inbound marketing.

More Good News: Lower Cost Per Lead

Source: survey of hundreds of businesses: HubSpot.com/ROI

Inbound marketing-focused companies have a 60% lower cost-per-lead than outbound marketing-focused companies.

Success Drives Investment in Inbound

Source: Survey of hundreds of businesses from HubSpot.com/ROI

Why Businesses Are Changing Marketing Budgets

Key Questions to Get Started

1. Am I regularly creating new, share-worthy content?

2. Am I optimizing my content for search and social media?

3. Am I promoting my content in social media conversations?

4. Am I converting as many visitors into leads and sales as I can?

When getting started in inbound marketing, make sure you ask your team these questions:

4 Steps to Successful Inbound Marketing

1. Create

2. Optimize

3. Promote

4. Convert & Analyze

Step 1: Create Content

1. Create

2. Optimize

3. Promote

4. Convert & Analyze

Inbound Marketers are Publishers

Stop thinking like amarketer or advertiser.

Start thinking like apublisher and socializer.

Publish Everything, Everywhere

Publish ALL of your content. This can be in the form of a blog, podcast, videos, photos, presentations, eBooks or news releases.

Blogging: A Great Way to Get Started

Source: Data from over 1,500 small businesses - http://hub.tm/BlogROI

What Gets Shared?

Rarely Shared

FrequentlyShared

• Product info• Software documentation• Content about YOU

• New market data• Educational content• Content about your industry

What Gets Shared?

• Publish content that has the greatest chance of being shared by others.

• Types of content that rarely gets shared:– Product info– Software documentation – Content that is all about you

• Types of content that frequently gets shared:– New market data (market/industry

research/reports/studies)– Educational content; Top-notch blog articles– Content about your industry

Step 2: Optimize

1. Create

2. Optimize

3. Promote

4. Convert & Analyze

Google is Judge, Jury & Executioner

HubSpot.com/cartoons

Google is Judge, Jury & Executioner

• Google decides whether your content will rank well in search engines.

• Remarkable, search engine optimized content gives your content its best chance of ranking well in Google.

SEO = Context + Authority

Ranking Algorithm:f(n): Context + Authority

SEO = Context + Authority

Ranking Algorithm:f(n): Context + AuthorityThe two key elements in determining whether your content will rank well in

Google are context and authority.

Context = on-page SEOAuthority = off-page SEO

25% On-Page SEO (Context)

1. Page Title

2. Clean URL

3. Headers & Content

4. Description

25% On-Page SEO (Context)

• There are four main components of on-page SEO, or optimizing the content of your web page for search engines.

• Make sure to use your best keywords within those four locations.

• However, Google bases only 25% of your content’s ranking on on-page SEO

75% Off-Page SEO (Authority)

Authority is Determined by Inbound Links

75% Off-Page SEO (Authority)

• Google bases 75% of your content’s ranking on off-page SEO– Your content’s authority is determined by the quality and quantity

of the inbound links pointing to your content.– Inbound links = links to your content from another website

• Recommendations from Friends:1.“I know Jane Doe.” (Good)2.“Jane Dow is a marketing expert.” (Better)3.You trust the person saying this. (Best)

• Links Are Online Recommendations1.A link: www.inboundmarketing.com (Good)2.Anchor Text: Inbound Marketing University (Better)3.Link is from a trusted website (Best)

More and Better Content more Links

Source: Data from selected websites using www.WebsiteGrader.com

Step 3: Promote

1. Create

2. Optimize

3. Promote

4. Convert & Analyze

Remember: It’s Not About You, EVER!

HubSpot.com/cartoons

Remember: It’s Not About You, EVER!

• There is a fine line between self-adulation (the promotion of accomplishments) and self-promotion (the promotion of ideas). – Nathan Hangen of Copyblogger – Focus on the latter, not the former – People want to consume helpful content, not

information about you.

Target Your Content

Target content to your marketing

personas.

Target Your Content

• Think about your target audience(s) for your products/services.

• Create and define personas for each (there may be more than one).

• Always think of your personas when creating content.• Ask yourself:

– Would this piece of content appeal/be helpful to one or all of my personas?

Create an Engaging Presence

Create an Engaging Presence

• A few examples of places to engage in social media are the comments section of a blog post, a Facebook Fan Page or a Twitter account.– Social media involvement is a two-way street– Create an engaging presence by encouraging

discussions and sharing engaging and thought-provoking content (e.g. online events, videos, Facebook discussions blog articles, etc.)

Promote Content via Social Media

Remarkable Content

Make Sharing Easy

Sharing

• Share links to your content on social media sites and throughout appropriate online social networks.

• Sharing content regularly will also help build your network on those channels.

• Include “share buttons” on your blog posts and other content. – Promoting content yourself is important, but help

others spread and share your content by making it easy for them to do so

– Include share buttons on all of your content– Provoke brand evangelism

Social Media Promotion Generates Leads & Sales

Source: survey of hundreds of businesses: HubSpot.com/ROI

• Companies that actively use a social media channel are acquiring customers from that channel.– For example: 46% of companies who actively publish

a company blog have acquired a customer from that blog.

– Social media engagements = ROI – Companies are acquiring customers as a result of

their involvement in social media channels.

Social Media Promotion Generates Leads & Sales

Step 4: Convert

1. Create

2. Optimize

3. Promote

4. Convert & Analyze

Put Calls to Action on All Your Content

• Include a call to action on the bottom of your blog posts.– Calls to action are offers that prompt people to fill out

a form on a landing page, which converts a visitor into a lead.

– Calls to action are critical to lead generation.

Put Calls to Action on All Your Content

Use Landing Pages with Forms

Use Landing Pages with Forms

When someone clicks on a call to action, it should bring them to a landing page with a form.

Landing pages with forms covert website visitors into leads that a sales team can follow up with.

Track Your Conversion Rate & Analytics

• Be sure to measure your different landing pages and their rates of conversion.– Conversion is the percentage of visitors who

converted into leads.– Keep track of your conversion rates & analytics to

determine which calls to action are working.

Track Your Conversion Rate & Analytics

Analyze Your Marketing

• Marketing analytics are an important part of your inbound marketing programs.– Track the sources of your traffic to understand which

channels send the best traffic and leads.– Monitor these analytics daily and evaluate which

techniques are working and which aren’t.– Use this data to modify your inbound marketing

campaigns to do more of what works and less of what doesn’t.

Analyze Your Marketing

Inbound Marketing Summary

Convert & Analyze

Get Certified in Inbound Marketing

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Learn about topics including social media, SEO, blogging, public relations, lead generation, marketing analytics, etc.

Get certified in inbound marketing!

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