Not everybody promotes a business or product. Some advocate for causes and awareness. Despite having no financial gain, nonprofit organizations still need to conduct marketing for various reasons. If you want to forward your cause, nonprofit marketing is something you cannot ignore.
What is Nonprofit Marketing?
Every effort that involves widespread awareness without any form of financial gain in the end falls under nonprofit marketing. It is more challenging as costs should be kept as little as possible since there is no expected return on investment.
Uses of Nonprofit Marketing
Despite not making any revenue, nonprofit organizations still need marketing for multiple reasons.
Creating Awareness
Problems in society usually go unsolved because they are rarely recognized. When the people affected are a minority or financially disadvantaged, they usually don’t get the attention they deserve. Nonprofit marketing makes sure that their voices are heard. It guarantees that the issues where advocacies stem from resonate around people and communities.
Nonprofit Marketing Promotes Causes and Services
Nonprofit groups provide at least one form of service. It will go unutilized if the people who are supposed to be recipients of these are not aware of its existence. In most cases, disadvantaged people are the ones who have the least access to informational outlets. As a result, it makes nonprofit marketing all the more important.
Fundraising
With the only source of financial support being donations, it is important for nonprofit organizations to constantly seek for donors. Nonprofit marketing ensures that fundraising programs resonate around societies and communities. The wider the reach, the more funds that can be raised.
Another aspect that keeps nonprofit organizations running is the involvement of volunteers. People who do not seek any financial gain from their labor keep the movement afloat. As a result, there is always the constant need to have members sign up and lend a helping hand. The more the general public understands the advocacies of a nonprofit organization through nonprofit marketing, the more it can generate individual involvement.
Encourage Recurring Donations
People want to know where their money is going and whether they are actually helping. Continuous nonprofit marketing campaigns give reassurance to donors that their money is at play. The more satisfied they are with the outcome of their donations, the more likely they are going to continue.
Drive Political and Social Change
Issues placed under the spotlight spreads awareness. Gradually, it will impact individual outlook and drive changes in both political and social aspects.
Challenges of Nonprofit Marketing
Only a majority of for-profit marketing strategies can be applied with nonprofit marketing. There are usually problems with nonprofit organizations that make the marketing process more difficult.
Audience Niche
Whereas for-profit organizations sell either a product or service with the aim to address a consumer need, nonprofit organizations market advocacies which don’t really fit well with a vast majority of audiences. In most cases, a single campaign doesn’t urge the need for cooperation from a number of people. It is only during repeated marketing does a social issue become more understandable and recognized.
Financial Constraints
The lack of a consistent source of funding urges nonprofit marketing to cost as little as possible. While marketing limits by businesses are dictated by the profit their product makes, nonprofit marketing is always about being the cheapest and most effective.
Contradicting Ideologies
Not everybody shares the same belief. Helping the poor is not going to be a concern for individuals that believe hard work is the solution to poverty. What this means is that there are going to be people that are impenetrable to your nonprofit marketing.
Tips for Nonprofit Marketing
Without a doubt, achieving nonprofit marketing success is a huge hurdle. However, applying the right approaches can make a lot of difference.
Understand Your Audience
Not everybody is going to be the same. Some are going to be more susceptible to certain forms of marketing over another. It is important to know what your audience wants to hear in order to feed them with the right type of information that will win their sympathy and support for your nonprofit organization. So, have different types of approaches for different demographics, cultures, age groups, and so on.
Advertise Your Goal
While it is helpful for people to know what you are doing, it is better to advertise what is the end goal. People are much more susceptible to the idea that their efforts are contributing to something bigger. Take it this way, advertising that your purpose is to save starving children from the streets is going to leave a lasting impression than just telling people that you are conducting a feeding program.
Segment Your List
Don’t overwhelm your audience with your programs and what you aim to achieve. A single nonprofit marketing campaign should focus on one goal and target audience. Putting too many too much on one advertisement can lead to confusion.
Use Current Events
Capitalize on what is happening around society. People are not going to sympathize with a social issue unless they see it first-hand. For example, if the news is all about environmental catastrophes, use this to leverage on spreading environmental awareness.
Nonprofit Marketing Strategies
As a nonprofit organization, you are going to want to perform the most cost-efficient marketing strategies. These are ones that capitalize on audience engagement instead of marketing material quantity.
Content Marketing
Content marketing is about gaining the attention of your audience through valuable content. Generally, you provide material that is related to your advocacy but is also informative in its own way. People get educated objectively and are then more likely to be susceptible to an advocacy.
Objective content is shareable. An article about poverty can be referenced and shared by a number of people. As a result, your advertisement is propelled by the engagement of your audience.
Social Media Marketing
With almost every person having at least one type of social media account, advertising in these platforms is the most logical thing to do. Starting an account or page is free and it is relatively easy to begin engagement. You can have your friends and acquaintances share your posts which can set off a series of domino effects.
Inbound Marketing
Understanding your audience and giving them an emotional experience is the idea of inbound marketing. When you are advertising a cause or advocacy, engaging your audience emotionally is what you are going to want. It is going to require more manpower and engagement, but it creates long-term followers. Achieving this involves emailing, follow-ups, and talking personally to your audience.
In Conclusion
Marketing itself is not an easy task, let alone that there is no financial gain in the end. While the number of challenges and hurdles are numerous, it is not impossible. It is just going to take a little more effort and patience.
If your nonprofit organization has some funding to spare and would want to immediately propel your advocacy, the help of the best marketing agencies can make all the difference. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.
Marketing strategies have evolved throughout the years and it should be. People’s preferences are constantly changing especially with the dawn of social media. It has become the biggest platform for marketing, both paid and free. Along with it comes a new job known as a social media manager.
What is A Social Media Manager?
The person mainly responsible for curating your social media accounts is your social media manager. Whether it may be Facebook, Instagram or Twitter, they create and design how your pages are going to look. This includes creating and choosing the right photos, themes, and aesthetic.
They come up with your social media marketing campaign. Everything from what to post and when to post it. It is their key role to keep your accounts active and engaging to cultivate an audience and positive branding.
It is also crucial for them to look into the statistics. How far was the reach? What were the hindrances that led to the results? What could be improved? How can a campaign be saved? These are going to be questions that a social media manager needs to come up with answers.
Must-have Social Media Manager Skills
When talking about skills, these are what your social media manager can do. With the vast and vague work that they have, they need to be equipped in a number of tools. We broke them down one-by-one.
Copywriting
A skill that is not just specific to social media managers, but to every profession related to marketing. If you want to catch the attention of your audience, you have to be well-equipped in forging your words. In social media, this skill is a prerequisite in aspects like making tweets, posts, and captions for your photos and products.
Check Graphic Design Skills in A Social Media Manager
Every great social media page is going to need photos. So, it is essential that your social media manager is capable of using one type of photo editing software. The most common would be Photoshop, but anything would do as long as it allows high quality graphic editing and production.
Video Editing
Videos are another way to create widespread engagement in your social media pages. In order to do so, you are going to look out for experience with at least one type of video editing software. Remember that the quality of your videos will impact your branding. The higher the production quality, the stronger your influence.
Customer Support and Engagement is An Important Social Media Manager Skill
Since this is a social media account, your audience is going to try to reach you. It could be through a message, email, mention, or comment. There are a lot of forms of engagement in social media and you are going to want to engage your audience. The question is, who answers all of those? Again, it is the social media manager, which makes customer engagement an essential skill.
Analytics
Success doesn’t immediately come in social media marketing. Therefore, it is essential to track data and progress. Analyze what material has penetration to your audience. Understand what content and quality is likely going to be shared and engaged. Create a demographic for your followers to optimize social media marketing campaigns.
Social Media Manager Must-Have Traits
What differentiates a trait from a skill is that it is an innate feature of a person that determines how efficient they are going to use a skill. Therefore, traits are as important as skills. Simply put, what are you going to do with someone who is well-versed with Photoshop but is not creative? So, here are the traits that your social media manager must have.
Hardworking
Cliche as it may sound, every social media manager should be hardworking. Audience engagement is going to come in around the clock. As a result, they are going to have to put in a lot of work hours into the profession and be at their best during those times.
Creative Social Media Manager
Everybody in the field of marketing needs to be creative. It is the most essential trait that cultivates an engaging and attention-seeking marketing campaign. From the photos to be created and used to copywriting, everything needs a vast amount of creativity to stand out from the competition.
Curious
What makes the audience tic? What do they like and how do they like it being presented? Do they want articles or would rather see more photos? A constantly questioning social media manager is going to be able to make better changes to the marketing campaign. It will allow a constantly improving effort that will provide better reach and more engagement.
A Social Media Manager that Solves Problems
Most employees would rather settle for the bare minimum of their work. However, that is not an option for social media managers. They need to understand the problem at hand and find ways to provide a solution. There will always be something to improve on as well as problems to solve. So, someone who is eager to get to the bottom of each is someone you are surely going to want.
Business Savvy
At the end of the day, you are still running a business. All those engagements and followers are not going to mean anything if they don’t make a purchase. Therefore, other than creating active social media platforms, your manager should also integrate the marketing campaign in a way that will turn your leads into customers.
Your Social Media Manager Must Be Able to Adapt
It is not possible to completely understand people. No matter how much psychological concepts you apply, your audience can still possibly act beyond what you expect. When it does happen, your social media manager must be fast to act. If one opinion no longer sells, they must be fast to have a smooth transition to another.
What Role Does A Social Manager Have in Your Success?
Social media is now the highest form of marketing. It is free in most cases and it is the most readily available platform that customers can reach out to. As a result, not having one can mean losing out on a huge customer market.
Alternatively, your social media manager makes sure that your pages are constantly found. It is an effort that creates new followers everyday which opens up the possibility for more customers. Ultimately, it is your social media manager that holds a huge role in the growth of your market.
It is not just great to have them, but a necessity. However, if you think that it might be too much of a hassle to handle, we suggest you take the easier path. That’s right, you can skip all the hard parts by looking for the best social media marketing agencies. Contact us today for a free strategy consultation.
An era of choice. That is what a lot of people would describe this time. Almost everything is at the palm of our hands. We don’t want to get handed with anything, instead we want to choose what’s best for us. This is the reason why conventional marketing strategies no longer fit today’s demographic, and so comes content marketing. Along with the dawn of a new type of strategy comes a new form of profession, content marketing manager.
What is Content Marketing?
The idea of content marketing has been around for quite a while. You might have gotten into a website and experienced its results first hand, you just didn’t know it. In its core, content marketing is creating value for your brand by producing quality content related to your industry.
Still confused? For example, if you are running a shoe brand, you create content that aims to help your audience such as how to choose the right shoe, different types of footwear, and so on. By being the helpful guide that you are, a customer is likely to be more inclined to purchase your products.
When you compare this to conventional marketing strategies which involves showing people what they don’t need through ads, this is the more economical strategy. You are creating content for people who are already in the market to seek your products. What happens is that you don’t end up investing in a strategy that is aimed on people who have no affinity to approach your brand.
Content marketing pillars on the concept of putting value on your brand. The more helpful content you produce, the more valuable you become, with or without your products. Once you have generated customer trust and loyalty, converting leads to customers is a simple task.
Want to go further deeper into strategies that help build your brand value? You might want to check inbound marketing strategies.
What Do Content Marketing Managers Do?
You now see the value of content marketing, but you don’t know where to start. You might be wondering how to begin your campaign or what you should be preparing first. Let this be said as early as now, content marketing is a technical task performed by experienced professionals. The same goes for inbound marketing.
Mastering content marketing cannot be done overnight, nor by reading through articles on the internet. So, if you are starting a business and want to implement content marketing strategies, the fastest way would be getting yourself a content marketing manager.
A lot of tasks fall under this role including content planning, strategy implementations, and data analysis. From conceptualizing what to create and how to create it to how it performs, that all falls under the content marketing manager.
They start with creating a content marketing plan. It contains the series of materials to be created through a period of time. This is the most crucial part. One article or video isn’t enough. It should be supplemented by followup content to emphasize the goal and value that you are creating.
Once plans are laid out, the next thing would be for the content marketing manager is to ensure that every detail is followed. In the event that things don’t work out as expected, it is their job to come up with appropriate solutions.
Last but not the least, the content is published and its performance is tracked and monitored. How does it stack up in search engine results? Is it generating traffic? What should be done to improve the reputation of the said content? All of these must be answered by the content marketing manager.
The Ideal Content Marketing Manager
Knowing how extensive and crucial the role of a content marketing manager is, it is important to find the best one. Unfortunately, there is no one criterion to look at. The profession is a mixture of tasks. Flexibility and versatility in a lot of of fields is a must. Fortunately, we broke things down to three areas.
Experience
When talking about experience, you don’t necessarily have to look at the time they have spent as a content marketing manager. Most of them didn’t start out as such but instead began their experience in other professions. This includes being an SEO specialist, content writer or producer, and data analyst. The wider the set of specialties a content marketing manager has, the better they are going to be.
Education
There is no degree that will train a person on how to become a content marketing manager. Nevertheless, there are professions that will give them an edge and be better with their work. This includes those who have majored in business management or marketing.
Even if a content marketing manager has a degree that is quite distant, it is still something to look at. Any higher educational attainment reflects an individual’s professionalism, hard work, and flexibility. As a matter of fact, 59% of content marketing manager job listings require at least a bachelor’s degree.
Skills and Expertise
With how extensive the responsibilities of a content marketing manager is, they should be equipped in a number of skills and expertise. From planning and creating content to knowing what and how to use tools to track web traffic progress.
A content marketing manager should have a strong grasp of the language of the market they are targeting. Since this is the internet, search engine optimization is another important skill. Lastly, data analysis via Google analytics is a must to monitor the success of the content.
Responsibilities of A Content Marketing Manager
We repeatedly said that the responsibilities of a content marketing manager is extensively wide, but what are they? What does each represent in the success of the overall marketing campaign? To answer those questions, we broke them down into seven categories.
Research and Competitor Analysis
The first step to every successful marketing campaign is knowing what to write. Understand the target demographic and realize where the competition is lacking. It is the job of the content marketing manager to make all these necessary research. This is the first and most crucial step that will determine whether or not your marketing campaign will succeed.
Making Content Marketing Plans
One type of content is not enough. A content marketing campaign involves a series of material that will get the attention of your audience and then hook them in. With that being said, this is not just about making content, but continuously providing what is needed.
Unless there is a laid out plan on what and when to create, things could easily get disorganized. Failing to provide your audience the material they need during a specific stage can ultimately cause them to lose interest.
Preparing an Editorial Calendar
All types of content need to be revised at some point. It is not that it’s not good, it’s just that your audience are going to want something different down the road. Providing them with something they already know but presented in a different way with some new information reinforces their belief that they have learned a lot and is still continuously learning more.
Just like creating content, editing should be completely strategic. How and when something is revised should be carefully planned. The new material should then be delivered during a specific period to your audience.
Content Creation
There is no content marketing strategy if there is no content to begin with. This is where everything is going to pivot, making it the single most important aspect of your campaign. However, it is not going to be easy.
For example, creating blogs is not just being good with the language of your target audience. It is also about knowing how to present your ideas that it will be perceived positively. Concepts like the golden circle and the buyer’s guide have a huge role to play in connecting with your audience.
Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
Your content is only as good as the attention it receives. This means that unless it gets seen, how great your content is not going to matter. Your web traffic is not going to be based on the quality of your work but on how it ranks in search engine results to be seen for people who are in need of your brand.
Making sure that your content ranks high is the work of the content marketing manager. Achieving this involves the use of a mixture of SEO and publication tools. Though, the hardest part is that search engines update their criteria regularly which means it is a continuous and complex learning cycle.
SEO is not just a part of content marketing, but it is a necessity for online marketing regardless of what strategy you implement. Even in inbound marketing, SEO is one of the 6 core marketing principles.
Publishing and Promoting Content
The next job of the content marketing manager is publishing the content. Putting them in websites as guest posts or simply on the brand website. The next thing would then be promoting them.
To get the exposure that your content needs, your content marketing manager needs to take the necessary steps to promote it. This includes having influential social media groups share it and finding effective advertisement avenues. Instagram and Facebook are just some of the platforms with cost-efficient promotion choices.
It is quite a complex step. There are a lot of avenues available. Therefore, it is a constant problem on which ones will have the best return on investment. For the inexperienced, this task can be overwhelming, but not for the skilled content marketing manager.
Performance Monitoring
Knowing how your content is performing is a crucial aspect in content marketing. You just can’t keep on creating and publishing, not knowing whether or not you are being effective. It is possible that despite the barrage of content on your audience, none is hitting the mark and you are not gaining yourself the attention you thought you would.
Monitoring the performance of your content allows you to understand which ones you should be concentrating on. It allows you to see which have higher penetration on your target demographic. It also gives you the opportunity to see what you are doing wrong and build from that for consistent improvement.
Among the things that are being monitored are web traffic. How many people are visiting your website? It can be either that your content is so helpful that readers have the tendency to share it or it is working fairly well in SEO.
Another would be engagement. How many visitors have the tendency to leave a comment, message the brand, or simply share the content? While web traffic is great, engagement shows the population that is likely going to be customers.
Do You Need A Content Marketing Manager?
You now know the responsibilities of a content marketing manager, but you think to yourself: do I actually need one?
Your dilemma revolves around your desire to save on money and learn everything all by yourself. Despite that being actually a possible choice, you might want to reconsider. Content marketing managers have a specific role in your operations and there is a lot to benefit from it.
Organizes Workflow
Unless you want to do all the planning yourself, you are going to want to have a content marketing manager. As a business owner, you already have a lot on your hands. You are likely going to find it difficult to squeeze in content marketing strategies in your busy schedule.
To have an organized workflow in your marketing campaign, you might want to delegate it to a specific person. Someone who is both skilled and an expert of it so that the only thing you have to do is check on the progress.
Minimizes Business Owner’s Burden
Looking at the duties of a content marketing manager, you can definitely say there is a lot to work on. As a matter of fact, maybe a little bit too much. To say the least, it takes one person to do it all, but that might even be an understatement. Depending on the campaign, a content marketing manager might even find it hard to cope up with all the demands and deadlines.
Now, imagine yourself being in that position with all the workload you already have as a business owner. The responsibilities of a content marketing manager doesn’t just add to your work, it doubles it up.
Effective Marketing Campaigns
It is always best to leave everything to the professionals and that applies to content marketing managers. If you don’t know what you are doing, you are likely going to waste both time and money on your campaign. To make things worse, failure is not going to be all that apparent. Before you know that you are not doing a great job, you have already done and spent a lot.
The importance of seeking the help of a professional is much more if you are just starting out your business. Your financial resources aren’t all that much and you need to make the best out of every penny. Content marketing managers make sure that you are getting your money’s worth by ensuring the efficiency of your marketing campaigns. They guarantee that you only have to spend once to get the success you are looking for.
Marketing shouldn’t break your bank, especially if you are running a retail store. There are a lot of free avenues to put your brand name out there. Here’s 21 of our top picks.
Content Marketing Manager vs Content Creator
A common question we usually get is what’s the difference between a content marketing manager and a content creator. If you already have the latter, is it really necessary to hire the former?
If you are quite tight on the budget, it might be tempting to rely your content marketing campaign on your content creator alone. However, that is not going to be the best choice. Content marketing managers specialize not just on content but making sure that it is a successful one. What this means is that they have the skills a content creator is not going to have.
Content creators are only good with what their title suggests, but when it comes to marketing, promoting, and tracking, it’s a completely different story. Not all content creators understand the concept of SEO. Same goes for Google analytics and the idea of a content marketing campaign in general.
In Conclusion
No matter what angle you look at it, content marketing managers are not something you should skimp on when wanting to implement a content marketing campaign. They are the most crucial ingredient in the success of your strategy and for good reasons. Their skills and expertise don’t just guarantee a successful marketing plan, but one that is completely effortless and convenient on your side as the business owner.
Jump start your online marketing campaign with the help of the best online marketing agencies. Contact us today and get a free strategy consultation.
For every business product, service, or everything in between, marketing is very crucial. It is what brings all that one has to offer to an audience. You have television and radio marketing, and for the more modern approach, you have the internet and everything that can be found in it such as social media, blogs, and so much more. There is a really long list, but what’s important is undertaking an inbound marketing strategy regardless of the medium.
Depending on how you use different marketing mediums, you can either catch the attention of an audience and interest them to your service, or do the complete opposite. They can get annoyed and would have the immediate urge to close anything that pops up with your brand name on it. This goes to say that marketing is not all about showing your business, but also the quality of how you show it.
This is where inbound marketing comes in. Generally, it is an umbrella term that was coined by HubSpot in 2006 which talks about everything that brings value and content to your brand to attract leads, instead of chasing them. Not making much sense? Let us explain more.
What is Inbound Marketing?
When you create a series of quality blogs that are packed with information and you put that in your brand website which ends up attracting attention, that falls under the category of inbound marketing. You are not chasing your leads or customers by shoving your products and services on their faces, but instead bring attention to your brand which leads to familiarity and then later a purchase when a person is finally ready to buy.
Inbound marketing generally is concentrating on your brand, building it up and adding value to it so that it can have the spotlight. There are no mentions of the products or services that you are selling, you leave that to the interested customer to find out for themselves, which is something that happens when you have made your brand interestingly credible.
To further understand what inbound marketing is, we need to compare it to its counterpart: outbound marketing, also known as traditional marketing. Remember those advertisements on the television that presents a product, same goes for YouTube ads? Those are some of the forms of outbound marketing. Extreme effort is made to bring it to the audience, even if they didn’t ask for it.
An easier way to differentiate the two is identifying which is interrupting. Watching a movie and something pops out? Did it interrupt whatever you were doing? If the answer is yes then that is outbound or traditional marketing. The brand is offering you something you didn’t ask for and that is not something you do in inbound marketing. It is all about earning attention without individually asking people for it.
The Importance of Inbound Marketing
At this point, you might be questioning the legitimacy of inbound marketing. How can something catch attention if it is not presented in front of an audience? The answer is simple, you make your brand interesting and useful to a point that people can’t help but get involved.
So, the next question is, should you bother learning it? Definitely.
Inbound marketing is not just an alternative to traditional marketing, it is a much superior version of it. Time and time again, it has proven to generate more traffic and create more momentum to your brand which positively affects future products and services. As a matter of fact, statistics suggest that more than 90% of clicks on the web come from some sort of inbound marketing strategy.
Further making it standout, inbound marketing doesn’t have the consequences associated with its counterpart. Remember the last time you watched television, what did you do during the advertisement? Did you go to the bathroom or attend to other more important things? When you give an audience something which they didn’t ask for, the first thing they do is ignore it, putting to waste all the investment that was placed on the ad along with creating negative feedback to both your product and brand. So instead of gaining yourself an audience, you end up pushing them away.
If you are still at a crossroad whether or not inbound marketing is worth taking the leap, have a look at these key benefits and decide for yourself.
1. It creates high-quality leads
When people are coming to your website and being loyal to your brand, you are creating a customer who will always be seeking your product or service. They will not just be settling for what you currently have to offer, but as well as will consider everything else you will come up with in the future.
This is opposed to the traditional form of marketing wherein you are promoting a single product or service which only gains attention for that and that alone.
2. Lower average cost per new customer
It is a proven fact that inbound marketing creates more customers for a much lesser average price. This is because you are not investing financial resources by giving something to an audience who are most probably not in the need of what you have to offer, instead, you provide quality content and engagement which the people come looking for.
3. Long lasting effect
If you have a lead that is a customer to the brand and not just to the product, they will always be constantly considering whatever you have to offer, not just currently but especially in the future. This ensures that your future products, regardless if you market them or not, will get visibility.
4. Capitalizes on knowledge and creativity
When implementing traditional marketing, you are finding ways on how to bring a certain product or service to an audience. Compare this to inbound marketing wherein you can capitalize on any form of content relating to your business. Selling software? Create a blog about the different types, how to choose one, and so much more. The creative avenue is much more widespread and the best part is that you are not intruding into your clients’ personal space.
5. Significant web traffic growth
Creating quality content that is usable to a wide population will generate strong web traffic to your website, even from people who have no idea of your product and service. How is this good? People saw your website. You never know which of them are going to be in need of you in the near future or are already in the position to make a purchase.
There is no such thing as bad web traffic, as long as it is organic and from a real active audience, it provides your business visibility and generates customers. And if you know how to manage and treat them on a personal level, you can certainly expect that not only are they coming back for more, but will influence their peers as well through word of mouth.
Four Stages of Inbound Marketing
If you have reached this point then you have surely made up your mind about pursuing inbound marketing, so let us get down to the basics. There are four stages:
Attract
The very first step is to attract an audience. How do you do this? It is quite simple, put up content on your website. It can be in the form of a blog that answers questions, informative videos, or even social media engagement. This is the fishing line you throw out in the middle of the sea which your fish bites. You don’t serve the bait into their mouths, you make sure it is what they want and you just leave it there and make it do its thing.
Convert
After the fish bites the bait, the next thing is to pull it in. What can you do so that you can secure your visitors that they are going to want to stay? In other words, convert your visitors into leads.
You caught their attention, now it is time to engage them so that they would have all the reason to stay. Have forms that will collect their information so that you can communicate with them and provide them with further content that is specific to their needs that they are surely going to want and appreciate.
Don’t let your fish escape, make sure that you pull them in properly so that you can secure your catch. Don’t let the bait go to waste just because you used a weak line or hook. Also, don’t give them the opportunity to disconnect because you left them waiting for too long. It is a mixture of the right attention and approach. Sounds hard right? But the simple way to do this is by putting your feet into the shoes of your visitors and think of what you would and wouldn’t want. In short, level with them and connect on a personal level.
Close
From bating to reeling your fish in, it is now time to put it in the catch bucket and call it a day. In other words, securing the leads and turning them into full-fledged customers. The best way to do this is by improving your earlier email campaign. Instead of just sending out content, specifically target what you give out. If someone was caught through an e-book offering, do just that for that specific lead.
In a more general aspect, closing is about keeping constant communication. Segment your leads and keep them engaged by giving them what they need: buyer guides, case studies, testimonials, and so much more. With this being said, this is going to vary from person-to-person, and you are going to want to keep it that way. If you try to give a general approach to everyone, you might find yourself delivering mediocre service and winning none of them at all. Remember to keep your service optimum, there is no shortcut, and you shouldn’t be finding any.
Delight
There is no fish analogy for this part. Delight means keeping your new found customers happy, because all three stages will be put to waste if they later find themselves disappointed and underwhelmed. What further drives this stage is the potential for customers to be promoters. If they end up getting too happy, they will tell their family, friends, and anybody close to them.
Here’s the tricky part: there isn’t any. To delight your customers, you basically just have to further tailor your content towards them and treat them like people. What this means is that don’t be a brand, be a person who understands what others need. Make sure that they are having a good time, not just in regards to your product and service, but as well as with the entire customer experience.
Remember that turning your leads into customers is only half the battle. These people still have the choice to get dissatisfied and leave. To make things worse, your brand may put a bad taste in their mouths and they end up spreading negative feedback which could potentially kill possible customers. Keep them delighted so they are loyal to you which in turn makes your brand credibility a feature that puts more value to your product and service.
Buyer Personas in Inbound Marketing
It is now time to know who you should be marketing to. You might be asking, isn’t the general population my target? No, that’s how most businesses fail or end up spending more than they should be but only seeing a small return on their investment.
Remember that not everybody is going to seek your product or service. Stop wasting your resources on those you are sure are not in the market for what you have to offer. Stop handing out real estate flyers to students or sending emails about car loans to rich business men. You are simply putting money into someone who is guaranteed to never care at all.
This is where buyer personas come into the picture, and this should be the first thing you establish in your inbound marketing strategy. What this basically entails is identifying your probable target audience, their occupation, hobbies, spending limits, and so on, so that you can specifically target your marketing to them. For example, if you provide car loans, mold your marketing so that it becomes appealing to the college student. Show how one without a stable income stream can be able to afford one, showcase flexible payment options and minimal requirements. By showing what a customer wants to see, you are able to hook them easily.
It may sound easy but it isn’t all that straightforward. As a business, remember that you can have more than one buyer persona. You can have the college student working part-time in a restaurant, as well as the college student who is being financially supported by their parents. Two similar buyer personas, but with different needs which in turn means different specific marketing strategies for each.
Buyer’s Journey in the Inbound Marketing Methodology
To better serve your target audience, it is important to learn something that is called the buyer’s journey. This entails that there are three stages that an individual goes through when making a purchase, and depending on which stage they are, marketing should be specifically molded to it.
Awareness
The awareness stage is when a person starts to realize that there is a problem. If an office worker begins to contemplate on back pains, that is when he/she starts the journey of becoming a buyer. At this point, it is important to talk about the problem. Make them realize that there is an issue that needs to be resolved.
Consideration
After realizing that there is a problem, an individual will now start to think of a solution. Is it because of the chair? Is it because I’m slouching all the time? This is the point when a person starts to consider the available choices in the market that will tackle the problem. This is when you come in to introduce different solutions such as a better chair, elevated table, and much more.
Decision
Lastly, a person has made up their mind and has decided to go with your brand, but this isn’t to say that you have secured a customer just yet. How you handle them will either make or break your sale. This is when you present product support and address their questions until they finally make the purchase.
Inbound Marketing is All About Content
With all that you have read, you now have an idea that inbound marketing concentrates heavily on content. If you have nothing useful to offer, then you can assure yourself that your campaign is going to fail. From offerings through emails to blogs, everything is all about the capacity to give useful information. The more informative, the better. Regardless on what business you are in, there are always a lot of things to talk about, and here are some suggestions:
Guides
If you don’t know what content to talk about then guides are always a good place to start. Expand on ideas that tell people what to look out for. For example, if you have a shoe store, have a “search for the best shoe for you guide”. Guides are a good way to lead people to know what they want and need. Before you know it, you have persuaded them to further look into a topic and then later, make a purchase.
It is also important to remember that guides should put into context the customer they are talking to. The person living in minimum wage is going to have a different standard opposed to someone who is earning a little bit more. Learn to humanize your audience. What this means is that look at them as real people who have specific needs.
Inbound is not just about creating content. It is also about making sure to level with people and give them an experience that they are going to enjoy and feel valued. Don’t treat your articles as just written content, but an avenue to cultivate a relationship with your customers on a much deeper level.
How-to
How-to instructional guides can be the next thing you are going to write about if you have a wide grasp of a certain topic. Tell people on the proper process when doing something such as “how to lose weight”. The best part about these topics is that they are frequently searched, thus resulting in huge web traffic to your website, creating massive brand visibility.
Guides like these are very strong tools to connect with an audience. So, put a couple of them here and there, as well as use a range of different topics, from the simplest of tasks to more complex ones.
Explanations
Now, if you just want to expound on a certain field or topic, you can also do just that. Just talk about it with cohesiveness and make sure to add a lot of details to make it more informative. If people don’t know too much about a certain field, these kinds of blogs and articles are their usual go-to.
Always add a hint of your personal opinion in there as well. Don’t make it too strong though, just enough to make sure that your audience is not alone. Make them feel that an objective advice is given instead of just laying out information. Help them make decisions and they will learn to trust you, your brand, as well as your product.
Different Inbound Marketing Strategies
So, you have blogs, videos, and… what else are there? If you didn’t know, there are quite a lot of ways you can present your content, and this is important. The more versatile you are with your materials, the more you can offer to your visitors, leads, and customers. Have a look at your choices:
Blog
The most common and fastest one to produce. Simply, just write an article, guide, or anything that gets in your mind and you are good to go. Just make sure you put enough information and quality into it.
Blogs are great. They are versatile and easily accessible. Slow internet? No worries, this article will load in a jiffy. Don’t want to bother the person sitting next to you? Not a problem, you just have to read.
Most people love the simplicity of blogs. They can skim it, looking for the parts that they want to know and read, instead of going through, let’s say, an entire video. So, basic as it may be, always implement blogs.
Infographic
If you want to step up from blogs, then infographics are the way to go. It shortens the article, ensuring to provide only the most essential information along with a creative and visually appealing aesthetic. Infographics are easy on the eyes and keep people with short attention spans interested.
Whitepaper
Opting for the more formal tone in writing has its benefits. It gives more credibility to your work and is likely to be taken as proper advice, as opposed to being treated as a doubtable opinion. That’s what whitepaper is for. To put it simply, your blog is your typical essay and a whitepaper is your term paper. Less personal opinions and extensively composed of facts.
E-book
Invest a little bit more time and effort and you can turn that blog into an e-book. Now why would you do that? Shouldn’t articles be short to keep the reader engaged? True, but while most find a long article tedious, a long-written material composed of different subtopics and ideas still delivers a lot of engagement. Since it tackles a lot of aspects, readers are usually urged to keep on coming back.
Case Study
There is nothing better in persuading an audience than a case study. Showcase a real situation that most people would relate to. Through this, you are connecting to your audience by leveling with them. You are not just capturing their attention, but as well as their emotion that will hook them to the story you are trying to impart.
Webinar
Your written work can only do so much. It can only connect to your audience up to a certain level. To bridge this gap, you are going to want to have a series of video content that talks about a certain topic. Videos allow you to bring more emotion to your work and allows you to connect to your audience to an interpersonal level. You don’t necessarily have to show your face, simply the sound of your voice is enough to give more meaning and a lively presence to whatever content you are trying to impart.
Video Series
The difference of a video series from a webinar is that it doesn’t have to all talk about a certain topic or field. It can be a mixture of any which means there is more creative avenue. With this being said, this is much better in connecting to your audience, especially at the emotional level.
However, keep in mind that despite the benefits of a video series over its formal counterpart the webinar, it shouldn’t be used all the time. There is an appropriate time and situation for each. Video series target more on the opinionated side of things , compared to webinars that provide an educational and formal approach.
Podcast
Don’t have the guts to put your face out there? Don’t have the equipment to create a video? You can always just settle for audio, and that is what is called a podcast. This is not inferior to a video series or a webinar. There are instances when people would rather listen than to watch. Take for example the radio versus the news.
Imagine people having the opportunity to listen to your content while they are on their commute or just want to learn while doing something else. Definitely, podcasts target a certain niche and that niche has its fair share of audience. A market that you shouldn’t disregard.
It still adds extreme value to your website. Podcasts are just videos without the visual satisfaction, so you are still able to add a level of personalization to your brand as well as give more personality to your content.
SEO
Not really much of a content material, SEO or short for search engine optimization is a general term that covers all aspects of putting your content on the first page of search engines like Google. The closer your website appears to the first page, the more likely it is going to get clicked. To put it simply, when you were searching for something, what was the first thing that you clicked on? Was it the top result? When was the last time you clicked on the second page of the results?
Search engine optimization brings your content closer to your audience and gives it the visibility it deserves. Remember, no matter how much quality you placed into your website, if it doesn’t reach any audience, it doesn’t fulfil any purpose.
PPC
Again, not about content, but more on how to bring it to an audience. Whereas SEO is about organic efforts to put your website on the first page of search engine results, PPC pertains to paying to ensure a spot on the said first page.
You might be asking, how is this considered inbound if it entails payment? Isn’t this disruptive?
While those are valid questions, indeed, this still falls under the category of inbound. Remember, you are not forcefully serving your ads to people. Whenever they are searching for something, it just ensures that they get to see what you have to offer first. Technically, you are not being disruptive because the person is already searching for what you have to offer.
Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing Success
Hubspot started way back in 2006 and during that time, they only had 3 customers. By 2013, that turned to more than 10,000. In 2014, they founded the inbound strategy which is what they have used all along. So, what is there that made it all that successful?
It all started with creating company value. Beginning with educational blogs, they later turned to webinars which they categorized as either educational or demonstrational, with the latter being for people who wanted more. It is through their webinar series that they made more lead conversions. But they didn’t settle with just that as they then provided free tools like Website Grader and Marketing Grader.
They created so much value for their website that it didn’t just function as a business. They ended up catering to the needs of the people, addressing specific niches that allowed them to get closer to their audience and connecting with them to a personal level. Before they realized it, they have created widespread visibility and credibility for their company. Customers are not just seeking their service, but for the quality of it and its accompanying support.
All of that has fueled a constant growth in 7 years after its founding, resulting in revenue growth of $77.6 million. That is from the $2.2 million in 2008 and $52.5 million in 2012.
In Conclusion
The times have changed, what worked decades ago in the marketing setting is no longer applicable today. People want choice. They no longer enjoy intrusive and disruptive marketing, making inbound marketing the modern day solution that should be the standard.
The best inbound marketing strategy that works focuses on providing value to strangers and customers alike. Educating users as early in their buying journey results in users who lean more towards the company when the user is ready to buy.
Here are the best inbound marketing strategies you should start implementing in your own business. Unlike outbound strategies, these strategies do not require a lot of resources although mind you, they require a lot of patience and hard work.
Quick tip: Start on these strategies, even before you’ve launched your product or service
They say “Content is King”. But quality content IS king. Churning quality content in a consistent manner is difficult, and that is why you need a content marketing strategy. Having a long-term content marketing strategy will allow you to have a sustainable output of content that will benefit your customers and boost your rankings.
2. Search engine optimization (SEO)
Doing SEO alone won’t lead you to better leads, BUT SEO together with all the other strategies will help you achieve your goals. Content is the fuel to your increasing search engine visibility, and doing search engine optimization activities will make sure your content is well received by the engines.
3. Social media marketing
Social media is one of the effective strategies for your brand or content to be found. And this won’t be going down any time in the future. Engage on the channels where your customers are most likely at (never in all channels at once), and continue to provide valuable content.
4. Email newsletters
Email marketing might receive negative connotations and may be associated with spammy email blasted to your inbox. BUT email marketing done the right way, as an outbound strategy, will not only help in nurturing your leads but to also help your leads on their journey until they are ready to buy. Continue sending out content they wanted to, in the first place. And make sure to utilize list segmentation for more effective campaigns.
5. Personal branding
Who would trust a company whose founders themselves do not have the authority or even a good reputation? Personal branding may be used together with any of the strategies above. Having your executives work on their own personal branding would not only help in the marketing of your company but also may shape the way your customers perceive you and your company.
6. Blogging
Blogging takes time, but this low-cost yet time-intensive activity is definitely worth your efforts. Your business’ blog should be one of the main resources where your audiences could gain helpful tips and information on your industry. Having a clear content marketing strategy would allow you to fill your blog with content that helps your potential customers on their buying journey.
All these strategies work best when used together in a harmonious manner. Blogs should be related to the newsletters sent out to list segments, and a content marketing strategy should make sure the content produced and marketed to the different social channels is coherent and doesn’t appear all over the place. Inbound Marketing takes time, but once it does pay off, it will help you achieve the leads, sales, and loyal promoters of your brand.
Inbound marketing creates brand awareness and attracts new business. You can find dozens of inbound marketing definitions online but nothing beats a simple one.
But hey, isn’t that what the word “Marketing” is supposed to mean? How different is “Inbound Marketing”?
Unlike traditional marketing, the focus is shifted from the seller to the customer.
Inbound Marketing empowers buyers.
Inbound Marketing focuses on being found by the customer instead of chasing them down.
Most importantly, inbound marketing strategies add value to the customer even before the customer has decided to buy, and even AFTER the customer has bought.
The result? You build trust and credibility for your business, and you have customers who are also promoters of your brand. The best way to turn strangers into customers and promoters of your business is through the Inbound Methodology.
The Four Phases of the Inbound Methodology
Inbound marketing is not a single tactic. It is a collection of strategies and techniques that work well together in capturing your audience’s attention and creating a sale. The inbound methodology consists of four phases, and each customer goes through each phase over time. Each phase has a different purpose and strategy to be used. If there’s one inbound marketing definition you need to know, it’s that the ultimate goal is to turn strangers into customers and then eventually promoters of your brand.
1. Attract
The first step in Inbound Marketing is to attract the right people who are most likely to become leads, and happy customers.
How do we attract these leads? Through relevant content.
This phase consists entirely of creating helpful content that catches the person’s attention. And this can be achieved through:
Blogging is probably one of the most obvious way to start generating educational content for your customers. In order to get found, you must start creating content that speaks to them and answers their questions.
B. Content strategy
Content created through your channels such as blogs should be coherent and shouldn’t be all over the place. Having a clear content strategy would allow your content creation processes to be sustainable over the long run.
C. Social Media Engagement
There are a lot of social media channels. But choosing a few ones to focus on in your early inbound marketing phase is the key. Having great content that audiences love is worthy of sharing, and social media is just the right place. Make sure to pinpoint which channels your potential customers are interacting, and engage with them early on.
2. Convert
The next step is to convert these visitors into leads. The goal of every page on your website should be to convert your visitors into leads. Great content would be wasted if the page is not optimized for conversion. But, take note that conversions aren’t online sales. Conversions are meant to take customers to the next phase.
How do we convert these visitors? One of the most important ways to convert is through the use of forms.
Have you ever noticed that business pages usually have forms asking visitors to submit their information? Forms are one of the primary ways to connect with your (potential) customers. Forms should be optimized as well and should catch the audience’s attention and needs.
3. Close
Finally, we’re on the stage to close our leads to customers. We’ve attracted our visitors through great content and converted them to leads. There are several ways to close a lead, and the inbound marketing gives us a lot of ways.
One of the best ways to convert these leads to customers is simply by continuing your efforts from designing the forms that converted them in the first place: email campaigns.
Remember the reason why the lead signed up. Were you offering an e-book? Email campaigns would allow you to continue the conversation and guide your user to the next steps. If leads aren’t ready to be a customer yet, a series of Emails enforces to them the value of your brand until such leads are ready to buy.
4. Delight
Inbound Marketing does not only aim to generate a sale. But it also aims to create a lasting relationship with your customers. The sale doesn’t end the process of Inbound Marketing. In the delight stage, you give your customers the tools needed for their success, an all-star customer service, and content specifically tailored to them.
To summarize, here’s an illustration of the whole Inbound Methodology we just discussed in this article:
Inbound Marketing Definition: Empowered Buyers
The power has been turned over to the consumers. Buyers today are more empowered. They have access to reviews, pricing details, and information on any brand and product. And if your content doesn’t show up, you are losing out to potential customers.
Setting up a website is easy. And you probably have it already. You’ve set up your pages and products, but the leads and sales aren’t coming yet. Learning how to increase online sales has a steep learning curve especially with all the tech you need to signup and learn.
Selling online – especially in today’s digital world and consumers – is different. You need more than a website and a plan. Some questions you might be asking:
How do you rise above the competition
Generating leads is hard. How do I create a sustainable process without burning out my team?
How do you increase your online sales?
Let’s start with the basics, shall we?
Today, we are going to talk about some simple techniques you can start doing to increase your online sales.
