Inbound marketing - How to get a good strategy

Thanks to technological progress, marketing strategies now reach a much wider and segmented audience. The evolution of advertising has brought with it countless opportunities when it comes to promoting our products or services.    

Faced with this new window of digital window of possibilities, traditional marketing is being replaced by more creative strategies focused on personalized content for users. The digitization of processes, among others, is the main cause of these changes.   

On today's post, we talk about inbound marketing, what is it, how is it used in digital marketing and what are its main benefits?   

Inbound marketing - methodology    

Happily, it doesn't matter what kind of company you are. Large, medium, small... Today, any organization can apply marketing techniques that serve to attract customers through its digital content.  

This is known as Inbound marketing.    

Inbound marketing is a combination of non-intrusive online advertising and website, or ecommerce optimization focused on your potential users. It revolves around three key points on which it bases its main strategy:    

• Attract    

• Convert    

• Sell   

Inbound marketing techniques help to attract new customers and retain those who already know us. Transparency is a fundamental element in content marketing strategies. It promotes sales and trust among users.    

Inbound marketing also encourages interaction between companies and potential customers. This allows companies to identify the best prospects for their services and generate leads. In short, a cost-effective way to increase company revenue.   

Origin    

How and when did inbound marketing emerge?    

The digital transformation has found new ways of communication that have been affected and driven by new tools that bring us closer to people than ever before.    

The arrival of the internet and new technologies are the main cause and reason for the paradigm shift in traditional marketing. In a new era for marketing and advertising, the consumer starts to become part of the brand through personalized products and more precise searches.    

The consumer can choose among all the products the one he/she needs the most, and is no longer a passive user, but an active user.     

Although the concept of inbound marketing has been used since the 1990s, it was not until 2005 that Hubspot creators Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah developed the idea fully.    

From this perspective, the image of the consumer is distorted. Today, the consumer is part of the brand. The search for more personalized products is increasing and sharing interests and hobbies with brands is essential.    

Inbound vs Outbound    

But what about the outbound methodology, how and why do we use it in our marketing plan?   

Outbound marketing is defined as the set of actions we use to capture users and customers in a direct and unidirectional way focused on sales. This methodology uses advertisements, commercials, posters... to impact the end user.    

In this process, there is no interaction with the customer, so the main objective is focused on capturing the attention of many users, bringing them closer to the sale. We can define outbound marketing as a business opportunity in which the user is convinced to make a purchase.    

What are the main differences between inbound and outbound marketing?    

• Strategies: while inbound marketing uses less intrusive methods, the outbound methodology is considered more aggressive and direct.    

• Media: the inbound methodology uses digital media, search engine strategies, blogs... and, on the other hand, outbound marketing focuses on more traditional and static advertising.    

• User/customer traffic: the traffic received by inbound marketing has no cost. Inbound marketing uses organic users who find us through search engines. Outbound marketing impacts paid advertising so that the user discovers the product or service and the need.    

Flywheel    

Imagine the phases of the classic marketing funnel; attraction, consideration, conversion and loyalty. Now transform it and make it circular. What do we get?   

The flywheel is a cycle developed by HubSpot that encompasses the three main phases of the funnel, in an infinite loop. This allows the user to stay in a constant and continuous cycle.    

With thewheel, you use the momentum of your satisfied customers to generate referrals and repeat sales. Basically, your business keeps spinning. - HubSpot   

The phases that feed back into the wheel attract, engage and fascinate. This new method developed by HubSpot increases user engagement and loyalty. Experience also plays an important role in the flywheel as it is that user attraction that retains customers and increases their participation endlessly.