Inbound marketing assumes that people do not want to be bothered and that they ignore gimmicks. Buyers want remarkable content which helps them learn for themselves or pass on to others. There’s too much good content to allow noise to enter into their buying process.
Your Content Lives Forever
Google will index every page you post on the internet. Your content will live. This becomes a durable asset for your organization and lends itself to a powerful strategy of driving sales. Your authority and credibility online will be measured by your ability to be found online.
You will be found either by strangers or by friends. Both are audiences which need to benefit from your value delivered by content which connects and informs. Effective inbound marketing should promote the following buyer behaviors:
- Social bookmarking
- Posting to Twitter
- Comments which drive dialogue
- Backlinking into your content
- Repeat visits and increased buyer scoring
- Downloads of other site content
Each of these activities carries a different weighting. Each needs to be measured as part of your inbound marketing strategy and system. It tells you what your pipeline looks like and how to engage with your sales process.
Managing Your Micro Market
While we may get caught in the euphoria of technology and tools to be a mass market phenomena, the reality is that everyone is not your customer. Your customers today moved through an intimate process to understand your value and eventually buy based on trust.
It is important to focus your lead generation process and lead nurturing process by working backwards. Ask yourself how many new customers you will likely gain in the coming year. Envision who these customers are. They are likely a small number compared with the masses.
For example, if you sell CRM consulting, get concrete and assume you are targeting 30 customers in the coming year. These 30 customers are likely going to come from inbound marketing efforts of partnerships, marketing online and your network. Each prospective customer should be given a complete buying process to follow with content that builds trust. The timing, relevance and personal connection are critical for gaining 30 customers. This may require at minimum the following work in the coming year:
- 50 relevant articles
- 3 white papers
- 5 automation processes
Target specifically with each prospect and ensure the content and processes work for anyone else as well. Watch as each of your eventual customers partakes of the experience.
The marketing automation system which works for a few becomes an asset for your future customers with similar buying profiles. You would be transforming your sales process to work on what will last – content which connects – rather than what is temporary and lost – calls and emails.
Inbound Marketing Best Practice
Think about it this way, the work you are doing is for a small and defined set of customers you will be meeting. In the process, you are building something which constitutes a system. It goes back to what Bill Cosby said, “I don’t know the key to success, but the key to failure is trying to please everybody.” Try pleasing the ones that matter and keep your message highly targeted and relevant.
It’s better to be remarkable today with a few than dilute yourself with the masses. I would love to hear your comments below.