Mark guides you through inbound marketing
You want to generate leads with your website and at the same time create added value for your target group: Ideally, potential customers should come to you "all by themselves"? Then you need to get to grips with inbound marketing.
This is how the lead machine works:
CONTENTS
- What is inbound marketing?
- Difference between inbound and outbound marketing
- History of inbound marketing
- Goals and functions of inbound marketing
- Advantages of inbound marketing
- Who is inbound marketing interesting for?
- The inbound methodology
- What tools are used in inbound marketing?
- 6 steps to an inbound strategy
- Key figures in inbound marketing
- Wie und mit welcher Software lässt sich Inbound Marketing umsetzen?
- Inbound Marketing und SEO
- Was ist der Unterschied zum Content Marketing?
- Wer ist für das Inbound Marketing im Unternehmen verantwortlich?
- Erfolgreiche Inbound Marketing Beispiele
Inbound marketing is a marketing strategy (and therefore designed to be sustainable).
It is based on the assumption that potential customers are actively searching for products or solutions. The idea of inbound marketing is to attract these potential customers with the help of relevant and helpful information. To this end, they are offered the right solution for their respective challenges at every stage of their purchasing process.
In concrete terms, this means that useful content attracts attention and ultimately leads to the right product. In contrast to traditional marketing strategies, customers come to a company's website of their own accord and obtain the desired content. This happens via various channels such as search engines, blogs or social media.
The trick is to provide content where the customer is looking for it. This can vary depending on the phase in the purchasing decision process. It is therefore important to provide suitable content for each phase.
Example: If someone is only in the research phase, a detailed price list is unlikely to appeal to them. But perhaps a white paper that relieves them of some of the research and thus saves them time and money.
Sounds time-consuming? Honestly? It is (at first).
Background information
A strategy always requires a detailed and profound plan. And content must first be created, distributed and found. That takes a while. But then it works.
Find out more in our blog post:
B2B inbound marketing - the 4 basic requirements
OUTBOUND MARKETING
Outbound marketing stands for traditional marketing measures such as print advertising, TV commercials or online ads.
Direct advertising is used to promote your products or services and attract potential customers as buyers. In most cases, outbound marketing campaigns are large-scale in order to achieve a wide reach. However, this makes outbound marketing expensive - in two respects: firstly, the high distribution costs a lot of money. Secondly, there is a risk that the target group may react annoyed to advertisements or advertising tactics.
INBOUND MARKETING
In contrast, inbound marketing gains leads or customers through useful content that helps with problems or questions.
Content marketing is therefore an important part of inbound marketing. Content is defined, planned and written for the target group. This allows questions to be answered or help to be provided in the event of problems. And the company remains in positive memory. The likelihood of content users becoming leads and then buyers increases.
The bottom line is that outbound marketing aims to sell products quickly. Inbound marketing, on the other hand, aims to establish a long-term customer relationship.
History of inbound marketing
Content marketing is one of the most important cornerstones of inbound marketing. But search engine optimization, or SEO for short, is also an irreplaceable component. It is therefore not surprising that a broad audience in Germany first heard about inbound marketing in an SEO presentation. In his presentation "How SEO Blinded Me (And Then Opened My Eyes)", SEOmoz founder Rand Fishkin introduced it in April 2012.
Although Fishkin brought inbound marketing to German-speaking countries, he is not the founder of this marketing strategy. Globally, the topic had already been around for some time. Seth Godin and David Meerman Scott had already laid the foundations for inbound marketing in their marketing books.
However, the term was only really coined by the two HubSpot founders Dharmesh Shah and Brian Halligan. In their book "Inbound Marketing - Get Found Using Google, Social Media and Blogs", they dedicated themselves entirely to the topic of inbound marketing.
You can find out more about HubSpot, THE platform for inbound marketing, here!
Individual elements of the strategy were already being used in various marketing strategies. But it was the new technological possibilities that helped inbound marketing to triumph: Never before have there been so many affordable options for publishing and distributing your content. It is therefore reasonable to assume that inbound marketing will continue to grow in the future. This is also the conclusion of HubSpot's "State of Inbound" study.
Ultimately, inbound marketing is the logical consequence of a necessary development. It responds better to modern purchasing behavior. Over the years, the nature of communication has changed and with it the expectations of companies.
TURN VISITORS INTO CUSTOMERS!
Outbound marketing stands for traditional marketing measures such as print advertising, TV commercials or online ads.
This is the basic aim of inbound marketing. More specifically, it refers to increasing sales, sustainable customer relationships and more leads.
The content used to attract visitors and generate new leads is therefore central to successful inbound marketing. This content must be tailored precisely to the needs of potential customers. This means that they offer solutions to a problem or answers to open questions. Ideally, helpful content will turn a visitor into a loyal customer in the long term and possibly even an advocate/recommender of a company.
On average, 57 percent of all purchasing decisions in b2b are already finalized before the first contact with a sales representative.
No wonder, when you can find all the information yourself online! That's why inbound marketing aims to reach potential customers as early as possible in their decision-making process. This is the only way to have any chance of being considered in the end.
And you may even be able to influence decision criteria with targeted content!
FURTHER ADVANTAGES OF INBOUND MARKETING:
- Inbound marketing is more sustainable than traditional marketing and therefore more cost-effective in the long term. Once content has been created, it can still be used a long time later. However, it must be updated regularly to remain relevant.
- Inbound measures are measurable as they are based on defined processes. Marketers therefore have concrete figures to hand and can identify and target potential for improvement.
- Inbound marketing can significantly increase the ROI of marketing measures. According to HubSpot's "State of Inbound", over 70 percent of companies that use marketing automation have seen an increase in sales, website visitors and leads generated within a year. In addition, the conversion rate from leads to customers increased by up to 25 percent for 50 percent of the companies surveyed.
- Companies are finding it increasingly difficult to highlight clear USPs. Product functionalities are becoming more and more similar. It is important to position yourself as an expert and create trust through a clear content strategy. Only those who have added value to offer can stand out from the competition in the long term.
Read more in our blog post "Advantages of inbound marketing - Mark provides an overview."
WHO IS INBOUND MARKETING INTERESTING FOR?
Some people may think that inbound marketing is only for online-oriented industries. But that's not true.It works across all sectors.
Basically, inbound marketing is a marketing strategy that has adapted to the changing purchasing behavior of consumers in today's digitalized world.
Inbound marketing is particularly interesting for b2b companies. The important thing here is that those responsible must have a genuine interest in adding inbound marketing to their strategy. This usually requires a mindshift throughout the company. Only then will there be real added value for the company.
The inbound methodology
THE INBOUND METHODOLOGY WAS INITIALLY BASED ON THE SALES FUNNEL.
This mapped the customer journey of a potential customer and consisted of the four phases of attract, convert, close and delight. It was assumed that these phases are passed through in the purchase decision process. In this way, strangers would develop into visitors, leads, customers and finally advocates.
Things have changed a little since 2018: At Inbound 2018, Brian Halligen from HubSpot introduced the Fly Wheel as the successor to the Sales Funnel.
THE FLY WHEEL
Although the basic assumptions of the customer journey still apply, a funnel always has an end. However, you want to develop your customers beyond the sale - or at least retain them! At best, they even become company ambassadors. The great advantage of the Flywheel model: it places the customer and their satisfaction at the center of all activities. They don't have to actively go through a funnel - everything revolves around them! Sales, marketing and service ensure that the Flywheel keeps going.
In principle, inbound marketing encompasses all online marketing methods that function as pull advertising. This is because they all aim to generate leads via useful content.
Content marketing is certainly a very important tool. Then there are measures such as SEO, SEA, social media, public relations and email marketing.
Which measures should you choose? That depends on the target group. However, all the chosen tools must work together and not against each other.
The inbound marketing strategy is derived directly from the corporate strategy and describes the entire marketing plan from start to finish. And it's mega important!
Without a concrete plan, you're basically creating content blindly and hoping to somehow attract the right leads who will then become customers. That can't work. Aimless content not only confuses your readers, it also doesn't produce any results.
We have therefore summarized 6 steps that you can use to plan inbound marketing, produce content, attract visitors and convert leads into customers.
Before you start producing content, you need to...? Of course, first of all you need to determine who it is aimed at.
This works well with buyer personas. These are more effective than simply defining the target group. This is because they describe the desired customer with all their characteristics. So first define your target group and roughly narrow down your potential customer base. You can then use the buyer persona to give them a face. Important: don't just include facts such as company size and the like, but also the information behavior of the target person or the target company. As a general rule: less is more when it comes to the number of buyer personas. Ideally, you will end up with just one.
The more buyer personas you have, the more complicated everything becomes.
Just as important as the buyer personas? Defining concrete goals. The SMART principle has proven itself here. This means that your goals are specific, measurable, ambitious, realistic and time-bound.
It's good that you know your buyer persona! Because that's how you know how they consume information. Regardless of whether it's a blog, video or another form of content, it's now about creating content.
Important: The customer is the focus, not your products.
Ask yourself for each piece of content whether it has added value for the customer, satisfies their needs and supports them in their search for answers to their questions. It's best to use an editorial calendar to plan your content. This will help you keep an overview!
Yeah! The content goes online! But that doesn't mean that the work is done. Because now it's time for distribution. Naturally via channels on which your target group is also active. CEOs and managers are more likely to be reached via a professional network such as LinkedIn or XING than via Instagram. Targeted seeding is important to build reach within the target group and convert them into leads via a landing page.
Always keep an eye on the sales funnel or fly wheel in inbound marketing.
While step 3 is primarily concerned with creating TOFU content - i.e. content at the top end of the funnel - lead nurturing is about not letting interested visitors (i.e. leads) come to nothing. In order to further qualify leads, you must first evaluate them according to their benefit to the company. This is achieved with lead scoring. You can also see which leads are ready for a purchase and which need more information. You can then create suitable MOFU (middle of the funnel) and BOFU (bottom of the funnel) content to further qualify your leads.
The great thing about digital marketing is that almost all data can be measured and analyzed. Various tools provide information about the performance of your inbound marketing. Use this opportunity to identify potential for improvement. You can now find out which key figures are relevant for this.
Website visitors
Visitors to your website are an important asset in inbound marketing. So make sure that your visitor numbers increase continuously. Then you know that your content and SEO are working. Also analyze where the visitors are coming from.
Engagement
Engagement shows how well your content has been received. How many shares, comments and other interactions were there? The higher the engagement, the more conclusions you can draw as to whether you are already doing a good job or whether there is still room for improvement.
Leads
The number of leads indicates which visitors are more interested in your company or products. Also check how many leads there are per post, CTA or landing page and how high the conversion rate is. Ideally, this should be between one and three percent.
Customers
The primary goal is to turn visitors into customers. Therefore, analyze how many customers you have demonstrably gained through inbound marketing and what the conversion rate of leads to customers is. For example, if you have a lot of qualified leads that don't become customers, the problem lies in sales. If, on the other hand, you don't have enough leads from the outset, you have more of a marketing problem.
Marketing ROI
Of course, money also plays a role in inbound marketing. A look at the ROI provides information on how much income certain marketing expenditure generates. Logically, the goal is a positive marketing ROI so that the investments are also worthwhile in the long term.
CHOOSING THE RIGHT MARKETING SOFTWARE CAN SAVE A LOT OF WORK.
As inbound marketing combines several disciplines, there is also a correspondingly large number of tools. From content management systems and SEO tools to complete solutions - the market has a lot to offer.
When choosing, first consider whether a marketing stack, i.e. several individual tools, or a complete solution makes more sense. We have written the article "Inbound marketing software: marketing stack or complete solution?" on this topic. Perhaps it will help you decide!
Do you already know that you want to rely on a complete solution? There is a wide range of options when it comes to inbound all-rounders. Whether HubSpot, Act-on or Chimpify - in our blog post you will learn which functions an all-in-one solution should have and how to find the right tool.
LOOKING FOR A HUBSPOT PARTNER AGENCY?
Then take a look at our website to find out more about our services as a HubSpot partner agency !
We advise you around
- HubSpot demo
- the right choice of components for you
- implementation
- HubSpot training courses
- HubSpot campaigns
- support
Inbound Marketing
& SEO
WOULD YOU LIKE A SHORT SUMMARY?
Inbound marketing is about attracting visitors with content and turning them into customers.
Nevertheless, machine readability - and therefore SEO - is indispensable. Search engine optimization used to be a marketing method in its own right. Today, SEO and inbound marketing are firmly interlinked. After all, what's the point if you have great content but nobody can find it? There's no getting around SEO here.
Search engines are the primary source of traffic, especially for larger websites. SEO already plays a role in content planning. The topics must be exciting and relevant. And how do you do that? Right, with tried and tested keyword research. Not only will you find out what content interests your target group, but you will also make sure that you speak their language and strike the right tone.
Another tip: enrich your content with links and additional information. This is also part of good SEO - and therefore inbound marketing.
Inbound marketing and content marketing are often used interchangeably. However, content marketing is merely a sub-discipline of inbound marketing - albeit a very important one.
This means that we need content marketing for inbound marketing. Conversely, this is not the case.
Both disciplines are aimed at long-term customer loyalty. However, inbound marketing goes one step further. Leads should be generated and then converted into customers. The goals are therefore primarily sales-oriented. On the other hand, content marketing focuses more on objectives such as brand building or improving the image.
The answer to this question is simple, isn't it? The marketing department takes care of inbound marketing. Sounds logical, but is only partially correct. Inbound marketing cannot be imposed on just any employee in marketing as a side project. If you do, the whole thing is doomed to failure. If the budget is available, it may be worth hiring an inbound marketing specialist - or, depending on the size of the company, an entire team.
Or perhaps you already have one or more employees in your own ranks who can take care of inbound marketing in the future.
Alternatively, you also have the option of outsourcing inbound marketing to an agency that specializes in inbound marketing, such as Mark Lotse. They will work with you to develop a suitable strategy and accompany you all the way.
Tetra GmbH
The aquarium company Tetra's strategy is based on information and education about aquariums. In sections such as "My first aquarium", for example, everything new aquarists need to know is summarized. In addition, interactive tools help to dose fish food correctly or plan pond maintenance. On the company's own YouTube channel, interested parties can also learn how to use Tetra products correctly. And even though the company is probably only known to very few people, the strategy has been successful. Tetra is the world market leader for aquarium accessories and fish food.
ShipServ
As a leading marketplace in the marine industry, the company offers software, services and applications to make global shipping more efficient. The main product is the e-commerce platform TradeNet, which serves as a link between customers and suppliers. Struggling with the problem of being impersonal as a b2b software company, ShipServ conducted market research and realized that there were few online communities in their industry. ShipServ's answer to this was to draw attention to itself as a thought leader in the industry. This was achieved with a new website including a blog. Customers were regularly featured there and useful white papers were published. ShipServ also set up a successful group on LinkedIn where members can exchange ideas on a wide range of industry topics.
TUI
As one of the world's largest tour operators, TUI opted for HubSpot's all-round solution after extensive research. The reason was that the individual business units in the USA and Canada were using different marketing platforms. The consequences included poor quality leads and one-sided marketing with emails. With HubSpot, TUI was able to regularly publish useful content and increase social media traffic by more than 200 percent. This also increased the number of website visitors to the pages of the respective business units by between 20 and 50 percent.
CE-CON GmbH
"Can we make processes even more efficient?" CE-CON asked itself this question when it decided to optimize marketing and sales. In collaboration with Mark Lotse, CE-CON implemented HubSpot and published regular blog articles and white papers on relevant topics. In this way, CE-CON reinforced its expert status and provided its target group with relevant information. At the same time, their sales processes improved. Thanks to the platform and the support of Mark Lotse, all marketing and sales processes were optimally coordinated to convert leads into customers.