Jennifer’s Blog

November 2, 2018

Inbound Marketing – What Does It Mean For My Business?

I was recently contacted by a singer/songwriter for some help with marketing his website and his business. When I first got the email, I was excited. I mean, as a music lover, why wouldn’t I want to be involved in the music industry? But then as I thought about it, I wondered, “What the heck do I know about the music business?” After doing some research it became clear that whether you are trying to gain fans or sell your product, how you find your ideal customer and ultimately get them to engage with your company is all the same. You decide who your target audience is and then you do your best to find out everything you can about them. After all, you can’t attract your best customer to your website, social media platforms or blog without knowing what is interesting to them.

Content is King!
Inbound marketing is about creating experiences that are helpful and relevant to your customer. So, once you’ve determined who your customer is and what makes them get out of bed in the morning, it’s time to work on your content – content that addresses your customer’s needs and tells your unique story. I love this analogy from Bernard May, “The world doesn't need another ‘seven ways honey is good for your health’ blog post, but we do need to know how Sally created Voney, the first vegan honey brand, and why it matters to her and the vegan community. Nobody but Sally can make this content.” It’s important for your brand that you tell the specific and compelling story that your customers want to hear.

Where Do I Publish My Story?
Like I mentioned above, tools that you can use to attract the right people at the right time are your website, your social media platforms, blogs, videos, etc. Focus on content that your customer needs and wants when they need and want it. "Inbound Marketing is so powerful because you have the power to give the searcher/consumer exactly what answers they are looking for at the precise point that they need it. That builds trust, reputation, and authority in whatever niche you are practicing this form of marketing in.” Joshua Gill, Inbound & SEO Marketing Consultant, Inbound Authority.

Then What?
The hard part is done! You have determined who your ideal customer is, you have attracted them to your content, now it’s time to engage! Whether it’s via live chat, email, or messaging apps, it’s important to use conversations to create relationships via the platform they prefer. For example, with my singer/songwriter, I let him know that his website really is the only online property that he owns so he wants people to gather there – learning about him, his music, streaming his music, buying merchandise – whatever it is he wants them to do. Always engaging them! As a 6-time marathon finisher, I prefer to think of this as a marathon and not a sprint. It’s estimated that consumers take an average of 79 days to gather information before they make a major purchase. It’s up to you to deepen those relationships in that 79 days so that they are buying from you and not your competitor.

The Internet has changed the game for all of us. Consumers are relying heavily on self-education when it comes to purchases. So, your ability to sound different, create compelling content, and engage, engage, engage is the key to long term success in this overly noisy world.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *