How do you create an inbound marketing strategy?
As the guide to your market’s success, creating an inbound marketing strategy that works comes with knowing your customer first. In order to provide relevant and helpful content to your customers and prospects, you must figure out what content they need at the right time.
An inbound marketing strategy requires giving your prospect special attention at all stages of the sales funnel. In order to maintain impeccable and attentive relationships with potential customers, you must focus on three main philosophies:
- Attract – Establish thought leadership in your company’s content by marketing to the right buyer with insightful information and valuable collateral.
- Engage – Understand your potential customers’ pain points and solutions you have to help relieve them and elevate them toward their goals.
- Retain – Keep your customers happy by offering consistent support that helps them achieve more success with your solution.
Marketo once said, “When it comes to inbound marketing, the more you invest, the greater your return.” This is not going to require a massive marketing budget, but will require thoughtfulness and research to reach your audience and customers in a way that feels equally personal and helpful. Here’s how you can start:
Attract the right audience with inbound marketing
Content marketing has been a feat for many marketers. But the main problem we see is the lack of understanding of their target audience and/or their problems. Ultimately, you won’t attract the right buyer if you’re not creating content that speaks to them in some way.
This is where you should start building buyer personas. Look at your current and most valuable customers and work backwards in their sales process to understand future prospects better. Build personas for each kind of demographic in your market. Gain a complete understanding for their strengths and weaknesses in order to hone in on what kind of content catches their eye.
As stated in our first inbound marketing blog, you don’t want to bombard your potential customers with content that is irrelevant. This is not inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is thoughtful and solves their problems. Disturbing people with irrelevant content will result in unsubscribes and deterred customers. If you put yourself in your customer’s shoes and understand what they might like or need, you will find much more buyers turning their attention toward you.
Talk to a Verse Lead Conversion Specialist to see how we can help
Engage by giving insights and solutions
When it comes to engaging with the prospect, put on the lens of support. You are simply there to make their life easier and happier. The tools you can use to keep them engaged are less about content and more about how you’re automating their qualification process. Essentially, keep them interested until they convert.
Some companies leverage a Chatbot to help keep potential customers engaged, but most of us know that Chatbots can’t always maintain the personalization.
When Verse was created, we set out to make the lead engagement process simple, automated, and customer-centric.
Verse’s system does this by:
- Engaging with the lead within 5 minutes after they fill out an inquiry (top of mind, presence detection, “Wow!” factor)
- Offering text, phone, or email communication to make the lead feel more comfortable – increasing the chances at connection.
- Customized scripts that qualify your leads so we can set an appointment with your sales team while still maintaining your brand’s voice. This allows sales to capitalize on an already blooming relationship.
- 6 month, AI-driven nurturing to keep your company on their radar while reaching out at the most optimal time.
Ultimately, consumers are busy and can easily change their minds. Keeping them engaged with your brand, even via text is going to maximize your chance at closing the deal. Aside from consistently keeping them engaged, you’re convincing them they are important by never giving up on them as a buyer. Simultaneously, you’re giving them the desired communication approach they need in order to get to the bottom of the sales funnel.
Retain your customers with consistent support and follow-up
Once you’ve earned a customer’s business, it’s vital you keep it. Increasing customer retention by 5% can increase profitability anywhere from 25-95% through consistent revenue flow and low client churn. A happy customer is a well-paying customer. This is how you separate from the competition. Blow them away by showing how much you care about their success by:
- Intelligent content – Content that helps them while using their product, from updates to your solution all the way to tutorials and tips. Utilize email marketing to keep them informed.
- Surveys – Send out surveys before contracts expire. 3 month and 6 month check-in surveys are also effective. Offer them immediate support when there is a problem or something they’d like to change.
- A solid onboarding program – Give them as much support as possible. Send them a welcome box with a timeline of their onboarding, preparing them for what they’ll need to do and learn to have the most success with your product. If you can afford it, include some relevant and thoughtful swag they won’t just throw away. It makes them feel special.
Ultimately, customer retention is going to turn your customers into promoters and advocates of your brands. This supports demand generation and creating a brand and voice that future buyers will find attractive and irresistible. Your customers’ success and happiness is the most important part of growing your business. Don’t neglect them.
