Jackylou Babiera

The Importance of Inbound Marketing for Business Today ​ We live in a world of information abundance and attention scarcity. And the pace of information creation is accelerating. Buyer’s today are more empowered. The web provides them with instant information gratification. They can access detailed specs, pricing, and reviews about goods and services 24/7 with a few flicks of their thumbs. Meanwhile, Social Media encourages them to share and compare, while mobile devices add a wherever/whenever dimension to every aspect of the experience. - Why is Inbound Marketing Hot Today? 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. According to ​Joshua Gill, Inbound and SEO Marketing Consultant Today , the internet is where people do research, looks for solutions, search for options and even purchase products. Inbound Marketing is a strategy that utilizes many forms of “pull marketing”. Content Marketing, Blogs, Events, SEO, Social Media and more to create brand awareness and attract new business. In contrast to Outbound Marketing where marketers attempt to find customers, Inbound Marketing earns the attention of customers and makes the company easy to be found. In short, Inbound Marketing attracts customers to you, so you are not chasing them down.It helps prospects find your company in the early stages of their decision-making process, leading to a stronger influence on their future buying decisions. Traditional Marketing doesn’t work anymore The internet has profoundly changed the way business is done. Sixteen years ago the internet was still in its infancy - Facebook didn’t exist and MySpace had just launched- and businesses tried to reach buyers through print advertising, direct mail, TV commercials and other methods. Today, 94% of B2B buyers use online search as they make purchase decisions, rendering traditional advertising strategies nearly obsolete and certainly ineffective. In fact, 70% of a B2B buyers research is done online before reaching out to a potential vendor partner. They already know Traditional Marketing methods aren’t generating the quality or quantity of leads needed to achieve business goals, and they also know that the online methods should or could be a more productive outlet for many business types. Traditional Marketing tactics based on “renting” attention that others have built and interrupting the buyer are becoming less and less effective. “Inbound Marketing transforms your website into your number one sales and marketing tool. It works round the clock and will never stop” *Some other benefits of inbound include: - Companies that regularly blog generate 126% more leads than those that do not - 70% of consumers prefer getting to know a company via content instead of ads. - Social Media has a 100% higher lead- to-close rate than traditional marketing - Inbound marketing costs 61% less per lead than outbound marketing *Here are some stats that should encourage you to go Inbound* 1. It will save you money - The cost per lead for companies who predominantly use Inbound marketing is 61% lower than those with a mainly outbound strategy 2. It saves you time - Rather than spending hours every single week creating and sending out hundreds of emails and making phone call after phone call to cold leads why not have leads come straight to you? Outbound Marketing is time intensive whilst Inbound is quicker and much more effective. 3. You can measure and therefore increase productivity - One of the key factors to inbound marketing is you can view and then analyze your results as they occur. If you put the proper analytics in place then you see exactly what content is working for you and generating best results.Once you have reviewed your results you can then use that data to see what is the most effective and invest more time and energy into what works rather than what doesn’t. 4. Stay ahead of the competition - If you are not using Inbound Marketing to grow your business then the chances are your competitors are. All the experts are talking about the fact that the inbound marketing is one of the HOTTEST trends and the most effective ways to market started in 2016. If you start now then you are jumping in at the right time and staying ahead of those yet to maximize its potential. Conclusion: Make Inbound Marketing work for you! In our fast-paced society where the internet and social networking shape our daily decisions. Customers are exposed to more information than ever. This phenomenon is not only making them more educated but also is causing a change in buying behaviors.Today’s businesses are realizing that Outbound Efforts alone are not enough to produce profits. Instead, Inbound Marketing techniques need to be utilized in order to attract more leads and foster better brand preferences.