12 Advantages of Inbound Marketing for Your Business
When was the last time you sat through a commercial break? That’s right; those days are over. Customers are more discerning and don’t resonate with mass marketing techniques. That’s where inbound marketing comes in. Inbound marketing focuses on attracting customers in an organic way that adds value to their life.
Methods such as SEO, blogging, sponsoring events, influencer outreach, etc. - fall under inbound marketing. This marketing strategy concentrates on the long game, where content is created consistently and strategically, thereby generating demand.
Let’s look at More Inbound Marketing Advantages
1. Cost-Effective
According to HubSpot, inbound marketing leads cost 62% less than outbound leads. That’s because, unlike traditional marketing methods, where paying for multiple billboards costs thousands of dollars, setting up a social media account costs a lot less.
SEO, blogging, and social media are relatively cheaper, and they have a higher ROI because the content satisfies a user’s search intent or interest. Therefore, instead of spending your budget solely on outbound marketing, it is more cost-effective to invest in inbound marketing methods.
2. In house
Sure, You can outsource inbound marketing; however, hiring a content writer, SEO specialist, or marketing team can also easily be done in-house.
Content curation, writing articles and creating valuable content do not require multiple parties, unlike outbound marketing - where companies depend on production/film companies, PR agencies, designers, etc.
Additionally, having people in-house means more control over deadlines, quality, and implementing last-min changes to campaigns.
3. Builds Brand Visibility
Interacting with your customers via your website and social media is part of inbound marketing, which helps with brand visibility. However, it’s not limited to just those two methods.
Inbound marketing is all about publishing content where your customers are looking for it. So, your website will garner more traffic and visibility through SEO efforts and the curation of relevant blogs, articles, and video content.
Even local SEO tactics such as getting a Google My Business listing will boost your brand’s visibility within your area.
4. Content Longevity
The majority of inbound marketing content such as blogs, ebooks, or newsletters is online - thus, giving it longevity. Any blog you put up today can be updated, optimized, and keep showing up in search results, even years later.
The content you put up on your website will always exist unless deleted or taken down. Even if your articles or digital ads are old, if they’ve been indexed and updated, they will show up in search result pages, and that’s a huge advantage of inbound marketing.
5. Better Lead Conversion Rate
Part of an inbound marketing strategy is creating buyer personas. These are customer profiles that consider demographics, location, goals, interests, motivation, etc.
Content is then explicitly curated for these personas since the blogs, videos, ads, influencer outreach all target these personas - they are more likely to become customers. Therefore, there is a higher lead conversion rate with inbound marketing.
For example, you can promote an ad on Instagram to a specific buyer persona, who will most likely click on it and be motivated to make a purchase/follow your brand. However, if the same ad were to be viewed on television, the audience is large but general, and not everyone watching the ad will be motivated to search for your brand and make a purchase.
6. Builds Trust
Consistently publishing valuable content and always giving solutions to user queries results in consumers trusting your brand. It’s not just the direct communication on social media that helps with trust-building, but it’s also the narrative around your brand that garners trust.
Uploading reviews, creating client testimonial videos, asking influencers to rate your product, all these inbound marketing activities garners trust. The more information people can find about your brand or product, the more it helps them gain trust and be motivated to buy your product/service.
7. One Platform Management
Nowadays, many platforms integrate various inbound marketing channels so that it’s all under one roof and easy to manage, track and collate data.
Platforms such as Hubspot, for example, allow your sales and marketing teams to check on social media statistics, emailers, CRM, SEO, and other elements. Additionally, these platforms can generate reports on any topic from traffic leads to bounce rates, making it very easy to course-correct a marketing plan.
Besides Hubspot, here are some alternatives:
8. Evolve and Learn
Receiving reviews, interacting with customers on social media, seeing which pages rank high on search engines, etc. - are all great feedback that you can learn from and evolve. For example, comparing open rates of different newsletters you’ve sent to your customers gives you feedback on the type of content they prefer.
Alternatively, if a specific product page consistently garners traffic, it indicates that users are searching for this product, and you can curate content around it to attract more traffic. These customer interactions and the data help you learn, evolve, and adapt your marketing strategy.
9. Works Along with Side Outbound Marketing
Large-scale companies that typically have the budget to run large outbound marketing campaigns can use the power of inbound marketing to complement the marketing activity further.
For example, a radio or print ad that captivates a client can motivate them to look up the company online, leading them to its digital footprints - such as social media platforms, videos, blogs, and the company website.
Having this online presence, thanks to inbound marketing, develops trust and company recognition.
10. Fosters Internal Collaboration
Outbound marketing depends largely on the marketing team outsourcing work to production houses, PR agencies, publishing companies, etc. However, an inbound marketing strategy requires the in-house marketing and sales teams to work together to achieve the company’s goals.
For example, the in-store sales staff who meet with customers can give valuable feedback to the marketing team about the clients to help them create inbound marketing materials. The stronger the collaboration between the departments, the better the success of the marketing strategy.
11. More Immediate Results
Inbound marketing is a long-term solution to gain more customers since it requires dedication, consistent content curation, and SEO efforts. However, there is a convenience factor that makes inbound marketing so attractive to many customers and companies.
People conduct searches for products, businesses, or services online, so a quick local search can lead them directly to your website, which can then motivate them to buy or avail of your service. This direct call-to-action can convert leads into customers quicker than, let’s say, a flyer handed out at a mall.
Investing in SEO will help your brand rise in rank and fulfill more search queries, so when you plan your inbound marketing plan, make sure it implements SEO and content marketing.
12. Accessible for all Business Sizes
Print ads in magazines, radio ads, and the cost to produce a TV commercial are incredibly high compared to Facebook or Google ads. It is a disadvantage for small businesses who have no choice but to opt for the budget-friendly options. But as we’ve seen, during the pandemic, small businesses have thrived using only social media as their go-to choice for a low-cost inbound marketing strategy. It is, therefore, accessible for every business size, and as you scale up, so can your inbound marketing activities.
Content writers, SEO specialists, automation tools, etc., are available at every price point, so no matter if you’re a small or big business, it can fit your budget.
FAQs about Inbound Marketing
Q1. What Is Local PPC, and Is It Part of Inbound Marketing?
Local PPC is a marketing activity where advertisers pay a fee each time an ad is clicked. Therefore, local PPC is the same, but it targets a set of customers within a specific area.
To answer the second half of your question. There is a debate on whether PPC should be filed under inbound marketing since the very nature of Pay-Per-Click is to pay for placement and could be classified as “interrupting user flow.” Hence, it fits more into outbound marketing.
However, PPC can help augment your inbound marketing tactics and gain more leads. Therefore, it can also be classified as an inbound technique. So, the answer really lies in how you choose to term inbound marketing, and as such, PPC can be filed under both inbound and outbound marketing - depending on who you ask!
Q2. What Are Some Inbound Marketing Activities That Even a Novice Can Do?
In a nutshell, inbound marketing is all about organically attracting customers. So, to begin with, you need to create a buyer persona - this is an in-depth profile of your target client. Once you have this, you can start creating content that will entice them.
Some inbound marketing activities a novice can do, include:
- Writing topical blogs that are SEO friendly
- Create a Google My Business listing for your company
- Start SEO efforts for your website
- Engage with clients on social media
- Send out valuable content via newsletters, etc.
Q3. What’s the Easiest Way to Describe Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is a business methodology that uses tailormade, valuable content, and experiences to attract customers without disrupting their flow. It helps potential clients find your company through organic methods such as blogs, website content, SEO, content marketing, social media, etc.
This marketing strategy helps with brand awareness, authority, and converting leads into long-lasting customers due to the content curated.
Q4. Why Do Some Companies Prefer Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is so popular because it’s significantly cheaper and easier to collate data than outbound marketing.
Additionally, Customers nowadays look online for all their curiosities - there is a demand for content, and that’s where inbound marketing plays a significant role. The nature of this methodology is to create content for buyer personas.
So, no matter the online search, if you have:
- Informative blogs,
- Done SEO for your website,
- Collaborations with influencers
- Written ebooks, or
- Published video testimonials, etc.
It will help you gain more leads and turn them into customers, which is another main advantage that makes inbound marketing popular.
Inbound Marketing is here to stay.
As we’ve seen in this article, inbound marketing has many advantages, low risks, and is cost-effective, making it attractive to small and big businesses. Additionally, it comes down to the way customers respond to your marketing content.
Currently, people resonate more with informative blogs, social media, influence videos, newsletters, etc., rather than a TV commercial or print ad. So, start investing and implementing inbound marketing strategies today.
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