So your business's phone just isn't ringing?
No matter how long you stare, that phone remains silent. Maybe it's not your product or service; instead, maybe it's your marketing strategy.
There are two basic types of marketing: outbound and inbound.
Outbound marketing, also known as interruption-based marketing, consists of traditional marketing strategies, such as billboards, cold calls, direct mail, TV and radio commercials, newspaper ads, etc.
Inbound marketing, on the other hand, revolves around creating marketing content that people actually want. Think of outbound marketing as a big, loud megaphone, screaming a message for all to hear. Rather than forcing people to listen to your message, inbound marketing pulls people toward your message.
So what’s an inbound marketing campaign? Inbound marketing campaigns are organized efforts that align all marketing activities around a single message and a specific objective. You promote an offer your audience deems valuable through relevant marketing channels, moving leads through the sales funnel and converting them to customers. You then measure and analyze the campaign’s results.
Here’s how you build an inbound marketing campaign (and get your phone to start ringing) in just seven simple steps!
Step 1: Devise a strategy
Sit down with your team members and discuss your goals for this campaign. Set a “SMART goal,” a clear reason as to why you are building this particular campaign. What do want to achieve for your business or your client’s business?
- S: Specific: Your goal should be clear-cut and straightforward.
- M: Measurable: Your goal should be trackable and measurable.
- A: Attainable: Your goal should be realistic and feasible.
- R: Relevant: Your goal should be pertinent and applicable.
- T: Timely: Your goal should be deadline-oriented and precise.
Step 2: Identify your audience
Determine who you are targeting with the campaign. Create in-depth buyer personas, if applicable. Discover how and where your audience researches. Find out what your audience’s pain points are and learn to speak their language. Determine the problems they are experiencing and the solutions they are seeking.
Step 3: Create a content map
A content map provides a clear vision of who you will target and how you will target them. This is the time to brainstorm ideas, such as blog titles, email workflows, etc. Build your content around the buying lifecycle stages: Awareness, Consideration, and Decision.
For example, a blog or an infographic would act as an Awareness Stage piece of content at the top of the sales funnel. Lead-generation tools, such as a white paper or eBook, are solid middle of the funnel offers. A demo request or free trial, on the other hand, would be further down the funnel.
Step 4: Create a content calendar
A content calendar goes hand-in-hand with a content map. Decide how many blogs, infographics and eBooks you will produce. Work out an email nurturing campaign. Make deadlines and a schedule for the publishing of each piece (e.g. blog, email, social media post, etc.).
Step 5: Make a promotional plan
Determine how long you will promote the offer and how you will promote it. For example, will you boost a Facebook post, make a hashtag or share your offer in relevant LinkedIn groups or online forums?
Step 6: Launch
Ready for your inbound marketing to take off? You’ve set goals, determined your target audience, developed a content map and content calendar, and built a promotional list. So what are you waiting for? Launch that sucker and see success!
Step 7: Analysis
Thought you were done? Sorry, but we’re afraid it’s time to crunch numbers. Analytics will reveal important insights into your campaign, such as clicks, website traffic, conversions, etc. If you think a particular CTA or email subject line isn’t getting the return you thought, create a second version and do A/B testing.
One of the most surefire ways to build an effective inbound marketing campaign is to partner with the experts. At ROI Online, we live and breathe inbound marketing campaigns. So why not give us a shout and find out how we can help your business succeed.
Download the full inbound marketing guide for free!
