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Inbound marketing is an unbelievably effective marketing approach that all businesses should utilize in order to build their brand. It focuses on attracting customers to your company, rather than on marketing outwards– Not only is inbound marketing generally more cost-effective than traditional marketing, but it also tends to generate a higher rate of return in the long run. 

But how exactly is inbound marketing so powerful, and what aspects make it the perfect marketing strategy for both big corporations and small businesses?

Inbound marketing can lower consumers’ guard

Rather than interrupt your potential customers to push your marketing message, inbound marketing genuinely attracts customers to your company by creating valuable material that answers questions, provides solutions, or assists your target market with things they already have a need for. Because of that, inbound marketing doesn’t really feel like a deliberate marketing attempt. It offers something of value to customers, which builds a better relationship between them and your business. Customers are more likely to prefer content relevant to their direct needs, rather than a pushy advertisement that’s not speaking to their exact interests.

How is inbound marketing different from traditional marketing?

Inbound marketing differs widely from traditional marketing methods, such as those focused on pushing advertisements on TV, radio, or print. Instead of broadly marketing to anyone who happens to have opened up a newspaper, inbound marketing reaches potential customers at the start of their buying journey and guides them closer to making a purchasing decision. Generally, it has a smaller–but more focused–reach than traditional marketing. 

For small businesses, inbound marketing can be an especially powerful strategy to reach your target market and build your brand, as it directly targets customers who already have a need or interest in your products or services. Rather than spend your whole budget on traditional marketing methods, small businesses can focus their resources on more targeted strategies

Why and how inbound relies on education and inspiration?

The three key objectives of inbound marketing are attracting, engaging, and delighting your target market. But in order to successfully impact your customers, educating and inspiring content that offers value and emotionally appeals to customers is essential. Instead of marketing a product, inbound marketing tells customers information they want to know and solutions to a problem, or motivates them to continue further along the purchasing path. 

In the beginning of the buying journey, inbound marketing should focus on creating an environment for prospective customers that successfully educates them about the business’s products and services about their services/products. Additionally, by providing knowledge and engaging content to customers at different buying stages, businesses can cement themselves as niche experts, building brand reputation and increasing sales. In turn, this can inspire customers to biome brand ambassadors, positively promoting the business to others.

Types of inbound marketing content

Now that you’ve identified the exact reasons why inbound marketing works –and why it’s so crucial, especially for small businesses– it’s time to start considering precisely what types of inbound marketing tools to utilize in your marketing efforts. There is a wide range of different types of inbound marketing content to use at every step of the buying stage. Let’s take a look!

Of course, there are countless other types of inbound marketing that any company can –and should– infuse into its own business marketing strategy. The important thing is to find out what content works best for your brand and appeals to your customers.

Conclusion

Inbound marketing is a crucial part of any business marketing plan. It provides answers to customers’ exact questions and relevant solutions to their issues, which lowers their defenses and builds a stronger business-customer relationship. By educating and inspiring customers, inbound marketing is able to more effectively engage with customers. It can also strengthen brand authority by providing knowledgeable resources specific to a brand’s industry, all of which contribute to the powerful effectiveness of inbound marketing.

Stay on the lookout for the next article, which tackles the exact steps of how to plan a highly-effective inbound marketing strategy customized to your small business and its unique needs.

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