How to Use Inbound Marketing to Generate More Leads From Your Website
What if there was a cool machine that could generate more leads for your business and — once you get it firing on all cylinders — dramatically increase your revenue? Well there is. It’s your website.
Actually, the machine is you. Your website is the tool. And inbound marketing is the fuel.
Inbound marketing is revolutionizing the way businesses communicate their message. And it’s a good bet that if you’re not already doing it, you’ve definitely heard about it.
Nowadays, more and more businesses want to use their websites to generate leads, with the obvious goal of reaching more customers. But only a small percentage are taking full advantage of cutting-edge inbound marketing strategies that aim to earn the attention of current and future customers instead of trying to buy it.
Inbound represents a dramatic, common-sense shift in the way smart businesses approach marketing, recognizing that technology has given consumers control over when, how and what information they receive — including marketing messages.
Traditional outbound marketing techniques (examples: TV commercials that you mute, junk mail that you toss in the trash) often rely on an in-your-face, interruption-based, “Buy Now!” approach.
The philosophy behind inbound is that consumers are far more responsive to messaging that is respectful of their time and their intelligence — permission-based messaging that’s focused on connecting them to your business, your story, by sharing helpful information designed to build the kind of credibility and trust that can lead to a business relationship.
Blogging is a core component of a successful inbound marketing strategy, as are social media and email marketing. If you can create content that adds value for or answers the questions of your target audience, you’ll attract them to your site. For example, if you’re in the field services industry and your customers are business owners responsible for hiring, create free resources to answer their questions, like this landscaper salary guide does. Another key is the creation of premium downloadable content (eBooks, white papers, informative case studies) designed to convert website visitors into actual leads who have chosen to provide you with their name and email.
But wait, there’s more! (Just kidding, that’s more of an outbound approach.)
But wait, there actually is more. Much more.
Technology now enables you to gain a far deeper understanding of how visitors interact with your website, with your social media channels and with the messages you send to folks on your email list.
Inbound marketing utilizes digital analytical tools to measure every web, email and marketing metric that matters. This enables you to quantify the ROI from every single strategy you employ AND to fine-tune your strategies — in real time — according to solid data about what’s working and what is not.
It also empowers your sales team with detailed information on each new lead and creates technology-driven opportunities to nurture those leads more efficiently than ever before.
Sound too good to be true?
Well, remember a couple paragraphs back when we talked about eBooks? Just so happens we have a great one for you.
“5 Steps to Increase Website Leads: An Introduction to Inbound Marketing” is designed especially for business people who want more from their marketing, have likely heard about inbound and some of its tools and strategies, but don’t know where to begin.
