Inbound Marketing Insights

As 2015 begins, companies are carefully constructing their inbound marketing plans for the new year.  Inbound marketing has taken off, and in order to stay relevant in their industries and grow their customer bases, many companies are increasing their presence online.  As your company creates its inbound marketing plan for 2015, here are 5 strategies it should consider:

1. Content Marketing: Content marketing focuses on what the customer wants, rather than irrelevant content that the customer has no interest in.  More and more companies are learning this and have started to create content that is directly relevant to their customer base.  According to inboundnow.com, B2B companies that blog are expected to generate 67% more leads per month than those that do not blog.  So when you  write your blogs in 2015, remember to provide your customers with great content that they find interesting and applicable to their lives.  Here are 4 tips to remember when developing your content marketing strategy.
   

2. Marketing Personalization: Customers enjoy being recognized by name, not just referred to as “another customer”.  This can be accomplished by simply addressing your customer by name via e-mail, but personalization is much more than that.  Providing personalized content is a key driver in separating your company from the competition.  According to an online personal experience study by janrain.com, “74% of online consumers get frustrated with websites when content appears to have nothing to do with their interests”.  By offering customers personalized content, your company will be able to increase its sales, lower its operating costs, create better customer satisfaction, and convince both current and potential customers to spend more time on its website (inboundnow.com).

3. Targeting Your Prospects: Companies are expected to dramatically increase their customer targeting and segmentation efforts in 2015, as targeted ads are considered almost twice as effective as non-targeted ads.  Knowing an individual’s interests, goals, and business needs can help your company create more personalized advertising and content.  Segmenting and targeting specific prospects can give your company a better idea of what customers are the best fit for its products and vice versa. Analytics can also help your company identify the most profitable demographics, so that it can make the best financial decision on which customers to target.

4. Mobile Marketing: According to pewinternet.org, 58% of American adults have a smart phone.  Smart phones are a great marketing tool for a company, because they can target an audience throughout the day on a medium they are very comfortable with.  Research from eMarketer.com reveals that “18% of local smart phone queries lead to a purchase” and “50% of shoppers who conducted local searches on smart phones visited the store within one day”.  Any type of personal technology that people use to stay connected throughout the day is a great opportunity for companies to better target potential customers.

5. Storytelling: Capturing customers’ attention visually has the potential to be a very powerful marketing technique. With so much marketing “noise” in today’s world, it can be very difficult to differentiate your company from your competitors.  As a result, your company's marketing tactics have to appeal to its customers’ senses. With visual storytelling, using videos to project and strengthen a brand's image, your company is able to effectively tell a story in a way that other companies cannot.  Through storytelling, your company is also better able to communicate its unique value and fully engage with potential customers. Through the use of videos and visual storytelling, your company can inspire your customers emotionally by sending a defining message.

For your company’s online marketing efforts to be financially effective, its strategy should focus on its customer’s needs and wants. Discover what needs your prospects are searching for online and fill that need in order to generate leads and satisfy customers. Traditional digital marketing is changing rapidly and it’s key that your company's marketing efforts are in line with its client’s preferences. 

Are you looking for the best way to start your 2015 inbound marketing strategy? Download our 10-step checklist to get started with inbound marketing.