Entrepreneur! You Need to Know Inbound Marketing.

inbound balance represented with a pea balancing on a rock. the quote says instead of interrupting work on attracting by dharma shahDo you want to attract more customers online?

Do you need to attract more customers in real life?

Marketing is a business fundamental you need to know as an entrepreneur. Technology is constantly improving and enhancing how we communicate with our community. Ignoring new trends, technologies, and strategies could cause the next generation of your product or service user to turn blind to your presence. Shine your neon lights online and in real life by discovering what inbound marketing has to offer.

Inbound Marketing is a group of strategies and tactics that helps serve your customers better while boosting your brand to the top of the list as delivering quality service and products. Typically an internet marketing strategy Inbound Marketing includes creating content (blog articles, white papers, webinars) to attract your customer and help them consider which of your products or services you offer that can help them. Inbound marketing is about bringing the customer that already wants your product or service to your doorstep.You earn your customer’s attention by simply capturing it with the information they can honestly use. As well all strive to conduct good business, we all turn to the internet to help improve our offerings. When you establish yourself as a person who offers quality, your target audience will trust your brand’s link in the search engine results. Being easy to be found locally and on the web while drawing customers in with your value offers will keep you competitive and distinguish you from the crowds. Here are five questions to consider when moving towards an inbound marketing strategy.

Who’s my target audience?

Defining the person most likely to be looking for your services is necessary so you can better communicate to their wants, needs, and desires. This is called defining your persona in the inbound marketing strategy. One quick way to build your persona is to find one person that fits the match and then exploring them fully. How did they grow up? Where did they go to college? What are their hopes? What are their hobbies? The more you know, the more your relationship with your customer can grow.

How am I represented on the web?

There are a plethora ways to announce your existence on the world wide web. Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Tumblr, Youtube, SnapChat, etc. where do we start? Well, first with your website. Your website is like your living room, and it is your chunk of the internet that contributes and represents you and only you. Next, it is up to you to choose what social media platforms will best share your message. Usually, you would start with where your persona may surf the web. Then expand from there. If it all sounds like too much to manage, choose a platform like Hootsuite to pre-schedule your posts.

What do I consistently offer my customers?

Next what will you share with your customers? Share their interests, especially ones tied to your industry, product, or service. Make sure what you share represents your values and to properly promote the content of others by linking back to them or citing their work. Staying consistent will help your customers recall your brand, name, product, and service at the right moment and right time. They will remember you for what you offer and seek to turn to you first.

What can I teach my customers?

Developing your content and providing quality offerings to your customers is key to developing your inbound marketing strategy. While sharing content keeps you involved and fresh in the social media world, developing content is what keeps your customers coming back to you. What can you share the world? Are you developing a cookbook? Share recipes that didn’t make it in or cooking techniques to help build their skills.

HubSpot.com  offers incredible information on improving your Inbound Marketing Strategy. The also deliver a plethora of content from blogs to courses to help you explore deeply. Check out a YouTube video below for information. For more free information and relevant content be sure to sign up for next August’s newsletter where we discuss finding your buyer’s journey.

Here’s some great books to read around Inbound Marketing

photo credit: Zen of Pea Gravel via photopin (license)

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