Small Business Owners often have to contend with a limited Marketing budget, and the cost of regular Outbound Marketing methods can end up being prohibitive.
But what if we told you there was another, more cost effective way to market your brand? With long lasting and powerful gains, Inbound Marketing and Small Businesses are a match made in heaven.
OK, we’ve got your attention now, and you may be wondering exactly what Inbound Marketing is, especially in comparison to Outbound Marketing (you may also be in the dark as to what that is, too!).
This blog has been written to answer all your Inbound Marketing questions, so let’s get into what it means and how you can use its methods to help your business.
Inbound Marketing Explained
Let’s get the definition of Inbound Marketing sorted first. Sometimes referred to as Pull Marketing, the main feature of Inbound Marketing is its trait of pulling Customers in as opposed to pushing out your brand or campaign message to your audience.
Inbound Marketing tends to be looked upon as the more genuine and organic method of Marketing to attract Customers. Compared to Outbound Marketing, the more traditional approach of enticing new Customers in, usually practiced on a large audience that hasn’t been thoroughly researched, Inbound Marketing is a more targeted technique.
This doesn’t mean Outbound Marketing isn’t a legitimate strategy, but if you’re only focussing on a wider audience, you could be missing out on multiple opportunities that can occur through the Inbound Marketing approach.
And there are multiple ways in which you can adopt this method! We discuss them below.
A Variety of Methods at Your Disposal
There are lots of options at your disposal if you’d like to give Inbound Marketing a go.
Depending on who you’re trying to reach and what your direction is, you’ll be able to choose from a wide range of tactics:
- SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) and PPC (Pay Per Click)
- Press releases
- Social Media
- Influencers
- Video content
- Opt-in emails
- Newsletter campaigns
- Infographics
- Podcasts and Webinars
- Research reports
Some of these approaches will be better suited to your business and audience than others. You’ll need to think carefully about your audience and do some research and planning before you jump right in.
Inbound Marketing Strategies
So that leaves you with your strategy! You’ve chosen your Inbound Marketing method, but now it’s time to dig into the nitty gritty stuff of actually working on your strategy.
The first step of every Marketing campaign is to decide upon your goals and audience. Use demographics to pick a specific group of people to target. Ask questions such as, how old are they? What kind of content do they like? What is their gender? What’s their occupation? Gain a deeper understanding of them as consumers.
Think about the specific platform you’d like your Inbound Marketing campaign to be featured on. Which Social Media outlet works best with your target audience? Use your new-found knowledge on your target audience and current Customers to make informed decisions.
And throughout your whole process, always be analysing! Analyse your results, analyse engagement. This is valuable information into how your Inbound Marketing tactics are being received by current and new Customers.
If you think Inbound Marketing could work for you, we recommend it for any Small Business Owner. With a landslide of positive attributes for your brand, give it a whirl and pull in those Customers using our tips.