The benefits of Inbound Marketing are substantial. Inbound Marketing is a new term that describes a passive marketing technique that socially establishes you, your business or organization as an authority on a given topic and indirectly generates business opportunities as a direct result of your perceived expertise on a specific subject. As opposed to outbound marketing or buying attention via traditional advertising, inbound marketing involves promoting your company through blogs, podcasts, social media, whitepapers, search engine marketing and other forms of content marketing in the form of useful or interesting information. This process requires a high commitment level in terms of a steady stream of relevant content development over an extended period of time.

While it’s not easy work, studies show the overall cost of customer acquisition through inbound marketing is much lower than through traditional advertising. A recent study showed inbound marketing costs were 62% lower than outbound methods for a given result. Interestingly blogging is among the best performing Inbound Marketing techniques and it is the least costly to implement. When executed properly, a sound Inbound Marketing Strategy can provide a steady stream of business opportunities over many years. A good rule of thumb is to budget for your Inbound Marketing over a period of at least one year. Create a budget you can stick with over that period because this is an organic process that takes time and often takes several months before the benefits begin to present themselves. So don’t get discouraged, stick to the plan and the opportunities will follow.

Your inbound marketing strategy like other forms of marketing strategy is critical to success. The first step begins with identifying the products or services you wish to promote. Search for those terms online to better understand your competition and the difficulty level of becoming an authority on that topic. Inbound marketing best practices dictate your identify through customary terminology used to describe the products or services. The terminology is then refined into keyword phrases that are known search terms for the products or services. These phrases then become integrated into all you inbound marketing content development. Many companies make the mistake of not allocating enough human resources to content development. While Inbound Marketing is less costly than traditional media it is labor intensive so be sure to contract with a professional that can demonstrate a track record of success. Learn More

Inbound Marketing analytics help you better understand which efforts are yielding results and which ones are not. The metrics allow you to then refocus your resources in places that are providing the best return on investment. There are many aspects to Inbound Marketing and the process often takes place on several mediums simultaneously which can be a challenge to track without the right tools. Full Frame Digital recommends several analytics solutions depending on the size of your organization and its budget. Some come in the form of a simple dashboard where you can manage several types of social media channels in one place. More advanced systems combine full featured content management system platforms with social media, search marketing and blog management with detailed analytics all in one combined solution. Learn More

The benefits of Search Engine Marketing cannot be understated. Search is at the heart of Inbound Marketing and it all began there. Organic Search Engine Optimization helps your website and specific landing pages on your website position well on major search engines for the keyword phrases you are targeting. This process is more complex than it used to be because more and more businesses are vying for many of the same phrases. The rules continue to change as well, therefore staying on top of the best practice methods can be a challenge. Engaging with an SEO professional will significantly improve your chances to improve your position. Pay-per-Click or sponsored search advertising gets you premium positions immediately however it comes at premium cost. This process also requires expertise since the quality of your ad factors into the price of your ads. High quality ads give your business a clear advantage over your competition by reducing your acquisition costs.  Learn More

Blogging is one of the best methods to become an authority on the products or services you offer. It’s also one of the most cost effective because you can do much of the work on your own. One of the best forms of blogging is to provide useful information for free to those who may be interested in your products or services. This helps you build a relationship with your potential customers. This is important because most people prefer to do business with someone they already know and trust. There are some more advanced forms of blogging that require professional help involving syndicating content and pushing your content into multiple websites automatically to further increase your exposure. Blogging remains the go-to method to become the proven resource for any given topic. Learn More

Social Media is an extremely effective Inbound Marketing tool. Like blogging it allows you to stay in front of potential customers and existing customers in a meaningful way. Posting on social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, Linked In and the like give you an opportunity to demonstrate your expertise by posting useful information, helping a follower or just keeping your followers up to date on new trends. Frequent posts that contain your target keyword phrases also help with search positioning when referencing your website. As your audience grows, your influence grows and this influence is very valuable to your business and potentially other businesses that want to capitalize on your sphere of influence. Learn More