Inbound marketing is a very popular (76% of marketers use inbound strategies according to HubSpot) and cost-effective (61% cheaper than outbound strategies according to SearchEngine Journal) method for getting your brand noticed. But what is it? Inbound marketing is a strategy for attracting customers to your products and services via content marketing, social media, search engine optimization, blogging, events and more to create brand awareness and attract new business.

4 Ways to Use Inbound Marketing

1.) Search Engine Optimization: Ensuring your website copy is written to rank for the keywords/search phrases you want to hit for is essential to any inbound marketing strategy. It allows web crawlers to identify and index your site’s content, making sure it will appear in the lead search results for people seeking out your identified terms. Appearing on the first page of Google search results enhances your click-through. How often to you move to page 2 when searching the Internet for anything?

2.) Content Marketing: According to the Weidert Group, the most successful business-to-business marketers spend 40% of their marketing
budget on content marketing. That may seem surprising but content really is king. Most consumers and business professionals start their search for whatever they are looking to purchase on the Internet. If you have the content to reach your target audience, you will attract them to your brand. Blogging, case studies, testimonials, guides, e-books, whitepapers and a content calendar are all good examples of content marketing and inbound marketing strategy that will help draw attention to your website and your brand.

3.) Pay Per Click (PPC) Marketing: Paid search allows marketers to put their ads where a user is actively searching for what they are
selling/providing and doing so through content. Pay per click allows you to pay to be at the top of the search engine and also bid on the specific phrases or keywords that you want to appear in searches for. Then you are charged only when a user clicks on your ad/page. PPC marketing is a great way to increase brand awareness when used effectively as it can be very targeted. Having an expert on staff or using an outside PPC firm is highly recommended if you will invest heavily in this platform as data analytics and strategy are huge factors
in PPC.

4.) Social Media: There may be no more effective inbound marketing tool than social media. Nearly every person uses some type of social
medium on a daily basis. You must identify your target audience and know what medium they are using to have an effective social media strategy. Younger users skew toward SnapChat and Instagram while older users are on Facebook. Business professionals are on LinkedIn. This inbound strategy also allows for more fun, flexibility and the humanizing of your company or brand. Target your end user’s
sensibilities to encourage interacting with your company on social media.

Increase Your Inbound Marketing

While the above tips are great ways to increase your inbound marketing, make sure you create a strategy first. Come up with a content
calendar and ensure you have the manpower to keep up with the content creation. Inbound marketing can fall flat if you don’t keep up with it. Blogging needs to be consistent, SEO copy needs to be updated as your company evolves, social media needs consistency to be effective as users are inundated with new content and a solid pay-per-click strategy is needed to keep on budget and ensure it is effective.

Melanie Klag joined Proforma in October 2018 as the Marketing Communications Specialist. With her, she brings a wide array of experience in copywriting, editing and content creation for print, digital and social media platforms across many different industries. Melanie graduated from Bowling Green State University with a Bachelor of Science in Journalism and a minor in popular culture (which comes in handy at trivia nights).

In her free time, Melanie enjoys spending time with her beloved (i.e. very spoiled!) dog, volunteering at her local animal shelter, and hanging out with family and friends.