Don’t know much about inbound marketing? Read this inbound marketing campaign article for a basic overview.
Inbound marketing campaigns consist of pieces that build on each other and leverage the power of the Internet and email. They require a different perspective than other campaigns and, in our experience, they are more successful when an experienced Internet writer takes the reigns. That writer—or online content strategist—will help you develop the right mix of content and use that content to lead your audience through your sales funnel.Develop the right mix of content at the front and back end
Your front-end content needs are all about relevant topics. Use your audience personas and industry knowledge to determine the type of content that answers your audience’s needs and the Internet channels that you can use to reach that audience.Your back-end content needs focus on building a robust library of useful content that meets the front-end needs. Campaigns will struggle to be effective if they rely on one or two pieces of content. A video and a website page isn’t going to be a robust audience attraction that draws people in. Blog articles, a downloadable offer, and a video (as an example) give you the opportunity to both attract people and guide them through your lead funnel through multiple visits and levels of engagement.
One piece of attractive content may well be enough to support an outbound marketing campaign. But remember, inbound marketing campaigns by their nature take time and build on themselves. In fact, one of our clients called her inbound campaigns a slow cooker. It’s a good analogy! You put in the right ingredients—and it always requires more than one or two ingredients—and then let the cooker do the work for you.
Improve the audience experience and you’ll improve your lead quality
It’s fair to say that if you provided your target audience with what they were looking for, when they were seeking it—you’d have a much warmer lead than someone who received an unsolicited email from you because they were on a trade show list.In a nutshell, that’s why inbound marketing results in better leads. You improve your audience experience from the very beginning with a strategy focused on their needs and desires. You develop content that meets those needs. And then you deliver that content to them in ways that engage them and pre-qualify them for your sales cycle.
An inbound campaign is built with your marketing funnel in mind. The top of the funnel is all about attraction. Those attracted leads are then drawn further in with good content to become quality leads and eventually happy customers—all through multiple types of relevant, engaging content.
Inbound campaigns require a different perspective than other campaigns and, in our experience, they are more successful when an experienced Internet writer takes the reigns. |
Why should you hire a writer for your inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is an intricate process, and it’s worth hiring an expert writer to lead you through it and develop the right content.Let your team focus on what they do best and let an online content strategist lead you for this new marketing initiative. Did you catch that? I didn’t say writer… I said online content strategist. That is the biggest reason why you need to hire someone to help with your campaigns—because there is a big difference between developing content strategy and writing traditional marketing materials. It’s more nuanced than writing a product sheet or an email newsletter. And if you’re deep in the trenches writing those important sales collateral pieces, it can be hard to switch gears. Hire a content strategist and you’ve got a resource with a new perspective AND expertise in writing content that attracts, converts, closes and delights.
Can you do inbound on your own? Sure! But we have two examples from our own clients that didn’t let us take the lead and they have seen markedly lower results than our clients that have partnered with us on content strategy.
Benefits an online content strategist brings to your campaign:
- Focused effort on a targeted campaign
- Expertise in online content
- Fresh perspective
- Keeps your internal resources focused on their key responsibilities
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