Does traditional marketing still work?
In short, yes.
Traditionally, we all know marketing as yellow pages, cold calling, direct mail and even billboards – which can all be expensive, untargeted or even disruptive. Inbound marketing has come along and taken the steering wheel for marketers globally. Social networks have exploded. But don’t get me wrong, traditional still works for some industries.
So, what does Inbound marketing mean?
Inbound marketing is simply the process of attracting qualified enquiries to your business through the digital medium, such as content, blogs, social media, infographics, email marketing, SEO and Pay-per-click.
Why it works
Inbound marketing can be applied to any business and any brand – whether that is B2C, B2B or B to a government. It works by giving value first before pitching and selling, you have to be the right solution and the viewer should know that.
For example…
For example, let’s say you run a social media management business and a potential prospect is searching online for your search term or the solution they are after, you’d want to create content about industry-relevant stories. People search for exactly what they’re looking for, no beating around the bush. The more you post, the more presence you’ll have online.
Then what?
OK great, so your business has now appeared online as a solution to the prospect.
Can we measure effectiveness?
That is where the Buyer Persona comes in! The Buyer Persona is a fictional person that doesn’t necessarily exist but is your ideal target client. So it could be young mums between the ages of 28-35, who like to spend money on their children online. We would then create the content that is the most attractive to those personas.
Next step?
If you’ve done the above steps correctly and have the correct call to action on your website, you should surely be getting new enquiries and leads come through. It’s all in the follow-up. What we’d suggest is to give something of value away for free, whether that’s a report or a voucher code. Premium item sales should then follow.
Anything else?
It’s time to create an email campaign. Even if the sales are coming in straight away, be sure to nurture those relationships because you’re building trust and constantly giving to them.
The next moment they require something you can help with, they’ll think of you!
