Open Connection Media | Relationship Marketing

Last week we answered the question, “what is inbound marketing?” and discussed why you should be doing it.  For people who spend the majority of their days practicing different types of digital media, the term “inbound marketing” is nothing new.  However in the general scheme of marketing, it’s definitely the new kid on the block.  It’s something that many colleges still don’t seem to discuss (or even mention) as we discovered when training some of our recent interns.

Today we’d like to continue where we left off with our original post.  We’d like to dig dipper into what exactly inbound marketing is.  It’s a very broad term and you can easily find yourself all over the place without some direction and examples.   Proof of the terms ambiguity came just minutes after we posted the original article when we received a tweet from one of our Twitter followers asking us if SEO (Search Engine Optimization) is inbound marketing.  The simple answer to the question is that SEO is just one type of inbound marketing.  Below we’ve listed 5 examples to help clarify the term and put you in the right direction.

1. SEO (Search Engine Optimization)

SEO is something that website owners and businesses have practiced ever since Google became popular.  It’s the constant game of trying to get your website to rank high on Google searches that relate to your website or business.  Many people confuse the paid ads located on top and right sidebar of Google’s search results with SEO.  This is not SEO at all and is definitely not inbound marketing.  This is actually a great example of outbound marketing.  People are paying Google lots and lots of money to show up in those ad positions.  They are paying to put their brand in your face.  Although paid Google advertisements is by no means a bad strategy for marketing, it goes against everything inbound marketing stands for, which is having the customer find you rather than you bombard the customer.

The beauty in SEO is that if you are able to come up high in Google search terms related to your website, then potential customers will be finding your company on their times.  Although you may actively do things to get your site to come up higher for certain search terms, you aren’t shoving an ad in your target market’s face.  They simply will find you when they need you.

Side Note on SEO:  We do not condone or suggest partaking in any unethical efforts to drive your site up Google’s rankings.

2. Attend & Speak at Conferences/Industry Events

One of the reoccurring themes you’ll notice from inbound marketing is the practice of spreading knowledge.  We don’t like braggers but we’re big believer that if you truly know a lot about something then you should share that knowledge.  The reason is that people tend to hire/buy from the people who know what they’re talking about.  Attending conferences and/or industry related events is the perfect way to connect with others and share this knowledge.  Even better is the opportunity to speak at these events.  Presenting yourself as a leader in an industry is only going to bring more credibility to your company and product.  Think outside the box with this too.  I’ll often times see people who work for product companies, for example a car company, speaking at digital media conferences.  They know they aren’t going to be selling a car directly at this event like they may do at an auto conference, but instead they’re building a brand relationship with people in other industries.  As someone who spends all my time immersed in digital media, why wouldn’t I want to buy a car from a company who understands me and is in tune with my lifestyle?

3. Blogging

Just recently (past 3-5 years) has blogging become such a great tactic for inbound marketing.  The reason for it’s recent boost in popularity is the ease of tools.  Setting a up blog these days is something that the average internet user can do in a matter of a couple hours.  Previously, only tech savvy people had the capabilities of setting up a blog or people found themselves writing on sites like LiveJournal.com which didn’t provide a good platform for businesses to spread their voice.  The beauty of blogging is that once again it lets you show off your knowledge and share information with people who are interested in your topic or product.  Writing quality content and connecting it to your target market can potentially end up being your largest source of new business in the long run.

Any type of business can find a way to use a blog effectively.  A perfect example is a local mechanic who decides to create a blog for his current and potential customers.  The average person may think that there’s nothing for a mechanic to discuss but that’s just silly.  Imagine if a mechanic where to create a list of things to do so you prepare your car properly for the winter and snow?  That would be extremely helpful and something that the average person would read.  It would also make me trust that mechanic more than the mechanic across the street who won’t share with me any knowledge.

Many people agree that a blog sounds like a great idea but make the argument that if no one knows your blogs exists then it’s pointless.  This is a valid argument but also why our next example of inbound marketing is “social media”.

4. Get Involved With Social Media

The debate if social media is a trend has been ultimately squashed.  Maybe in 15 years we won’t be using the same sites and tools to partake in social media, but we’ll still be interacting with each other through the digital world.  It’s time that everyone gets on board regardless of what type of business you’re involved in.  The beauty of social media is the ability to connect with people across the globe in seconds.  You can build relationships with other professionals in your industry, your current customers, and your potential customers…all at once.  The key to turning social media into inbound marketing is again, providing valuable content that they are interested in.  That is why social media and blogging go hand in hand for inbound marketing.

You absolutely can succeed in the practice of inbounding marketing via social media without a blog, however, a blog will provide you with tons of “juice” to make your efforts in social media that more effective.  You no longer have to worry about people knowing if your blog exists because social media provides you the ability to share your blog with the world.  At the same time, your blog provides your social media efforts with valuable content to spread.

5. Guest Blogging

Example of backlink in guest blog post

Think of guest blogging as the virtual equivalent to speaking at conferences.  You essentially get to talk to the readers of another company’s blog or an industry blog and tell them what you know.  You get your name and company out there to readers who didn’t know about you beforehand and you also paint a pretty picture of yourself as an industry expert.  Guest blogging is such an extremely powerful tool in inbound marketing because it ultimately boost all your other inbound marketing efforts. For example, an important part of SEO is getting quality sites to link back to your website.  When you write a guest blog post on another site, you will be given the opportunity to write a small bio about yourself and in that bio you can provide a link back to your company’s website.

The 5 examples listed above are some of the more common types of inbound marketing strategies.  They’re examples that are easy to execute if you simply put a little time and energy into it.  Each of these 5 examples are capable of diving lots deeper into and even hiring consultants, agencies, or employees to take on each of them on their own.  However, they’re great places to get started and there’s no doubt that you’ll see results if you remember that quality is the name of the game.

So now that we’ve given 5 of the more common examples of inbound marketing, why don’t you suggest some others.  The beauty with inbound marketing is that the possibilities are endless.  It just depends on how creative you’re willing to get!

Source: SEOMoz.org/blog