If you have launched a new business, or are thinking of doing so, one challenge you will likely have in mind is how to grow your business using online tools. The online marketplace is both highly profitable as well as competitive, so, if you get your marketing right, this might mean the difference between life and death for your business.
There are a number of strategies to consider but inbound marketing in particular is a must. Inbound marketing is an extremely effective form of digital marketing that draws the attention of prospects using their own interests as opposed to the interruptive model of conventional advertising. With inbound marketing, even the smallest business can compete with the largest ones, at very affordable rates. Here’s how to get started well by following this inbound marketing checklist:
Build a persona
Before you commission a website, or even begin to think of advanced marketing tactics such as SEO, it is good business practice to begin with your customer in mind, and this means developing a buyer persona. A buyer persona is a fictional representation of a person you would consider to be your ideal customer. Every factor from their disposable income to their hobbies and interests will need to be taken into consideration when creating a buyer persona.
How to build a buyer persona:
Research your customer base – using tools such as Facebook’s page insights, you can uncover information detailing the characteristics of the people who interact with your page the most;
Research your competitors – if you are just getting started you may not have a customer base to research. You may research the customer base of your competitors instead, using techniques such as manual inspection of their social media profiles, to uncover what group of consumers interact with the competitor the most.
Content strategy
Content is king — yes, but not just any content will do. In recent times there has been an oversupply of content, leading to a situation many marketers have described as content blindness. To stand out and attract the right prospects (those who are more likely to convert), you must create, accurate, targeted content that addresses their needs, and moves them a step down your sales funnel.
This process must begin with keyword research, which is important for two reasons. Firstly, keyword research provides clues as to the interests of your prospects. Secondly, it uncovers the words you may have a good chance of ranking for. Keyword research and SEO implementation in general is a time-consuming process, but a lot of this can be done for you by an agency that specializes in SEO, such as SEO Ibérica. In doing keyword research, a good tool to begin with is Google’s keyword planner.
Inbound marketing Through Social Media
Social media is an essential part of the inbound marketing formula, particularly for new businesses. One reason why this is so is the fact that unlike SEO which requires some time, social media can yield results right from day one.
How to do social media right:
The two keys to social media are great content and consistency. If you have created your buyer persona already, then you will have some idea of what content to create to best meet the interests of your target market. The next task will be to ensure a consistent schedule of publishing. For most people this is difficult to keep up with. However, there are tools such as AgoraPulse and Facebook’s creator studio (Facebook and Instagram), that make it easy to pre-schedule your content for many months ahead on multiple social media channels.
There are a few limitations to the ways you can apply the concept of inbound marketing and how you can use the inbound marketing checklist. Just be sure to understand these core principles and apply them consistently. With time you will find out what works and what doesn’t, and will learn how best to use inbound marketing for your own business.
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