Inbound marketing, as opposed to outbound, is built to attract potential buyers to your business through educational content. Using B2B inbound marketing methodology, your website is a 24/7 salesperson that attracts, converts, closes and delights people who are looking for solutions to a problem that you can solve.
Making the change from sales to consulting in a smarketing (sales + marketing, explained more here) way is a strategic initiative. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit’s Why Good Strategies Fail: Lessons for the C-Suite, “88% of respondents say that executing strategic initiatives successfully will be ‘essential’ or ‘very important’ for their organizations’ competitiveness over the next three years” (p. 5).
Recently, I was challenged to attend a local trade show - by myself. Gulp. The opportunity was the 2016 Milwaukee NARI Spring Home Improvement Show, which I love. I regularly spend my weekends binge-watching Flip or Flop, To Catch a Contractor and/or Property Brothers. I fancy myself a little handy and always seem to be painting one of the rooms in my apartment. But I'm not a sales person; I'm a marketing coordinator. Hence, my nerves.
If your small business is utilizing only traditional media to try to attract customers, you may be feeling like you’re fishing: you work hard to prepare for the day, find what appears to be a great spot, cast your line or net, and then...wait. However, if you’re not using inbound marketing to grow your business, you’re fishing with a hole in your net.
February 2, 2016
Change is hard, and driving change in marketing strategy can be even harder. Sales, marketing, product development – all these teams have something to add when it comes to customer-centered content that ignites conversions. But trying to get everyone to see that is a challenge, especially once you factor in usual tensions between sales and marketing.
The manufacturing industry is changing fast – faster than any time in modern history since the first Model T rolled off the assembly line. Technology is advancing, breaking down barriers to market entry that once looked unassailable.
As you know, the key is not just attracting any visitors to your website, but attracting visitors that may wind up working with you to build a beautiful home!. That means using the RIGHT kind of tools for attracting these buyers. Attracting means putting out that useful content like eBooks, blogs, and articles. If you are working in the contracting industry, you may think about “how to” content of high-level instructional information that will bring in those who are interested in home repairs. Remember, the content does not have to be just written content either—video and audio content is useful too.
We get many questions from B2B companies about our inbound marketing services. Unfortunately, a common misconception is that inbound marketing is only for companies that market directly to the consumer. This could not be further from the truth; Inbound is an incredible asset for both B2C and B2B markets. As a corporation that mainly sells to other businesses, you do have a few unique considerations—meaning your need for exceptional content and education is even more significant than it is for a B2C firm. According to HubSpot, B2B companies place a higher value with search engines on educational formats like blogging and webinars, whereas consumer businesses are slightly more willing to experiment with advanced digital formats like interactive content and online tools. Learn a bit more about how inbound marketing works for organizations like yours today.
