You’ll sometimes hear a discipline described as “simple, but not easy.” That label is perfect for inbound marketing. You create interesting and informative content, offer it to your prospects for free, and then nurture your relationship with them until they become customers. Simple. Unfortunately, as one of the top inbound marketing agencies in Colorado and Missouri, we know from experience that it’s not as easy as it sounds. Success in inbound marketing requires more than great material. There are a number of other key components you must have in place if you want your inbound program to thrive.
What You Need to Succeed in Inbound Marketing
- Well-defined brand guidelines. Ideally your content marketing program should be a company-wide initiative, with contributors from every department and functional area. When that’s the case, however, it’s easy for your brand “voice” to become a little garbled. Don’t let that happen.
- Clear marketing goals. The first question everyone should ask if someone says, “Guess what? We’re getting into inbound marketing!” is “Why? What do you hope to accomplish?” Too often, people have the enthusiasm to get started in content marketing but not the focus and the objectives you need to be successful at it.
- Comprehensive and current intel on your target market. Who are the major players? What is their value proposition? What are the industry trends? To get the most out of your inbound marketing, you have to have your fingers on the pulse of every vertical you serve.
- An in-depth understanding of customer personas and pain points. Inbound marketing works because it helps make a person’s life easier or better. If you don’t know who you’re helping or what you’re helping them with, your content marketing won’t deliver the results you had hoped for.
- A carefully considered customer journey map. What does each interaction with your prospect look like as they make their way from researching to buying to advocating? You need to have plotted out every step of that process.
- An efficient and effective content development process. In order to feed the hungry audience you are striving to create, you need to be able to consistently produce content of the highest caliber. And that doesn’t just happen. While each piece will be unique, the process must be refined and repeatable.
- Buy-in from all stakeholders. All it takes is one person acting as a roadblock or an anchor to keep your inbound marketing program from really gaining some momentum. You’ve got to find a way to get naysayers on board if you want your program to deliver results.
Missing some or all of these components? If so, unfortunately you don’t really have a “complete” content marketing program. But, the good news is, all it takes is commitment to fill in the gaps.
Helping You Put the Pieces Together
One of our strengths at 30dps is helping clients assemble all the pieces they need to put their content marketing strategy in motion, from stellar content to a marketing automation system like HubSpot. That’s why we’ve earned a reputation as one of the top inbound marketing agencies. When you’re ready to get started, we’re eager to help.
