Who doesn’t want to use great content and intellectual property to attract qualified leads? You know you want to. The question is, can you?
The best Inbound Marketing campaigns are content rich, carefully targeted and speak to the needs of potential buyers at various stages of the sales funnel. Each campaign is a blend of strategy, creativity and compelling content packaged neatly under the content marketing umbrella. Since content neither creates nor packages itself, ask these five key questions before committing to an inbound marketing program:
1. Who is my target audience?
In order to be effective, inbound marketing content – be it blogs, whitepapers, e-books, videos or social media marketing – must speak to the needs of clients and prospects. The audience is defined not just by what industries they work in, but the positions they hold at their companies and the role they would play in the inbound marketing process. Check out our blog post on generating content that resonates with buyer personas for tips on creating content that achieves this objective.
2. Is my website optimized and can it support an inbound marketing program?
Gone are the days when websites were online versions of a static brochure. Websites are dynamic content hubs judged by Google on the depth of their content and structure of their pages. Optimizing a website with short-tail and long-tail keywords that will attract potential buyers is critical. It doesn’t matter how beautiful the site is, your target audiences need to be able to find it.
3. How will I make my content compelling?
Nearly every individual, business and nonprofit is busy creating content. With no shortage of great information to choose from, how will you make your content stand out from the crowd? If your competitors are active inbound marketers, go a step further to determine how you will differentiate your content from the competition while clearly demonstrating your company’s value proposition. Curious about what makes content great? Check out our blog post on the characteristics of great online marketing content.
4. Who will create the content?
Inbound marketing campaigns are a far cry from ‘set it and forget it’ marketing. Traffic and conversions need to be monitored and leads, nurtured. While the lure of developing marketing that generates tangible ROI is powerful, a successful program is sustainable.
Ask yourself, is there someone internally who can create the content? Do I want to invest in an inbound marketing agency? Would our business benefit from a blend of internally-generated and externally-generated content?
5. How will I get eyeballs on my content?
Familiar with the ‘billboard in the desert’ analogy? The mantra ‘build it and they will come’? While optimizing your content can go a long way in helping people to find it, there still needs to be an active traffic-driving component to your inbound marketing program. Will you tweet every blog post? Share links to whitepapers in e-blasts? Actively promote the content via partner marketing opportunities?
Inbound Marketing programs are valuable opportunities for businesses to share expertise and leverage intellectual property to attract new clients. Before launching a program, ensure you have the appropriate resources in place to support and sustain the program.
Interested in launching an Inbound Marketing program but unable to manage it internally? Contact us today!.
