Anyone that runs a small business understands that it’s hard work and one of the most important aspects of business is marketing. Inbound marketing strategies aren’t about casting a wide net and hoping people visit your website or business. They involve targeting specific customers and leading them to your website.
The goal of inbound marketing is to increase traffic to your site or store and increase revenue through sales and conversions. We’ve provided information on a number of inbound marketing methods that can help your business thrive.
Don’t let your business lose customers because of poor marketing strategies. Learn what inbound marketing strategies work and how you can implement them.
Inbound Marketing Strategies Often Involve Great Content
If you want people to trust your business, then they need to know that you’re experts in what you do. Small businesses have stiff competition and it doesn’t matter if you’re a brick and mortar store or a digital storefront.
Your website is the focal point of your marketing strategies. People don’t use the Yellow Pages anymore when looking up business information, they Google it. Develop highly authoritative content in the form of blogs, articles, videos, and other media that shows them you’re the leader in your business niche.
Post customer reviews and testimonials so potential customers see you're trusted by the community. You can even post links to your Yelp or Google My Business page. Each piece of content should usher them to seek further information on your site or to give you a call through an effective call to action.
You can also post content that answers common questions and How-To videos for simple fixes. This all makes customers trust you and understand your authority. This leads to higher sales and conversions.
SEO Helps You Show Up First on Search Results
We talked earlier about how people search Google when they want information about your business, but this only works if your business shows up in search results. Google and other search engines use an algorithm to determine where a website should list for given search queries.
The algorithm takes many factors into effect, but keywords on pages and the content on your site are two major factors. If your website has keywords that match the search queries, then Google bots that crawl your site notice them and it’s a big factor in ranking.
Google also follows EAT, which stands for expertise, authority, and trustworthiness. Informative content that shows these qualities are guaranteed to help boost your rankings. In fact, blogs provide a steady supply of new keyword-optimized content that you can use to rank for specific keywords.
Most people don’t look beyond the first page of search results, so you want to be as high up as possible. You can also make your listing stand out by using schema markup on your pages. This is a special programming language that provides context to Google bots and is used in expanded search listings.
Refine Your Advertising Strategy
There are many options for advertising in today’s digital environment. Google Ads is the most prevalent platform and covers everything from search ads in listings to shopping, video, and display ads. If you’re a visual business, then you’ll want to invest in video ads.
Running an ad campaign in Google ads can be difficult. The video ads are shown on YouTube, so you might want to invest in YouTube ads training to make sure everything from production to ad investment goes properly.
In addition to Google Ads, many social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram also have advertising options. In addition to the standard Pay Per Click variety, these also provide sponsored posts and tweets that allow your posts to reach more people inside and outside your current social media audience.
People can have a high return on investment for online advertising if the campaigns are run correctly. Too many people don’t understand the often-complex platforms and end up spending a lot and getting little in return.
If you’re new to online advertising, start slow and build your ad campaigns as you become familiar with the intricacies of the platforms you use.
Engage Customers for Lead Generation
Sales leads are vital for any business, but they can be difficult to get organically. Social media posts, customer loyalty programs, referral programs, and other methods can help keep your customers engages and keep your business at the top of their minds.
Read the comments people make on your social media sites both supporting and criticizing your business. You can use these to learn and streamline your inbound marketing techniques to align with customers.
Email marketing allows you to provide reminders and information to customers that sign up for your newsletter. It’s a great way to keep people interested in your product or service and engage them on multiple levels. You can encourage them to visit your blog or follow you on social media.
Personalization Is Key to Improving Sales
Today’s customers have many options and they’ve become accustomed to a certain type of service, they don’t want a generic experience, they want something unique to them. You can use analytics tools such as Google Analytics, Search Console, and third-party programs to better understand your customer’s needs and create a sales funnel specific to them.
Develop specific customer profiles that help describe who your average customers are and develop content and strategies that appeal to them. Send them sales emails geared to their specific needs and the response rates will increase dramatically.
People want to feel special and not just a number on a spreadsheet. Developing customer-focused strategies around amazing content helps improve qualified traffic to your site or store and increase sales and conversions.
Success Stems from Inbound Marketing
Small businesses today face an uphill battle because of competition and digitally savvy customers. Inbound marketing strategies can help you understand your customers and develop content and strategies specific to them.
If you want to send your business to the next level and surpass the competition, then learn more about inbound marketing by exploring our website.