If outbound marketing (or outbound marketing) is based on intrusion and mass messaging, inbound marketing (or inbound marketing) “is a digital marketing strategy aimed at bringing the customer to you, rather than going after them.” An approach fully aligned with new uses, placing digital at the heart of today’s commerce.
Also read: Inbound marketing embodies the renewal of B2B marketing
Inbound marketing, a customer-centric approach
Focused on the customer, inbound marketing aims to turn your targets into customers through a clearly defined process:
- attract internet users matching the desired profiles through content that is both educational and informative,
- convert your visitors into leads by inviting them to access your premium content in exchange for a few personal details,
- close the sale by turning these leads into customers through lead nurturing, marketing automation (targeted email marketing) and lead scoring (indicating the degree of maturity of your leads in the conversion funnel).
In practical terms, the content created for your website, your social networks, your blog, as well as your white papers, your catalogs, your brochures, etc., indirectly promotes the company by increasing your visibility and your lead generation.
Also read: B2B lead generation: is content the weak link?
The customer, a brand ambassador
This non-intrusive approach allows you to create a real personalized relationship with your customers. Beyond simply converting a lead into a customer, inbound marketing deepens these ties with relationship-building initiatives, such as invitations to an event or privileged access to specific content, for example. These are all actions designed to emphasize the unique importance of the customer to your company.
These techniques make it possible to gently turn the customer into a brand ambassador: satisfaction is no longer just an after-sales service issue; it is patiently built from the very beginning of interactions, through listening, understanding needs, tone and, naturally, high value-added content.
Crisis management made easier thanks to your community
With digital, the information and comments shared online are countless, unpredictable and uncontrollable: negative buzz can arise at any time! Thanks to inbound marketing, you can count on your community of customer-ambassadors, who will know how to understand you, listen to you and above all actively defend you.
While inbound marketing is now essential in a company’s digital strategy, it must not prevent the company from anticipating events. For example, you will need to prepare your reactions to the 10 main positive topics and the 10 negative ones you are likely to encounter online. Today, virality is such that it is absolutely necessary to avoid the escalation of negative buzz by immediately adopting the right attitude: transparency, factual information and targeting interventions toward ambassadors.
If inbound marketing is at the heart of all marketing strategies, it is because beyond its results, it requires less financial investment than traditional marketing operations: the customer is more than ever ROI (Return On Investment).
