While outbound marketing strategies can bring in leads quickly, they can also blow through your sales budget just as fast. If you want to generate more leads without breaking the bank, then you need to consider inbound marketing.
If you don't know how to generate leads with inbound marketing, we've got you covered. Keep reading to learn the five best inbound marketing strategies you can implement today.
1. Create Quality Content
Inbound marketing is all about attracting your prospects to you rather than going out and looking for them. The easiest way to do this is through organic search. Google processes over 3.5 billion searches every day.
If you want to increase your inbound marketing leads, then you need to understand what your ideal customer is searching for amongst those billions of searches. If you then answer these questions in the content on your website and social media pages, your prospects will find you naturally every single day.
If you already have customers and a customer service department, you can easily figure out what your customers are asking by talking to your customer service representatives. You can then tailor your content to those questions.
You can also ask your current and former customers what made them choose you when they made their purchase, as well as what questions they had before they purchased. This information will provide valuable topic ideas for your blog.
Lastly, go to the source. Google wants to help people find the best information they can for their queries. They do this by offering suggestions for how to finish their question.
Start typing in keywords or phrases related to your service or industry and see what Google suggests, and make note of those topics. Then finish your search and see what topics are suggested in the "People Also Ask" section and in the searches at the bottom of the screen. This is information Google is telling you that other people have searched for.
All three of these suggestions will take time. However, if you want to draw your future prospects to your website and increase your inbound leads, then you need to invest some time into your content strategy.
2. Offer More Free Content to Grow Your Email List
Once you have your prospects on your website, don't let them get away. You need to get their contact information. If you have a "Subscribe Now" button on your sidebar, don't think that this alone will do the job.
Nobody clicks those anymore. You need to give people valuable information in exchange for their contact information. The easiest way to do this is to create an eBook, white paper, or case study that pertains to your customers. Think about your target market and the types of information and content that they would be interested in. How can you provide information that is so enticing, your inbound leads will be eager to give over their email address in exchange?
This strategy is the next natural step in the customer journey. Your website attracted prospects through quality content that ranks. Now you need to convert them to followers so you can nurture them into buying customers.
You can do all of this with quality email marketing. An optimized conversion funnel will consistently bring in new leads every day.
3. Get Social for More Inbound Leads
If you want to reach your potential customers quickly, then you need to use the power of social media. Never before have businesses been able to connect with their clients as easily as they can with social media. In fact, nearly three-quarters of all Americans are on social media.
Use social media marketing to engage with your customers. And remember, don't discount this tip if you're in the B2B sector. LinkedIn has shown to be a valuable social media platform for many businesses.
Use this to your advantage to build your customer list and even grow your brand as you'll see in the next tip.
4. Build Your Brand
People want to work with companies they know, like, and trust. And the best way to get your leads to know, like, and trust you is to build a brand that presents as relatable and reliable. Some great ways to build your brand quickly is to provide social proof in the form of testimonials from previous customers.
This can be as simple as asking your customers to leave a great review on your Google My Business profile. You can also send a survey to former clients asking for a short one-sentence testimonial you will feature on your website.
Lastly, consider working with social media influencers. You can instantly garner credibility by partnering with an influencer people already trust.
5. Branch Out to Other Mediums
Content marketing doesn't stop with blog posts. You can bring in new leads with video and audio content as well. If you'd rather talk every day than write, then consider starting a podcast.
And if you're in a field that could benefit from using video content, you need a YouTube channel. Don't discount video marketing if you think your industry isn't right for it.
Every industry can benefit by creating videos. For example, look at this video. Almost three million people have watched a video on how to cook eggs in the microwave. So, whether you're a plumber, lawyer, or pet groomer, you can drive lead generation through video.
Just as you did with your blog content, your podcasts or videos will answer your customer's questions. Create valuable video content, and these other content mediums will be just as valuable as your website in gaining new leads.
Start Generating Qualified Inbound Leads Today
As much as we'd like to say that, if you use the inbound methodology, you can just sit back and wait for your leads to come to you, it's not that simple. Though the ability to draw in leads organically is a huge upside to inbound marketing, it hasn't made sales prospecting obsolete.
Applying inbound methodologies to prospecting means developing personal connections with leads and prospects before trying to sell to them, and reaching out to them through the mediums and social channels that matter to them the most. So how do you warm up leads and build rapport with them?
Find out in our new eBook, The Complete Guide to Sales Prospecting! Click the button below to download for free.
