According to Hubspot, an inbound marketing and sales software company, the number of marketers who are practicing inbound tactics rose from 60% last year to 85%, while the percentage of marketers who don’t run inbound tactics dropped by nearly half to 13%.
From content creation, Search Engine Optimization, and social media to lead generation, lead management, and analytics, marketers who follow the inbound methodology may have a lot to manage and master; however, it’s not impossible. Creating an inbound marketing campaign is one of the best ways to reach your audience and increase your ROI.
Ready to run the most effective inbound marketing campaign ever? Here are your essentials.
- Start blogging
Writing valuable content for your audience is a powerful element in a successful inbound marketing campaign. Lock down a solid inbound strategy, create a blog schedule, and publish at least one post a week. The most effective way to share and educate your audience is through blog content. After all, 60% of marketers say blog content creation is their top inbound marketing priority.
- Develop a content offer
All inbound marketing campaigns are built around a content offer, which is a piece of valuable content that your audience wants. There are different types of offers depending on where your prospect is within the sales funnel. What is this funnel, you ask? Check out What Is Inbound Marketing to read all about it.
There are various types of offers, and each one serves a specific purpose in your inbound marketing campaign. Offers might include an ebook, a template, or industry case studies. Some focus on creating awareness and generating traffic, while others aim to capture and nurture leads or revolve around sales generation.
- Create a Landing Page
Once your content offers are finalized and in place, develop landing pages to gate your offers so you can capture those leads. This page will give your prospect the opportunity to fill out a quick form (name and email) in exchange for the content offer.
Before creating your landing page, there are a few best practices to keep in mind. Use clear and concise header messaging, provide a clear call-to-action, remove navigation elements, and redirect the user to a thank you page.
- Promote your content
If content is Han Solo, then content promotion is Princess Leia (Star Wars turned forty years old recently, so I couldn’t not make a reference). But really, if you have awesome content, it needs to be promoted in order to increase awareness of your brand. Content promotion can come in many different forms, but a few tactics might include social media, relationship building, influencer outreach, online community engagement, and more.
- Social Media Ad Campaigns and Sponsored Content
Paid social advertising and content promotion go hand in hand. Social media ads and campaigns allow you to place your content in front of your targeted audience at the right time. There are over 2 billion people who have active social accounts and are online 2-3 hours per day. This gives you the perfect opportunity to drive traffic and find new customers.
- Utilize Email Marketing
Email marketing is consistently voted the most effective marketing channel. 92% of online adults use email, with 61% using it on a daily basis. In fact, research shows that every $1 spent on email marketing has generated an average return of $44.25.
There are a few important practices to keep in mind when using email marketing. Make sure to segment your contacts by database. It’ll help to categorize your recipients by location, job title, industry, etc. to create more personalized messages so they’re receiving relevant content. When sending an email, make sure it comes from an actual person’s name and email address. This will help to increase open rates and reduce the chance of your email ending up in spam folders.
- Nurture Leads
According to Hubspot, 50% of leads are qualified but not yet ready to buy. This is where your lead-nurturing plan comes in. Start by building your blog subscriber list. Then move on to build targeted topics. These persona-specific nurture streams will continue to engage prospects down the funnel by reselling your value proposition over time. If you’re looking for some specific lead nurturing tactics, this resource is a good start.
- Measure the Campaign
Once you’ve launched your campaign, one of the most important aspects is measuring the results. Examine the analytics that are tied to your marketing efforts, such as views, submissions, conversion rates, new leads and customers, marketing-qualified leads, etc. If you find something you don’t like, give it a small tweak and try again. Change up your strategy, the types of offers you’re providing, the look of your CTAs, etc. There’s always room for improvement to generate better results.
The purpose of an inbound marketing campaign varies depending on industry, audience, location, and more. Your goal might be to drive website traffic, increase leads, or grow sales – or all three. Whatever your objective, incorporating these elements into your campaign will increase your chances of hitting your bull’s-eye.
