It began with a cold sweat.
I tumbled out of my bed and into a new life one morning. This was the beginning of a whole new world, and it was only my second day at NOW Marketing Group.
The previous day had been the introduction to my new life. I was given a choice by my new boss… and it opened my eyes.
My first day in the NOW office, I sat at a conference table that felt real. Before me sat Jessika Phillips, wearing a long black leather coat, reflective glasses and hair slicked straight back. Calm and cool sitting before me in a thick, plush chair, she regarded me with cool introspection.
She then held out her hands, in them was a red pill and a blue pill. What did they mean? What was their significance?
I was confused, taken back. But glued to the moment.
“Let me tell you why you're here,” she said. “You're here because you know something. What you know you can't explain, but you feel it. You don't know what it is, but it's there, like a splinter in your mind, driving you mad. It is this feeling that has brought you to me. Do you know what I'm talking about?”
What on earth was she talking about? Here I was thinking I had been accepted to take a marketing/sales type job and in reality I had fallen into the Matrix.
Slack-jawed, blown away, stunned, I sat and listened as she explained how Inbound Marketing was the truth, the ticket to a whole new world.
How outbound marketing is an outdated, annoying and costly way to live. Because the fact is, Americans are savvier and smarter than ever and they can’t be bought. The fact is, the average cost-per-lead of outbound-dominated businesses is $346 and 200 million American are registered on the Do Not Call list. Eighty-six percent of T.V. watchers fast-forward through commercials and 44 percent of mail is thrown away.
“I imagine you’re feeling a bit like Alice. Hmm? Tumbling down the rabbit hole?”
So what’s the answer? Inbound marketing.
Building trust and effective relationships by utilizing tactics that appeal to savvier modern consumers through inbound tools such as blogging, SEO, social media and content creation.
“You must create quality, useful information,” she said.
You must combine educational, engaging, entertaining and expert content with a strong presence on social and online media. The result is long-term sustainability. When you turn your marketing from a fly-by bombarding campaign into a focused, insightful and helpful two-way communication process, you are building long-term partnerships.
FACT: Inbound leads cost per lead 61% less than outbound leads.
FACT: The average cost-per-lead for inbound-dominated businesses is $135.
FACT: The average budget spent on company blogs and social media increased from 9% in 2009 to 21% in 2012.
FACT: 57% of companies with a blog have acquired a customer from their blog.
I couldn’t breathe. It was brilliant. It was new. It was scary.
And then she paused, folded her hands and said, “This is your last chance. After this, there is no turning back. You take the blue pill - the story ends, you wake up in your bed and believe whatever you want to believe. You take the red pill - you stay in Wonderland and I show you how deep the rabbit-hole goes.”
And the next day was the beginning…
DISCLOSURE: Yeah, so, most of this isn’t real. You can guess which parts. And some of it, we stole right from the Matrix. Still, facts are facts. Inbound marketing is an eye-opening future everyone who is honest with themselves should embrace.
Inbound marketing boils down to trust. It’s an interactive form of communication that connects companies to their buyers. The bottom-line is quality information. It combines educational, engaging, entertaining and expert content with a strong presence on social and online media. The result is long-term sustainability. When you turn your marketing from a fly-by bombarding campaign into a focused, insightful and helpful two-way communication process, you are building long-term partnerships.
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