Do you feel like you’ve hit your peak of success? That you can’t possibly go any further? If so that's amazing...but what if you're wrong? Most businesses try to get found online and spend a lot of money on marketing and SEO to do so....yet still haven't cracked the code of being found online. We’re living in an age where it takes a lot more work to stand out from the crowd. Most of today’s population is used to searching their problems to be soved and then letting the solutions find them. This is where you need a 2-way form of marketing in order to explain your value, business unique difference and finish the sale when a potential client is ready on their buyers journey.
While there is a comfort in confining yourself to certain guidelines and traditions, you can be sure that that method of doing things will not get you very far for very long. I know what you’re thinking. We only run Ads on radio, tv and print. Everyone will find us there. I don't need a website or online marketing. Those traditions and guidelines have let me get to the point I’m at right now. Those traditions and guidelines have allowed me to get customers and be successful in my business. But how many potential customers are you failing to reach? Why does your level of success have to be limited because of those traditions and guidelines that you so strictly abide by?
You need to break down the barriers. Inbound marketing is going to be the hammer that takes those barriers down. Here’s how:
Become an expert in your field.
Share your knowledge. You have a lot of it! Why not share it with the people you know are needing it? Take questions that customers and potential customers typically ask and put the answers out there. Provide viewers with online guides, tips, news, and answers about your industry. Stay away from only answering the product-specific questions. You can become the company that people look to for answers. If you have the answers, they’re going to be more likely to look into your company’s products than others. Becoming an expert in your field is going to allow you to make connections that you never thought you could.
Humanize your brand.
You care about what you do right? Of course you do! Show people that you care! Most potential customers are not going to be drawn in immediately by the what’s and how’s of your product. Potential customers are going to be more drawn to the WHY. Why do you do what you do? Why do you care about your product, and why do you care so much that it reaches people? Through inbound marketing, people will get these answers. Connect yourself to customers and potential customers through social media and through your website. Engage with them online. Take interest in what they’re doing and they will take interest in you. Through constant interaction with others online, potential customers are going to see that you genuinely care about people and you genuinely care about your brand. You’re putting a human voice to your brand and that’s what people want.
Become a magnet.
You don’t need to be a bullhorn. You don’t need to continue trying to sell your brand left and right. Make it easier on yourself! Inbound marketing is going to make you a magnet rather than an entity that some customers try to avoid. With inbound, customers are going to want to come to you without you even having to provide them with a sales pitch. You will be able to share your knowledge and expertise with millions of people without having to meet with them in person. By sharing your knowledge on social media, on a website, in blog posts, you are going to reel in viewers who could easily convert into customers.
With inbound, you become a teacher in your field. A teacher is someone that people trust, someone that people feel they can communicate with, and someone who inspires. You have the potential to do all of these things. Even with this method of doing things, some of the traditional marketing strategies remain intact. You will just have to be willing to stretch a little further, reach a little farther, become comfortable in a new way of doing things. Inbound will take you out of your comfort zone, but it will also provide you with limitless opportunities. Inbound can be the answer to getting your company to the top. Do more than simply exist.
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