2020 is at the door and there will be plenty of changes and new trends arising in markets, specially when it comes to customers’ needs and how they will respond to companies. The more aware you are of your business environment and challenges and the better you’re able to anticipate changes, the more likely you’ll be on top of your marketing game against your competitors. To avoid falling behind the ever-fiercer competition in embracing your customers, you will need to both be aware of and benefit from the latest trends in digital marketing. These trends are global, have huge implications, and are not going to go away anytime soon.
Consumer attitudes, buying behaviors and methods of consuming information are changing; and businesses have to change the way they approach their audience. Here are 5 reasons why you should do it with Inbound Marketing and how important it will be in 2018.
Consumers don’t respond to outbound marketing the same way they did 10 years ago. People not only detain more information power, but also became experts in blocking ads. Nowadays, people rarely open emails from unknown companies, they unsubscribe from email lists, mark emails as spam or block unknown calls. You have to make sure that your targeted audience doesn’t lose interest in what you have to say. Inbound Marketing channels have proven to be great alternatives to get people’s attention, through the creation of meaningful and relevant content.
Consumers are changing and they’re becoming more informed and demanding each year. The facts cannot be ignored: 81% of shoppers conduct online research before buying. Approximately 39% of all global e-commerce traffic in 2016 came from search, with 35% organic and 4% paid search. Another 35% of the traffic was direct, which meant customers went right to the retailer's website. Finally, 20% came from referrals, or links put on sites other than search engines (source: Business Insider). This trend will increase in 2018 and it’s crucial that you display the right content and information in your page, so people can reach you more easily and find the answers they’re looking for. It becomes imperative to optimize the content of your website as much as possible, which is possible through a concise Inbound Marketing strategy.
Through Inbound Marketing, leads that come to you will always be more powerful than those who came from a cold outreach and are much more likely to convert to clients. This is because Inbound Marketing provides nurturing programs that will engage your leads to your content. If people see that you’re creating professional and useful content, they will respect you and trust your products/services. Establishing a trustful relationship with warm leads is key for closing deals.
The time and money that you’re spending in hiring outbound sales reps and reaching out to hundreds of people can be significantly reduced if you take an inbound marketing approach. Through this strategy, it works the other way around: leads will be reaching out to you and specialized Inbound Marketing Automation platforms will automatically optimize relevant content as well as follow up with them. Stay ahead of your competition next year by automating your processes and increasing your efficiency.
“Tomorrow you will wish you had started today.” (Karen Lamb). Creating inbound content and optimizing your information will pay off over time, especially in the long-term. There is a cumulative effect of inbound marketing, since the content will compound and add value to previous and future content that you create. Good quality content helps SEO and increases your domain authority, thereby increasing the amount of organic search you get to your website over time. That means you're reaching your potential customers when they are searching for your products or services, or for solutions you provide to fix their pain points. This will help your company to build its brand awareness and recognition, as well as improve ROI over time.
If you are looking for an agency that can help you with Inbound Marketing, talk to us.