We all know how hard running a business can be. Running a successful business is even harder; immense amounts of time, energy, resources, and other inputs are needed for a business to thrive. For many business owners the stages after the initial first steps can be overwhelming, namely when businesses start to scale. However, there is an option which can be utilized for both peace of mind and sustained success.
Scaling a business means enabling and supporting growth in your company and there is no better way to do this than to employ Inbound marketing strategies. These marketing strategies can provide a framework and avenue for your business to experience unhampered growth. Moreover, Inbound marketing strategies are quite simple and can be used by any type of business.
Inbound marketing strategies build off of the Inbound Methodology. You may be familiar with the Inbound Methodology already; it is a proven model by which a business creates genuine relationships with consumers, prospects, and customers alike. It’s about valuing everyone as counterparts on a greater journey together, where everyone feels important and has their wants and needs met in a meaningful way.
The Inbound Methodology Explained
The Inbound Methodology consists of three distinct stages on a flywheel, which is a business model that illustrates the momentum your business can achieve through the delivery of excellent customer service within each of these interconnected stages. The three stages of the Inbound Methodology are:
Each stage of this methodology informs the next and can build momentum for a business to thrive. However invaluable it may be, it is just a framework by which a business can be successful. In order for a business to gain momentum in the first place, it needs to attract people. This is where Inbound Marketing Strategies come into play.
Inbound Marketing Strategies
Applying the Inbound methodology to marketing means that the goal of the marketer should be to attract, engage, and delight each individual at every stage. Further, it means having close relationships with your sales and services teams to ensure that the business’ flywheel continues to spin smoothly and gain or sustain its momentum; being an Inbound marketer means employing strategies that create an interconnectedness of all your business’ teams.
At each stage, different strategies will need to be employed in order to ensure that your business’ flywheel spins effectively. If these strategies are optimized and employed effectively, your business will be able to grow unhampered and you will be able to achieve your goal of scaling it successfully.
Attracting Target Audiences Via Inbound Marketing Strategies
Content creation and development are bound to Inbound marketing strategies that attract your audience and any buyer personas that you’ve created or will create in the future. By publishing various types of content that are targeted towards your audience and said buyer personas, you’re attracting people to your business. This content could consist of information on how your product or service can resolve challenges your audience is facing, customer testimonials, or even special tailored promotions. In essence, your audience has a problem and your goal is to draw them in by demonstrating to them in personalized and creative ways why your product or service can be the solution.
A Search Engine Optimization (SEO) strategy is an additional way to attract members of your audience on a deeper level through Inbound Marketing. It necessitates utilizing specific keywords and phrases that directly relate to the products or services your business has to offer, the resolutions to your customers’ challenges that you can provide, and how you can aid your target audience and buyer personas in any other pertinent way.
The result of utilizing Search Engine Optimization is your content gaining more visibility. It means that on the search engine results page (SERP), your content will appear organically for those who are searching for the information, your target audience and buyer personas. In essence, the people you are attracting are the very people you are looking for to add momentum to your business’ flywheel.
Some Inbound marketing strategy tools to aid in attracting your target audience include:
As you know, attracting your target audience is just the first step. Once you’ve attracted the right people to look at the solutions you can offer them, you’ll need to engage them through strategies involving selling a solution rather than a product. Then, once they’ve become valued customers, you’ll need to delight them with strategies that range from chatbots and surveys on your website to social media listening. Whatever strategies are employed, the goal is to delight through customer service that truly values the person who chose your business to embark on a journey wit.
Reduce Growing Pains with Inbound Marketing
Enabling and supporting growth for your business is no small task. However, through adopting the Inbound methodology and employing Inbound marketing strategies, scaling businesses can thrive. Using these strategies, such as SEO or social media content creation, businesses can continue to attract their target audience and buyer personas, thereby increasing the momentum of their flywheel. When this momentum has been sustained, businesses that successfully employ Inbound marketing strategies should no longer be experiencing hampered growth and should be successful in the scaling stage. So, whether you run a business that is just entering this stage or your business has been having difficulties scaling, employing Inbound marketing strategies offers a solution to the challenges experienced–all while creating genuine relationships along the way.
Inbound AV is Here to Help
Inbound AV is here to support our clients’ efforts to improve and maintain quality customer interactions. This includes making customer service duties seamless and effective. We can provide key marketing services that remove burden from your team, making it easier for you to get back to delighting customers.