What is inbound marketing?

The goal is customer acquisition up to the sale of a product. The prospect will naturally be attracted to content because they will be searching the web to address a need. For example, a prospect may search for a dermocosmetic product because their skin often has allergic reactions. They want to find a solution to resolve their issue. Inbound marketing knows its target well and develops tactics to communicate information so that the prospect finds a dermocosmetic product through their online searches or social media. This strategy is often used in B2B.

Inbound marketing differs from outbound marketing by imposing, through various advertising channels, its products and brand on its target audience. This strategy pushes products toward potential customers.

Inbound marketing and outbound marketing strategies are often presented as being opposites due to their completely different approaches.

In fact, this practice has become popular due to its high return on investment (ROI). The money invested yields returns, and the strategy targets people who are already open to the proposition. Hence the importance of knowing your target well and creating very precise personas so that communications can clearly share information with targets.

There is a difference with content marketing, which is a set of techniques that showcase a product or service through content to gain exposure or attract clients. This tactic helps create a web presence and can be part of an inbound marketing strategy.

The inbound marketing process is defined by four main points. These are concrete actions that the company wants to present to the customer, and through these points, various channels are deployed such as sending emails, creating content, etc. The four points are: ATTRACT, CONVERT, CLOSE, DELIGHT.

The first way is to attract the target audience so that they become visitors. These are people browsing the web, either to inform themselves or to entertain themselves. The company will use different means to attract them to the site so they become visitors or 'buyer personas'. The persona is the key piece of inbound marketing. We will return to this term a little later. The company increases traffic to the website by using tactics such as blogging, keywords, and social media. It will try to provide content to inform or potentially build a relationship with the visitor.

The second step is to convert visitors into potential customers/prospects. The means used are calls-to-action, landing pages or forms. The goal is to have the email to send information to transform the prospect into a customer. If the visitor does not provide their email, for example, if they leave the page without giving their contact information, we return to the first step. If the company receives the email, it can inform them and start building a relationship always with content specifically designed for the prospect. At any time, the prospect can unsubscribe, so at that point, the company returns to the previous step.

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In step 3, the company aims to close a sale with the prospect so they become a customer. The means often used include sending emails, evaluating the prospect to focus efforts on guiding them towards a sale, and developing strategies to personalize emails. Therefore, the use of email becomes important as it will contain offers that specifically address the interests or needs of the prospect. This cycle can last for some time, hence the role of evaluating the prospect in the buying process. If the prospect makes a purchase, they become a customer! Let's move on to the final step.

The final step is to delight the customer. This involves turning them into a brand ambassador. The company's goal is to retain the customer by using means such as creating events for the fan club or offering privileges on products or services. There are also social media platforms that allow direct communication with the customer or to promote activities that may interest them, and finally, there is more specialized content. The company builds a relationship with regular communications to nurture the relationship and retain the customer.

In short, inbound marketing can be a good way to find and retain customers. Remember that the customer can always end their relationship with the company at any time. In this case, the company goes back to step 1 or establishes new strategies to re-engage the person based on where they are in the process. This strategy helps establish a relationship if the content sent aligns with the interests and needs of the individual. This underscores the importance of having a well-defined persona.