Is your digital marketing strategy up to date? You’ll know it’s fit for modern audiences when it includes a mix of traditional outbound marketing and new inbound marketing efforts. If you need a refresher on the basic differences between inbound and outbound marketing, read over these reminders and start incorporating these simple inbound digital tactics into your marketing strategy.
Q: Why do B2B companies need a digital marketing strategy that includes inbound and outbound methods?
A: If your marketing strategy is stuck in the past, your business is most likely operating on tired tactics driven by traditional marketing methodologies. This means you’re probably overusing outbound tactics.
But if you switch out all outbound marketing efforts to meet the demands of today’s inbound consumer, you’ll miss opportunities to connect with prospects that can only be secured through traditional marketing.
Take a look at the chart below. Each method uses a unique set of tactics designed to achieve different objectives. When used together, however, the old and the new span all available touchpoints at which your brand can meet and entice audiences. A combination of the two is particularly vital in B2B marketing because traditional tactics such as tradeshows and print advertising are reported to bring in a large portion of yearly customers.
View the full infographic and share it with friends and coworkers to spread the word about this integrated outlook.
Q: What does a B2B digital marketing strategy look like with inbound in the mix?
A: The Awareness stage of the Buyer’s Journey is a great place to incorporate inbound tactics to obtain maximum results because it also aligns with key stages of the sales process. The Modern Buyer and Seller Funnel show that buyers in the Awareness stage are considered visitors or leads by the sales team and that these prospective customers respond positively to digital and traditional targeting. Strategies used at this juncture help buyers contextualize their challenges through educational resources or start to build brand awareness through traditional tactics that encourage brand recall.
Q: How can I introduce inbound tactics into a B2B digital marketing strategy?
A: Consider the following ways you can digitize and optimize these inbound marketing methods:
- Event Marketing
- Social media: Use event hashtags to participate in conversations surrounding the event on your social media channels
- Recap materials: Write up timely event recap blogs that highlight key moments and provide an overview of the main takeaways
- Email marketing: Send follow-up emails to prospects you connected with at the event and share your recap materials with them
- Blogging
- Brand blogging: Produce regular blog posts on relevant topics and frame posts around quarterly inbound marketing campaigns
- Guest blogging: Contribute thought leadership and other articles to industry blogs and publications
- Search Engine Optimization (SEO)
- Keyword research: Conduct regular research around common keywords that prospects use to find your products and services
- Content creation: Incorporate keywords in your blog posts, ads and landing pages to move the needle on search engine results page (SERP) rankings and increase traffic and awareness
- Content Marketing
- Content offers: Design large pieces of content like comprehensive eBooks to capture new leads and unite other digital marketing efforts
- Supporting materials: Share smaller pieces of large offers on social media and write in-depth blogs that delve deeper into the topics covered
Does your B2B company take inbound into consideration? A sound digital marketing strategy ties in new inbound digital efforts with traditional tactics to meet consumers along their buyer journey.
If you and your team want to learn more about inbound marketing, download the free eBook Executive Summary: State of Inbound 2017. This eBook serves as a digest of the most important facts and figures from inbound champion HubSpot’s recent 90-page report and offers key inbound marketing insights through a B2B lens. Download this eBook to catch up on the latest in inbound and tweak your digital strategy.
Are you interested in B2B marketing services? Contact Sagefrog Marketing Group today.
