Inbound Marketing is a marketing approach where companies try to lead customers to the company.
It is a "passive" strategy, which is about creating valuable content so that the customer, who is already searching, finds his way to your company.
In opposition to inbound marketing, we speak of outbound marketing when the company "actively" goes after its customers. This is usually done with advertising in order to capture the customer's attention. This is also called interruption marketing.
Inbound Marketing is often referred to as Content Marketing because the path to the company is through content.
This marketing strategy is intimately linked to the development of search engines. For most internet users, surfing the internet starts with a search on Google.
The suggestions made by Google (or any other search engine) after a query will greatly influence the user's browsing journey.
Companies that do inbound marketing will try to be present in these search results or SERP (Search Engine Results Page).
To achieve this goal, they create content such as blog articles or dedicated web pages (also called landing pages) that are then indexed by search engines.
But Inbound Marketing is also a response to the negative aspects of advertising. This way, the customer is not always interrupted with unwanted messages, but it’s her that initiates the process by performing a search, which then leads her to the company and its products.
This creates a totally different dynamic in the relationship between the customer and the company.
Although this dynamic creates a more positive relationship, inbound marketing also takes more time to show results.
This is because it usually takes longer to understand exactly what type of content (problem or solution) the customer is looking for and then to create the appropriate content. This process can take several cycles of trial and error made through testing.
Additionally, there is no guarantee that the content will be part of a SERP (which also usually takes some time) and that customers will ultimately click on the link.
However, companies that are successful in implementing an inbound marketing strategy can create long-lasting traffic sources for their website.
In contrast to advertising, which stops after the budget is consumed, content can generate traffic to your website for years.
As we've seen, search engines play a central role in inbound marketing. Therefore, content must not only be written in a useful way for customers, but also optimized for search engines. This is called SEO for Search Engine Optimization.
In short, SEO is about optimizing your content for selected keywords. These keywords can be single or multiple words. Longer keywords are called Long Tail Keywords.
Long Tail Keywords represent more specific searches that, therefore, generate less traffic. However, there is also less competition for these keyword "phrases".
Thus, if you start with inbound marketing, it can be very helpful to start with Long Tail Keywords because the competition is usually weaker.
This is particularly true if you have a lot of competitors, or your market has a few big players with large budgets.
HubSpot is a pioneering company in inbound marketing. They not only offer numerous content about inbound marketing but also have software that is useful for such a strategy. Hubspot is a helpful source if you want to start with inbound marketing. They even offer an Inbound Marketing Certification.
For SMBs, inbound marketing can be a game changer in digital marketing. While large companies usually have established brand names, SMBs rely more on online visibility to reach potential clients.
When a customer does a search online, missing from those results means missing a business opportunity. In this digital age, for SMBs, being visible often equates to staying relevant!
This text was originally written in German by the author and published in the book "Marketing Buzzwords Debunked" available on Amazon.de.