Years ago, businesses only had traditional outbound marketing and word of mouth to keep business flowing in, but nowadays, inbound marketing has become the primary method for expressing your brand to the public.
Now, instead of looking for billboards to advertise on, you have a limitless online space to create brand awareness. However, promoting your company online can be very generalised.
That is why, throughout this blog, we’re going to discuss the different types of inbound marketing so you can better understand how to segment your inbound marketing efforts when trying to achieve your weekly, monthly, and yearly goals.
What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing is a strategy that focuses on attracting potential customers to your business by creating valuable content that addresses their needs and interests. It's about drawing people in rather than pushing your message out forcefully.
Instead of hammering home your point, it focuses on trying to lure people in organically. Inbound marketing seeks to develop relationships based on trust rather than harassing potential clients with obtrusive ads and cold calls.
Understanding the problems and challenges faced by your audience is essential for successful inbound marketing.
You establish yourself as an authority on these issues by addressing them in your relevant content and offering solutions. Potential consumers are not only drawn in by this inbound strategy but they are also kept informed and involved throughout the entire buying process.
It is a more customer-centric strategy that places more of an emphasis on creating long-term connections than it does on making quick sales because, especially in this day and age, people can see right through false sales tactics.
The different types of inbound marketing
The different types of inbound marketing and the sheer number of different ways you can grow your business are endless. However, we’re going to give you a list of the most common types, along with a technical breakdown of what you can expect from each one.
- Social media marketing
- Video Marketing
- Informative content marketing
- Ebooks or guides
- Newsletters
- Podcasts/webinars
- PR (press release) campaigns
Within these clusters, there are many forms of marketing or platforms that fall under each category. Let’s take a look at each one individually.
Social media marketing
Although social media is a crucial tool for inbound marketing, many people misunderstand its purpose for these methods.
Instead of just bragging about how successful your company is or overselling your goods and services, using social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram to interact with your audience, post insightful material, and develop meaningful relationships is the way to do it.
Additionally, your pieces of social media content must appeal to your target audience and solve issues they’re facing. Your brand will mostly attract consumers who are truly interested in your goods or services by building genuine connections and conversations rather than forcefully selling through your feed.
Direct messages (DMs) are also possible through social media, which makes it easier to answer questions and turn leads into customers or clients, through your inbox.
Video marketing
Video marketing is a broad term in inbound marketing, as it can be defined in so many ways. Whether you’re creating a sales video for a landing page, a demonstration for a client, or even posting short or long-form content on social platforms, it can be extremely useful for reach.
Not only does video marketing put a face to your brand, but it also allows you to showcase your personality. Personalised videos that engage your audience and present your unique offering are always well-received by potential or existing customers.
Informative content marketing
Blog posts are the cornerstone of this aspect of inbound marketing. Although you may think blog posts are just useless pieces of information that will never get seen, if you optimise them correctly using great SEO (search engine optimisation) practices, you will see traffic come to your website.
Blog posts also build topical relevance and show expertise within your specific industry. If a potential customer or client needs information within your sector and you can provide it, this is going to help them trust you even more before purchasing from your company.
Guides and eBooks
Similar to blog posts, eBooks and guides will help you build trust with your audience by providing them with relevant fixes and solutions to problems they may be facing. Rather than trying to sell to your audience through these eBooks and guides, it focuses on obtaining customer information instead.
This way, in the future, if you have any email marketing or SMS marketing campaigns you want to send out, you will have their email address or phone number to work with. Due to them already reading your eBooks and guides, they will have more faith in your products and services from the get-go.
Newsletters
Newsletters hold a similar value to eBooks and guides, as they provide engaging, relevant content that consumers want to read. Newsletters keep you top of mind from a potential customer's perspective, and this can help you with future upsells.
Podcasts/webinars
If you can talk for a long period of time about topics that you’re knowledgeable about within your business, this not only shows that you’re a great speaker with lots of expertise, but it can also provide real value for your guests.
Nowadays, podcasts are seen as great for producing short-form content all over your social media platforms. Therefore, will you be providing the full, long-form podcast and the intriguing clips all over your social platforms too?
PR (press release) campaigns
Sometimes, press releases get a bad reputation due to some press release companies showcasing advertisements rather than informative news. However, if you’re a company with a story to share and want to get some coverage, a journalist providing a story based on your journey can be a great way to earn public attention.
Final thoughts
We believe that trying to implement as many types of inbound marketing as possible will give you the best results as you try to gain visibility for your brand. However, keeping in mind that it has to be of high quality is paramount.
Our positive feedback over the past 25 years has led us to help clients across the world with their inbound marketing campaigns. If you want to save time by outsourcing your inbound marketing to online specialists, book a discovery call; we’d love to see if we’re the right fit for each other.
