The paradigm shift in marketing: From Intrusive Marketing to Inbound Marketing. With emergence of social media, lowering of internet cost and high availability across almost all parts of the globe there is a parallel way to communicate with the customers vis-a-vis traditional marketing methods.
Intrusive marketing was about TV, Newspaper and the Brand. In this mode the brands would work in broadcast mode only.
Inbound Marketing is all about providing relevant content to the your customers at each step of his “Buyer’s Journey”. In this framework it is important to develop deepening trust levels at each stage and then asking for a sale in a non intrusive manner.
Inbound framework is the key to digital marketing success. Most digital marketers do not use an integrated approach and deploy digital marketing in piece meal. This not only leads to non effective marketing but also drives away your buyer.
Inbound Marketing has 04 stages:
Attract: Internet is full of content! Relevant Content? Well that’s a big question! How relevant is your content? Is it educating enough? Have you presented it in the form your buyer would like to consume it? Is it available at the online platforms where your buyer visits? Now thats what we call “ATTRACT” – Get Noticed & Grab Attention! Convert More Strangers into Visitors.
Convert: So far so good! The content marketer did an excellent job. You got Strangers to Visit you! How proactively do you engage them? After all you don’t want them to just visit you and go away! Do you have a virtual marketing support engine in place to engage with them? How are you planning to assist them as they surf your site? How would you open a conversation with them? Forms, Virtual Chats or Web Meetings? Strike a conversation, provide relevant content and Convert More Visitors to Leads.
Close: Great Going! So now you have leads. It is time to start asking for closure and win more sales. Have you deployed a Sales CRM to capture all the needs to of the lead? Did you share enough information to eliminate the competition? Is your lead satisfied with the solution you have provided? Have you quoted the price only after understanding the need in full? Did you ask for a sale? Challenge the lead, take control of the conversation and get more Closures.
Delight: Inbound methodology allow your customers to come back to you anytime and engage with you on any pretext. Now that they are your customers, they have higher expectations. Continue to have a quality engagement and delight them. Convert your sales into your promoters and bring in more business.
