Let's face it: Traditional marketing campaigns can be expensive for small businesses.
Fortunately, there is one cost-effective promotional tactic that you can implement. It is called inbound marketing.
What is Inbound Marketing and Why Small Businesses Need It
According to Miles Anthony Smith, inbound marketing is the process of attracting customers to your brand. You can do this through content marketing, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), and more.
This means that inbound marketing gives you an even playing field against big companies. It gives you the chance to gain a competitive edge despite a limited marketing budget.
If you are still unconvinced, here are six benefits that small businesses can reap from inbound marketing.
1. Cost-effective Marketing
Being able to produce significant results despite a limited budget can cause a lot of pressure. Luckily, you can maximize what you have through inbound marketing.
As previously mentioned, this marketing tactic allows you to attract potential customers. This means that you only produce promotion collaterals for the people who are likely to buy from you.
After all, marketing to everyone is marketing to no one. So, why spend time and money reaching out to people who do not need your products?
2. Brand Awareness
In case you are unaware, 85% of customers search about products and services online. If you have a robust inbound marketing strategy, it enables your target market to come across your brand.
Imagine that you own a local flower shop in Boston. When someone searches for "flower shop Boston" on Google, it would be ideal that your business website is part of the search results. This one way to build awareness about your brand.
Another tactic is to run online ads. While this means you have to spend money, online ads let you set parameters based on your target market. This includes their age and location, the keywords they are likely to use, and more.
3. Organic Website Traffic
Inbound marketing is designed to attract customer attention organically.
In digital marketing, "organic" means not paying any channels to get included in search results. Unless you hire an online marketing agency, all you need is to make your website search engine-friendly.
You can follow these quick tips:
- Generate Sitemap and Robots.txt
- Craft keyword-rich Meta title and description
- Add keyword-rich image ALT text
- Optimize your image size
- Improve your backlink profile
- Use crawlable URLs
- Integrate social media elements
- Don't use flash elements
By following the tips above, you ensure that your website will appear on relevant search queries. From there, you can catch the attention of your target customers.
4. Positive Brand Reputation
Inbound marketing compels you to produce content that resonates with your target market. It can be a blog post, product description, video, or social media image. What's important is that it is relevant and keeps your audience informed.
Doing so showcases that you are an expert in your field, making you a trustworthy brand. And customers are more likely to support your business when they trust you.
This "support" can translate to more customers and improved sales.
5. Informed Marketing Decisions
Customer relationship management is integral to inbound marketing.
For one, it compels you to create marketing campaigns meant to attract potential customers. And when we say "potential," it means people who only need a little nudge to buy from you.
Meanwhile, you will need to understand where they are in their buyer's journey so you will know how to nudge them. This is where CRM comes in.
That's because people who come in through your blog do not necessarily want to buy your products. On the other hand, those who checked your online store might be considering buying from you.
Through CRM, you get to identify people who only need a little convincing to bring out their wallets.
6. Two-way Communication
Inbound marketing is not all about producing content to attract potential customers. It is also about establishing two-way communication with them.
Why is it important? Audience feedback gives you an insight into things that matters to them.
Feedback could come in the form of product reviews, blog comments, or social media mentions. You can opt to reply, depending on the situation.
Regardless, use this opportunity to understand your audience better. More so if it is honest feedback or a legit inquiry.
Maximize Your Limited Marketing Budget
We understand that it is challenging to attract customers' attention if you have a limited budget. Fortunately, inbound marketing allows you to maximize your marketing fund.
For one, it eliminates the need to market to everyone. Second, it allows you to identify and attract people who are likely to support your business. Be it by buying your products or subscribing to your newsletter.
That said, we encourage you to implement inbound marketing. More so, if you are a small business with a constrained marketing budget. That way, you can have an even playing field against big companies.