If you aren’t obsessed with digital marketing, the term “Inbound Marketing” can make you quake in your proverbial boots. This seemingly illusive sales strategy is tough to figure out when you’re burning the midnight oil to run a successful business. So, you glean a little information here, overhear some comments at a sales conference there, and before you know it, you’re buying into inbound marketing myths and misconceptions.
Source: scienceblogs.com
That is dangerous for the future of your business because inbound marketing is a tried and true strategy for attracting serious leads and converting them into sales.
Here are 5 inbound marketing myths and misconceptions we often hear from our clients:
Myth 1: Inbound marketing is way too expensive.
The Reality: The above phrase really translates to, “Digital marketing is way too expensive,” because sound digital marketing firms use inbound marketing as a cornerstone of their process. Technically, inbound marketing strategies can be 100% free, once your technical platforms, website, blog and social media accounts are in place. However, they won’t be effective unless you know what you’re doing. So, yes. In that sense, paying for a digital marketing team who does know what their doing isn’t always cheap, but when it’s done thoughtfully it more than pays for itself, and is considerably more affordable than traditional print media and commercial advertisements.
Myth 2: As long as you throw enough content out there, you are bound to generate some leads.
The Reality: It’s true that quantity is important, i.e., you want to be creating new, fresh, and relevant content on a daily basis (at best) or a weekly basis (at least best). However, if that content isn’t high quality, you are wasting your time. Inbound marketing involves best SEO practices (more on that in Myth 3), combined with high-quality, well-written content that lends your brand an authoritative edge over your competitors and draws a loyal blog and social media following. Only then will you benefit from strong leads and increased sales.
Myth 3: SEO and inbound marketing are the same thing.
The Reality: SEO is a major component of inbound marketing, since you want your content to be found by web crawlers, via the most popular terms/phrases your prospective clients use to find answers. However, inbound marketing combines SEO with a metrics-based approach to content. We use the information we learn via SEO research and translate it into articles, web pages, CTAs, paid web ads, and social media blurbs that will attract inbound traffic.
Myth 4: My outbound marketing strategies are working, ergo there’s no point in spending money on inbound marketing.
The Reality: This stunning infographic from HubSpot shows exactly why you should begin migrating from outbound to inbound marketing strategies. Some of the most poignant statistics include things like:
- Inbound marketing costs 62% less than traditional outbound marketing strategies.
- 84% of 25-34-year olds have bounced off a favorite website as the result of intrusive, irritating, or irrelevant advertising.
- 91% of email users have since unsubscribed from email lists that they voluntarily subscribed to!
These stats tell us that outbound marketing is on its way…out.
Myth 5: Most of my customers are local, so inbound marketing is irrelevant.
The Reality: True, people across the country may land on your site, and bounce off if it turns out you’re located a million miles away. However, a large part of your SEO strategy should be based on local geo-based terms and phrases, review sites, and localized ads, to ensure you benefit from inbound marketing directed at your local clientele.
Debunking these myths, and getting to work on your inbound marketing strategies, will noticeably pay off. Please contact us to join the new inbound marketing era.
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