Inbound Marketing is…?
According to this article by Hubspot, “Inbound Marketing is business content that attracts customers by creating helpful content and practices tailored to them. While outbound marketing interrupts your clients with content they don’t always want. Inbound marketing forms a connection with the viewer to solve problems they already have.”
Commercial motivated purchase Vs. Research motivated purchase
(Outbound Marketing) (Inbound Marketing)
Inbound Marketing at its core is a “do good” concept. Help your customers not just grow in value but also reach their goals, and the cycle of “good” begins. The gift that keeps on giving. Inbound Attraction. Pulling in the right people with valuable content and conversations that establish you as an expert they want to work with. They have to know you exist first! 
Why you need an inbound attraction strategy
It’s like getting a basket so then you can start using it to collect things with. Before you can begin to do a good or bad job collecting things, you need to get the basket first. That’s what the attraction strategy is all about. Getting the attention of the people you want first, so then you can start to interact with them. 
But, How to attract? It’s easy!
You need to reach out to your audience by creating and publishing content through blog articles and social media that provide deep value. Something that leaves a lasting impression. For example, in our last blog, we gave away hidden information on how to raise $10,000 – $20,000 in minutes without taking on debt or diluting your shares. You can find this example in our last blog post titled Why Hire a Grant Writer? Make sure that your content also provides guides on how to use your products, and information about how your solutions can solve their challenges (this is where you sell yourself without “selling” yourself). It’s good to have testimonials to add legitimacy to your products and services. There’s one last component to this step, and it’s the technical aspect of it. SEO (Search Engine Optimization). Think of search engines such as Google or Bing as the yellow book you would have used to look up a person or business number in the early 2000’s, except, it’s constantly being updated and you can affect where people can find you and how easily they can find you. 
Optimization is actually very easy (and important!)
It’s as simple as understanding what words people are searching for, and using them in your content that you share. So it’s less of a step, and more of an added layer to the process of attracting your clients, by making sure the content you are making for them is something they can find in the first place! It’s like making a surprise gift for someone, and putting it in a random cupboard as opposed to putting it on top of their desk where it’s much easier for them to find. With SEO, you not only can place the gift on their desk, you can keep updating where the gift will be. 
I have their attention, now what?
Now that you have their attention, it’s time to consider things that are predictable and don’t need your undivided attention, like frequently asked questions, concerns, and things they may not even know about. This allows you to streamline your way towards a long-term relationship with your clients without taking up too much time on an individual basis. These are some specific engagement strategies that really make the difference in the long run. If you enter a business and don’t feel seen, heard, or cared about, your first instinct is to turn around and walk out. It’s in your interest to automate or delegate every level of engagement that you can so that you can focus on the difficult tasks. Things like inbound calls, emails, as well as social media messages can be delegated to staff who can also be trained to focus on solution selling rather than product selling, which lends to sales being mutually beneficial. 
Genuine interactions are what Inbound Marketing is
It’s important to maintain the same energy and care you are giving to your customers and clients even after the transaction is over. Much like a smile disappearing too quickly can undermine trust between two people, so can a sudden change in energy and care once the transaction for your product or service has been made. To put it simply, maintain a genuine interaction with your customers and clients, so that they come back! That’s why it’s important to incorporate thoughtful, well timed chatbots and surveys to assist, support, and request feedback from customers. Chatbots can help customers by answering questions and comments that you’ve programmed. This can encourage more customer feedback to improve on through client reviews to increase your google ranking. 
Replacing humans with bots?
Remember delegating general tasks so that you can focus your energy where it’s needed most? This is one of those examples of streamlining a long-term relationship with your customers and clients without spending too much time on an individual basis. Company bots and company surveys should be shared at specific points in time throughout the customer’s journey to ensure they make sense and are of value. It’s quick, easy, and you can do this in a physical store or online. The opportunities are endless! 
Following through
Social media pages are an important strategy when it comes to inbound marketing in Halifax. Social media followers can provide feedback, ask questions, or share their experience about your product or services. It’s very important that Halifax companies respond to these interactions with information that helps, supports, encourages and delights followers. This will show clients that you care about them. You can even send a gratification survey out via email six months after customers have purchased your product or service to get their feedback and review any ideas for improving your company’s inbound marketing.
Inbound Marketing is all about giving
Halifax inbound marketing should focus on delighting, assisting and supporting customers in any situation, whether or not your business gets any value out of it. It is important that you remember a delighted customer becomes a brand advocate and promoter, so treat all interactions, both big and small, with love and care. We’re all humans at the end of the day, and want to be treated as such. If you loved this article, you’ll enjoy our take on why Atlantic Canadians are different, and how to advertise to them.
