Today, more Canadians are using the Internet to search for information about companies and their products or services before they connect with them. Therefore, having an online presence and being where your customers are is crucial to the success of today’s businesses.
The days of buying expensive print or radio ads are long gone. These methods, collectively referred to as “outbound marketing” techniques, are expensive and have a lower return on investment (ROI) than modern online marketing.
To reach your prospects more effectively and close sales, you need a non-interruptive approach to marketing. This marketing is inbound marketing.
Inbound marketing can help you achieve your sales goals faster and at a lower cost than outbound marketing. You can set up an inbound marketing campaign to build brand awareness, promote your product or generate more leads for your Ottawa business. To have a successful campaign, you need to plan your inbound marketing activities.
Planning an Inbound Marketing Campaign
Implementing your inbound marketing campaign can be difficult if you do not have clear goals and activities. Before you start any campaign, define your end goals. What are you looking to achieve? Some of your campaign goals may include:
i) Generate more traffic for your website
ii) Generate more qualified leads
iii) Improve your company’s brand on social media
iv) Increase sales of a particular product, etc.
Your goals should be specific, measurable and attainable.
To attain your goals, you should tailor your message to be specific to your target audience. For example, if you are looking to increase sales of a particular product, you don’t want to overwhelm prospects with messages of “Buy Now! Buy Now!”. Instead, you should educate your potential customers on how they are going to benefit when they use your product.
TIP: People buy benefits and not the solution itself. If you can show customers how their lives will be better with your product or service, you can easily convince them to buy.
After defining your goals, you need to identify the channels that you will use to attain the goals.
There are many channels you can use to get your message across. For example, you can use blog posts, pay per click, social media marketing, video marketing and so on. All of your campaign channels should deliver a consistent message about the campaign.
Elements of Great Content
Your content, be it in the form of video, audio or text, should appeal to your target audience. The content should be engaging, educative and interesting. Create content that your audience would be happy to share across their networks.
However, do not forget the end-goal of the campaign. After consuming your content, what do you want the audience to do? If you do not encourage your audience to continue the conversation by connecting with you on your website or social media channels, you will be missing the essence of your inbound marketing campaign.
Ensure your content has a call-to-action (CTA) message that will direct the audience on what to do next. For example, the CTA may encourage them to download an eBook at your website, enter their email to get a video series, call your office for a consultation, schedule a demo of your software and so on. Help your prospects take the next step to interact or connect with you by using CTAs on your content.
Generating Leads through Your Campaign
You can generate leads through the various marketing channels you choose to include in your campaign. However, it is important to separate these leads based on their interests or intentions. This will help you reach them with more relevant content in future, which will help them to make a buying decision.
You can use landing pages to separate your leads based on their interest. If you have multiple offers on your website, each offer should have a separate landing page tailored to it. The landing pages should have compelling CTAs that will make prospects join your list.
You need to keep your leads engaged to make a connection with them. People buy from those that they trust and staying in touch with your leads is one way of gaining their trust. When engaging with your leads, strive to provide value from the start rather than asking for a sale.
Measure Your Inbound Marketing Campaign
At the end of your inbound marketing campaign, measure the results you got and compare them against what you expected. Find out which channels generated adequate leads and which ones did not perform as expected. Doing a post-campaign audit will help you know what to include or avoid in your future campaigns.
Inbound marketing is the way to go for companies looking to improve their sales. The above is an overview of how you can plan and launch a successful inbound marketing campaign for your Ottawa business. For even more tips on how to plan and launch a successful inbound marketing campaign for your Ottawa business, download our FREE eBook “The Handy Toolkit for Launching and Measuring a Remarkable Inbound Marketing Campaign.” In it, you will get detailed strategy on the most important tools any inbound marketing campaign needs to be successful.
