Hearing about the tools that could benefit you and applying those tools to help your business is often easier said than done. At Second Mile, we don’t want you to miss out on a simple practice that is easy to implement and can boost your brand’s success. So with that, welcome to Hubspot and the practice of inbound marketing. It is a new marketing framework that can make your content and business go from zero to a hundred in a blink.
In the beginning, marketing was a funnel that focused its attention on the process of selling a product or service, leaving the customers as an afterthought. To Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, founders of Hubspot, that process didn’t seem sufficient any more. Customers developed an ability to tune out bids for their attention and ignore a brand’s marketing altogether. That’s when they created Inbound— a flywheel that focuses on having customers as the focus and their desires as the mission driving a brand’s marketing.
Inbound marketing is a system that focuses on three elements: attraction, engagement, and delight. This process focuses on drawing people in with marketing and developing an experience that customers will value, and not view as an interruption. It provides engagement through sales, with its goal to provide a solution to the customer. And lastly, in the Inbound flywheel, it uses service as a way to delight the customer and leave them with a desire to come back to your brand. Inbound marketing with HubSpot focuses on marketing, sales, and service to have a conversation with, and not at, your audience.
The marketing best practices of being human, helpful, and holistic take a business from merely selling a product, to a brand that offers an experience customers are attracted to and continually come back to do business with. Inbound marketing should be in every marketer’s toolkit because it is key to developing a marketing strategy that continually delights audiences.
Inbound marketing examples include content marketing, blogging, SEO, and opt-in email marketing. These examples offer an opportunity for your brand and audience to interact in a positive and personalized way.
We believe in inbound marketing because it takes a "help first" mentality, leading to a customer-centric model and overall attitude. Inbound marketing is less disruptive and intrusive than other marketing models.
“IN MY EXPERIENCE, INBOUND MARKETING IS ALL ABOUT AIMING TO HELP,” SAYS HANNAH COLLINS LEE, CO-FOUNDER OF SECOND MILE MARKETING AND DIRECTOR OF BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT.
Inbound marketing has helped Second Mile tremendously by attracting more clients with the right fit for our services and creating meaningful, long-lasting connections. It's also been tremendous in our recruiting efforts as well.
For our clients, inbound marketing has helped across the board - from marketing campaigns to sales efforts, clients are experiencing growth by sending the right prospects the content they want and need at the right time.
Having on-page website content, engagement-focused downloadable content, and email campaigns can boost the connections you have with your customers and keep them on your site, therefore establishing attraction and leading to engagement with your brand and product.
Having the same core mission communicated across all your social media platforms and websites creates a consistent stream of messaging for your brand and provides multiple points of contact for your audience.
Knowing who you are marketing towards helps narrow your content and lets you tailor your message in a way that gives customers a view of your brand you want to cultivate. Understanding your product, audience, and frequently asked questions is just a part of developing and understanding how a buyer persona document can help.
Second Mile wants your business to thrive, and with inbound marketing, we fully believe that your brand can experience the growth and connection it deserves. Need help implementing this practice? We got you covered. Second Mile Marketing is a Hubspot Certified Partner and can get you started on exactly what you need to achieve the results you want. Connect with us if you want to get a jumpstart on increasing your brand’s impact!