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What Technology Do You Use for Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing is based around people finding you and not through advertising so how are companies using technology to give them online inbound marketing advantage? Most companies should use or plan to use inbound marketing as an opportunity to engage or up sell existing clients their products and services. There is no doubt that Inbound Marketing is attractive to companies as there is less clutter and improved ROI. 

Inbound Marketing is growing and growing fast as there is growing consumer impatience with the volume and irrelevance of outbound communications. The opportunity to enrich the experience and the added opportunity to reinforce the brand, make inbound marketing a compelling marketing solution.

Technology is growing with Inbound Marketing as technology provides tools that allow marketers to plan, test, and execute programs.  Companies today need the ability to design, plan, and simulate inbound marketing campaigns before making them operational. Inbound Marketing software such as HubSpot provide technology and interfaces that enable business users to define messaging strategies, apply testing scenarios, monitor results, and make changes as they see fit. 

When selecting technology to help you with Inbound Marketing you should keep the following points in mind. 

Adopt a mindset of proactive engagement. The goal of inbound marketing should be to provide the best possible experience, not just to make a sale. Smart marketers view the role of the inbound channels as an opportunity to establish an emotional connection with the customer, build trust, capture information, and where possible deepen relationship.

At SiliconCloud we suggest HubSpot as one solution that enables your company to create, optimize & promote your content.  Once your content is developed HubSpot goes further to capture, manage & nurture leads to win more customers while enables your company to make smart inbound marketing investments that get results.

Still unsure of what inbound marketing strategy to use for your company take advantage of our free inbound marketing workshop.

You are not alone in Inbound Marketing with HubSpot Services

Many companies know that Inbound Marketing is right for them and for the future of their business. They accept that Inbound Marketing is the right way to go but like most people they do not want to feel alone out there. They need the reassurance that someone is there at all times to help them, guide them and just to be there with any inbound marketing challenges they might have. As always we should look to the inventors of Inbound Marketing namely HubSpot.

HubSpot have come up with another winner of an idea. HubSpot services, a place where any company can go to look for and look for Inbound Marketing services. These services can range from Call to Actions, Landing Pages right up to a complete website redesign service. Many of our clients have found us through the HubSpot services, they loved that fact that it is managed and operated by the leaders in Inbound Marketing.

So why would I recommend you go and check out the HubSpot services? Last year I was immediately drawn to HubSpot by their openness to what they do and how they achieve it. They are not like any other SEO, SMO or any other title you want to try and label HubSpot with. HubSpot believe in keeping everything simple and understandable. So go and check out HubSpot Services you might something of interest to you.

And it you have time for that, check out next webinar on 16 tips for Lead Generation.

What part does Inbound Marketing play in your business?

Asking the question ‘what part does Inbound Marketing play in your business?' or even one step back ‘what part does your website play in your business?' is like asking the question ‘what comes first, the chicken or the egg?' I can say majority of the business owners I speak to respond that their website is their business. The website is the only form of marketing and the only way for them to generate new clients. However somewhere along the conversation the value of the website starts to decrease. I don't know if it's the thought of investing any more money into the fancy site with lots of pictures that took months to build or it has to do with the lack of knowledge on what inbound marketing is and how much potential the website can hold by optimizing the site in all the right ways in order to make it a revenue generating machine.

So let's just lay all the cards on the table. If you can say yes to the following:
1. Your website is your shop front door
2. You have no budget to be doing any type of marketing or you have found various marketing methods in the past extremely ineffective.
3. You are not meeting your revenue goals as a business
4. You are not found on Google when searching for your products or services

Then...Unfortunately you need to hold your website at the highest caliber possible. The fact of the matter is, if you can't get found on Google, you are more likely not getting traffic to your site. And if you are not getting traffic to your site, then you are most definitely not getting any sort of tangible leads. And if you aren't getting tangible leads then you aren't generating a source of revenue for your business.

So if you are the business who's website is a billboard in the desert, then I recommend you seriously reconsider what status your website holds for your business, what potential you could leverage, and how you could put an end to the question - ‘what comes first, the chicken or the egg?'. Inbound Marketing is the key to your business if you have a website that was built to draw in visitors, generate leads, and obtain new customers.

Find out why you need to invest more time and money on your website and Inbound Marketing why Inbound Marketing could be the key to your business' success. Join us on Wednesday, March 10 to Learn from Google on How to Grow your Business.

Thanks to the guys at HubSpot we have Inbound Marketing.

As we are aware Inbound Marketing is changing the way people are marketing their company online and in social media. I worked for Yahoo! for a number of years and during that time I would regularly look into how people would search online. I do not mean what they searched for but how they would search. In the last few years I noticed a trend happening in how people were searching. This change in how people search has an effect on how companies should market themselves online.

What I noticed that no matter what people were looking for, it all started with a search engine. And this by the way is Inbound Marketing. It is true that over the last five years people are more informed in how the internet works. They are aware of how URL's work but they simple do not use them. A great example of a top search term that came up every month was Ryanair. Most people are aware that their website is www.ryanair.com but they do not enter in the URL bar but guess where? Yes in the search bar of Google.

So what does that mean for Inbound Marketing and Ryanair. For Inbound Marketing it gives companies that engage in HubSpot's principles of Inbound Marketing a chance to drive attention away from Ryanair and on to their own site. And for Ryanair it takes away the guarantee that while people may know their website it does not guarantee their traffic. Let's look to see what people see when they do a Google search for Ryanair.com.

While Ryanair do have the top positions, you can see by the fourth result they have lost their presence to other websites. So what can we learn from this? If you are not using Inbound Marketing then you are leaving yourself open to your competition.

The number one website that wins at Inbound Marketing is Google. So next week we are running a webinar next week on "What can you Learn from Google to Grow your Business"

You can register at "Learn from Google on How to Grow your Business"

SEO and Inbound Marketing is for Life but PPC is only for Christmas?

PPC advertising is great and we use it ourselves at SiliconCloud. There is no denying that PPC campaigns are brilliant to build relevant traffic quickly. In the short term, it helps you to determine which specific keywords will generate leads before you go off and spend time trying to rank for them organically through SEO or Inbound Marketing.

Ideally this is how it should pan out, but we've been speaking to a lot businesses and they're seeing their advertising spend go through the roof. They always come back saying they are happy with the amount of traffic PPC brings in but the cost per click is forever increasing and decreasing their profits.

This is where the problems start and the dangers of only having PPC as your primary online strategy with no Inbound Marketing. Companies get addicted to PPC and the traffic that it brings in and with more and more businesses moving online and bidding for those clicks. There needs to be a way to get a competitive advantage over their competitors.

SEO or Inbound Marketing may be time consuming but it clearly separates you from your competitors and gives you the chance to reach those 75% of people that click on organic listings.

We always try to tell our clients the steps involved for Inbound Marketing and improving their organic rankings for relevant keywords. From there the process of starting to write great, compelling content that adds real value to the business and potential clients. People and high ranking sites start link to you and the inbound links start to come flowing in.

As a result your rankings start to climb steadily up which in turn brings in free traffic and leads all generated through Inbound Marketing. There is no doubting that this takes time and considerable effort. There's no doubt that this investment produces real sustainable advantage compared to PPC, reduces the cost per lead and sets you up with a long term online and Inbound Marketing strategy.

So as I was saying earlier, if new competitors enter and start to compete against you they will have no other option to start to pay large costs in implementing PPC campaigns. And as you have put in the hard work to get traffic from SEO, you'll have the competitive edge and more likely to hold this edge longer.

SiliconCloud specialise in helping clients engage with Inbound Marketing. We have clients in UK, Europe and the States. For the this week we are giving a free competitors analysis for companies to see how they are performing against their own competitors. We also analyse and measure the marketing effectiveness of your social media presence and website. We incorporates things like website traffic, SEO, social popularity and other technical factors. We also provide some basic advice on how your website can be improved from a marketing perspective. Click here: Help me with my Inbound Marketing Strategy.

HubSpot is a Black Taxi for Inbound Marketing

Last week I was invited to London to speak about Inbound Marketing and particularly HubSpot. The challenge was how to convey what HubSpot is and how it helps with Inbound Marketing.

For anyone that has visited or lives in London the Black Taxi is famous. It is the only taxi in operation around London and looks completely different to any other motor vehicle on the road. For a start the doors open differently, the seats are more suited to a coach than a car. To that end the London taxi cab is not a car nor a minibus but a London Taxi.

It is designed for a particular use. And that purpose is to move people around the centre of London with minimum hassle and maximum comfort. The London taxi is designed specifically for one purpose in mind and that is as a London taxi. The design speaks for it itself, it works, it is functional and it delivers.

HubSpot is the same, it is designed for one function and that is to turn your website and your company into a social media and lead generating machine. It provides a platform the enables your website to come alive and make the most of your people and your resources.

Stephen Covey dedicates a chapter in his bestselling book of "The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People" to "Sharpen the Saw". There is a reason to this, using the right tool and platform not only makes the job easier but provides a greater return on your investment and time.

The same goes for HubSpot it is a platform that is specifically designed to make the most of your website and your content. Yes, it is possible to engage in Inbound marketing without HubSpot but it is also possible to open a can with a sharp knife and a rock but not many people do!

Try HubSpot B2B Inbound Marketing Software with a Free 7 Day Trial. Your free trial gives you access to all of HubSpot's tools and customer-only resources.

 

Are your clients important enough to have HubSpot

Some companies only have a website to provide basic information and do not see any reason to invest in Inbound Marketing.  What are they missing? 

My sister is part of an Insurance company where they actually avoid any leads generated from their website.  Over time they have found that these leads are well informed and price conscious.  They cannot compete on price so avoid these conversations.  So maybe there are some companies they do not need the power of HubSpot or the advantage of inbound marketing.

However when I spoke to a client (Redmond Molloy) they explained why HubSpot software was invaluable it came clear why all business's clients deserve HubSpot. 

Their first need was the requirement to keep their existing clients informed of latest news, technology and procedures.  HubSpot blogging technology allows Redmond Molloy to engage in a two-way dialogue with their clients and keep them constantly engaged with their company.      

HubSpot made it easy for them to add a blog. They can edit their blog in a simple WYSIWG (What You See Is What You Get) interface.  The HubSpot technology also takes care of the complicated setup and integration issues, and connects them to their social media sites so their content gets published where they want it and clients read it.

Their second requirement was to keep informed themselves on industry trends and public opinions.  The HubSpot social media tool provided them with links to conversations across the Internet related to their business.  They saved time by managing social media conversations in a single dashboard that allowed them to follow and discuss their industry and relevant business topics.

Redmond Molloy's view was first to serve their existing clients needs.  Rather than simply use a website for lead generation they saw the potential to engage and build a long term relationship with their clients, industry and partners all on the HubSpot platform.

A recent study found that the important benefits of social media to companies are cited to be: increased customer engagement (71%), better brand reputation (66%) and increased communication with key influencers (62%).

So Redmond Molloy are not alone, are your clients important enough?

 

 

How old in Inbound Marketing?

According to Google trends it appears that "Inbound Marketing" only began as a term in mid 2007. Since then it has gone from strength to strength.

Is it no surprise that it all began in Cambridge, MA the home of HubSpot and it appears the home of "Inbound Marketing", when you look at break down by cities?

Also if you follow that with a look at the trend for the term "HubSpot" they both appear to start in mid 2007. So what else can Google trends tell us?

If I look at Ireland in terms of Inbound Marketing and Social Media, it is a very interesting story. I took the term "twitter" as an example. There is nothing new in the in the fact that it began to increase in volume last year.

But when you look at the region break down, Ireland is second next to Brazil in terms of volume.

What does that say about Ireland, can they not type in www.twitter.com or is the potential greater of an Irish company to engage in Inbound Marketing?