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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.

Michelle Obama coming to Los Flamingos – Inbound Marketing?

Los Flamingos is somewhere I like to go for a break away from Dublin and it appears that Michelle Obama, The First Lady, also likes the idea of coming here for a break from the White House and Washington.  Los Flamingos is built around a Ritz Carton hotel so there is no need for her to camp on my sofa.  She will be staying at the Ritz Carlton, Villa Padierna classed as one of the premier luxury hotels in Marbella.  Surrounded by the sparkling waters of the Mediterranean, this five star hotel in Marbella will offer Michelle Obama a relaxing retreat where luxurious accommodations, championship golf and a lavish spa give way to awe-inspiring views of the Costa del Sol.

So what has Michelle Obama coming to Los Flamingos got to do with Inbound Marketing?  Inbound Marketing is about people finding you either through Google, Social Media or Blogs which depends on you having interesting content.  Next week when Michelle Obama is visiting the worlds press will be all focused on Los Flamingos.  This will give Los Flamingos a chance to shine and sell itself to the rest of the world.  This is not down to adverting but just simply what Los Flamingos has to offer to her and the average tourist which is what Inbound Marketing is.  Inbound Marketing is about creating remarkable content and reasons for people to find you. 

How do you get the equivalent of Michelle Obama visiting your website?  Here are some Inbound Marketing tips for bringing traffic to your website.

 1st Inbound Marketing Tip: High quality unique content

2nd Inbound Marketing Tip: Update content regularly

3rd Inbound Marketing Tip: Keyword Research

4th Inbound Marketing Tip: Good SEO

5th Inbound Marketing Tip: Great Page Titles

6th Inbound Marketing Tip: Inviting other people to contribute content.  This really is the same as Michelle Obama coming to Los Flamingos.  By people contributing is a public vote of confidence of your website, company and brand with the added advantage of generating traffic to your website.

If you are looking for some ideas on how to attract people to your website or how to develop a social media strategy check out the SiliconCloud workshop.

6 Blogging Tips for Inbound Marketing

Inbound Marketing requires generating new content but not just any old content it has to be interesting.  The best way to way to do that is by blogging but how do you come up with ideas for blogs.  Here are some simple tips on creating a blog for inbound marketing.

1^st Inbound Marketing Blog Tip:  Respond to something you have seen elsewhere on the web or in the news.  For example in the news recently is it now illegal to unlock your iPhone. What are you views on this etc. 

2^nd Inbound Marketing Blog Tip: Interview someone that has something to do with your industry or market.  It does not have to be face to face, a simple email interview would work.  And if possible ask for their advice or their 3 tips.  You could make your interview into a series with similar themes.

3^rd Inbound Marketing Blog Tip:  Talk about an upcoming event.  For example today we are running a free webinar on the latest social media trends.  Provide at little insight into the event, or after the event with an update.

4^th Inbound Marketing Blog Tip: Blog just does not have to be about writing.  If could be visual such as a video or pictures.  You tube is a great resource so use it to your advantage.  It is the next biggest search engine next to Google.

5^th Inbound Marketing Blog Tip:  Write a list of tips or 10 things to consider before.....  Lists are very popular on the web, frequently topping websites’ ‘most shared’ lists. A good start for your first post could be to make a list of the top 10 blogs in your market.

Last Inbound Marketing Blog Tip: Don’t write it yourself.  Look for a guest blogger.  If you find someone with particular expertise or experience, invite them to write a ‘guest post’ on a particular subject.

These are just some ideas on how to start you blogs.  One thing to remember is that according to latest research companies that blog generate more leads than those that do not blog.  Which company do you want to be?

Inbound Marketing Generates Leads but How to Separate Them

Any part of a successful Inbound Marketing strategy is generating leads.  But what do you do when you have too many leads that it is not possible to follow up with them straight away. One idea would be to move them further along the sales process by identifying their pain points with an online survey. Here are some tips to run an effective inbound marketing survey.

First Inbound Marketing Survey Tip: Know what you want to achieve.  Inbound Marketing surveys are easy and very cost-effective way to identify your target markets needs and priorities.  When preparing you Inbound Marketing survey think about what information do you want to get from your target market?  What information do you really need?   But do not forget to keep a clear focus on the goal of your inbound marketing survey as you create it.

Second Inbound Marketing Survey Tip:  How will they answer.   Think if it is ok for your respondents to tick off a checkbox, or maybe to write out a response in their own words.  Remember that multiple-choice surveys will produce results are easy to tally and compare.   It is also possible that there may also be a higher response rate for multiple choice questions, as they are faster and easier for people to answer than open-ended questions that require more time and thought. 

Third Inbound Marketing Survey Tip: Remember the end.Let people see what they are getting themselves in for with your inbound marketing survey before they start. Let them know how many questions you'll be asking, or where possible give an estimate of the time needed to complete your inbound marketing survey.

Fourth Inbound Marketing Survey Tip: Remember the carrot.  Sometimes you have to dangle an incentive to get things done.   If this is the case with your inbound marketing survey why not make it something that moves the prospect further along such as a free consultation or a sales discount.  Think about how you might reward your own target market for taking part in your inbound marketing survey.

Final Inbound Marketing Survey Tip: As with all Inbound Marketing follow up.  Do post an update on your blog to report your findings, making the most of inbound marketing.   As with all inbound marketing it can also new leads from those that are interested in the topic of your survey.

Old Spice did it work for Inbound Marketing and Social Media?

Inbound Marketing and Social Marketing is always changing, there is always something new happening or a brand trying to push the limit further.  Recently that task has fallen to Old Spice.  In case you are one of the few that have not seen the advert here it is:

 

Social Media and Inbound Marketing is about building brand awareness and driving business.  Did Old Spice manage to achieve goals?  There is no doubt that they have increase brand awareness.  By looking at Twitter alone the number of tweets has increased dramatically over the last week.  Old Spice presence has gone from next nothing to over 1,000 tweets a day.

But what are people saying about Old Spice in social media?   The typical conversion appears to range from talking about the guy to the smell of Old Spice.  Here are a few of the typical tweets.

“I’m an Old Spice man”

“Did you guys get a picture with the Old Spice guy? Jealous. I may have a man crush on him lol.”

“@OldSpice My wife doesn't like the smell of the super manly Old Spice products, How can i get her to fall in love with Old Spice?”

“The Old Spice man has convinced me. I switched from Axe to Old Spice deodorant.”

Inbound Marketing and Social Media is great at appealing to all markets and demographics.  For example the The Old Spice advert is targeted at women.  While that may be the case, but if we take as sample text of the conversions online the spilt is 62% male against 38% Female.

Was the Old Spice advert successful, judging by the increased online conversion and that they have managed to reach their target market  of males aged between 21 -35 it appears so.   But more importantly will it increase revenue?

The answer is a Social Media and Inbound Marketing yes, according to Nielsen.  According to them, sales of Old Spice Body Wash—the line touted in the Wieden + Kennedy-created campaign—rose 11 percent over the past 12 months and since the effort broke in February, sales seem to be gaining momentum.  Over the past three months, sales jumped 55 percent and in the past month, they rose 107 percent, also per Nielsen.

The success of their social media inbound marketing campaign has seen Old Spice become the No. 1 brand of body wash and anti-perspirant/deodorant in both sales and volume with growth in the high single/double digits according to P&G rep Michael Norton.

Remember that for your social media or inbound marketing campaign that good social media campaigns can take a while to take off but great social media campaigns can have an impact straight away.

Questions to ask your Social Media and Inbound Marketing Strategy?

You have a Social Media or Inbound Marketing strategy but what questions or goals should it answer.  Go through every point below and see does your strategy answer them or at least send you in the right direction.

First look at your social media and inbound marketing competitive landscape to see what works and what should be avoided.

• What is the competitive landscape for companies or products like yours?
• How are people researching for companies and products that you offer?
• How are they finding your company or products online?
• Will their habits change with the increased mobile adoption of smart phones?
• What are your primary competitors doing? Does it seem to be working for them?

Second question for your Inbound Marketing and Social Media strategy is to establish and research the value your target market.

• What percentage of your target market can you reach online?
• Compared to other forms of media how does the cost of a social media or inbound marketing strategy compare?
• If you are to look at the total target market what percentage can you reach online against offline?
• Can you increase the customer lifetime value with an online strategy against that of a traditional marketing strategy?
• Are there new markets that could be available to you online?

Any social media or inbound marketing strategy needs to drive revenue or business growth.  Your strategies success comes down to what you put into it.  So spend time reviewing any potential cost savings.

• Can inbound marketing or social media channels take over for more expensive offline channels?
• Are there ways in which your social media or inbound marketing strategy can cut time or expense from customer service or lead generation?

And finally never forget about measuring and recording, so as part of your final review of your social media or inbound marketing strategy look at what success is to you and your company.

• What are the measures and metrics of success for your company?
• What are the metrics that will be used by marketing for each marketing and social media channel, audience growth, engagement, etc?
• What are the measures that will be used to show business level performance?

Without these questions and answers social media and inbound marketing can get very hard.  What are the questions your social media strategy answers for you?

Is it time to be Social for Lead generation and Inbound Marketing

For any type of lead generation or inbound marketing is appears that social network website like Facebook is the way to go. A recent study has found that social networking sites, led by Facebook, are now more popular among UK web users than Google and other search engines such as Bing or Yahoo. Experian Hitwise, which gathers browsing information from 8 million people in the UK, said social networks accounted for 11.88 per cent of internet visits in May, which overtook search engines at 11.33 per cent of visits. So for any type of lead generation or inbound marketing the best place to be is where the people are and that is social media.

For Lead generation and inbound marketing social media is only starting as according to Robin Goad, research director at Hitwise UK "Social content is growing at a very fast rate, much faster than search". Facebook, which has about 500m users globally and makes up 55 per cent of UK social network visits, has driven social media's charge against Google. But Google's lead over other search engines was greater in the UK than the US, which meant it was unlikely to be overtaken by Facebook here in the near future, Mr Goad said.

In terms of lead generation or inbound marketing there were many people concerned about the recent stories over Facebook security. However in spite of the controversy over its handling of personal information, interest in Facebook shows no sign of waning. "Based on what we know from Bebo and MySpace, when the average session [visit] time starts to drop, it means people are leaving," Mr Goad said. "Facebook's session time continues to hold up and slightly grow. There are still new people joining, although at a slower rate. The people using it are using it more." So there you have it is time to look at social media for Lead Generation and Inbound Marketing.

If you are looking for more help on lead generation and inbound marketing, SiliconCloud are running a free webinar next week to people business make the most of social media for lead generation and inbound marketing. You can check it out here: What is Inbound Marketing.

Inbound Marketing from “How to Win Friends and Influence People”

Inbound Marketing tips from a self help book, is this possible? How to Win Friends and Influence People is one of the first best selling self help books ever published which has sold over 15 million copies globally. How to Win Friends and Influence People was written by Dale Carnegie, who was the developer of many famous courses on self improvement, salesmanship, corporate training, public speaking and interpersonal skills. So what can we learn from Dale and How to Win Friends and Influence People to help with Inbound Marketing?

1st Inbound Marketing Tip: Don't criticize, condemn or complain. With Inbound Marketing people are looking for something and that generally is a solution. What they are not looking for is negativity or problems. So for Inbound Marketing to work, make sure that you stay positive.

2nd Inbound Marketing Tip: Become genuinely interested in other people. While you may not be face to face people can still sense if you are sincere. So with Inbound Marketing stay genuine, if you are genuine with people they will be more open with you about their requirements.

3rd Inbound Marketing Tip: Be a good listener. Encourage others to talk about themselves. You are never going to find out what people are looking for by talking over them. So stop and listen to what they are staying and what they are searching for. With Inbound Marketing never take it for granted that you understand their issue.

4th Inbound Marketing Tip: Remember that a person's name is to that person the sweetest and most important sound in any language. This is my favourite tip as people have names so use them. I always keep in the back of my mind that the only robot on the internet is the Googlebot, the rest are people and people with names. So for Inbound Marketing remember that it is people searching and they all have names!

If you are looking for more information on Inbound Marketing join our free webinar next week. SiliconCloud are running a webinar for business who are looking to grow their business and develop new markets. Find our more here: What Is Inbound Marketing?

Hi Inbound Marketing do you come here often?

Inbound Marketing should sometimes be viewed like picking up a date in a bar. In many ways they are very similar, you have neither heard of each other but as she/he is eying up your html code and you eyeing up the possible lead, the basics stay the same. Here we have outlined just some of similarities.

Inbound Marking Pick Up Basic No 1: Survey the territory or the internet. In the same way you would check out the bar and figure out the best location to plant yourself. The same should go with the internet, pick the best keywords that you want to be found for. Do your research as what keywords will attract the most relevant visitors to your area of the bar/internet with inbound marketing.

Inbound Marking Pick Up Basic No 2: Who is your target. When entering a bar you might scan the bar to see who catches your eye. Inbound Marketing is no difference you should already know who is your type and how best to attach and engage with them through inbound marketing.

Inbound Marking Pick Up Basic No 3: Let them know you are there. Before approaching her, try and signal your interest by catching her eye. Your website and inbound marketing strategy needs to attract them. Avoid having a disappointing or overly flash website sometimes it is the simple things that works best but have something to attract their attention.

Inbound Marking Pick Up Basic No 4: Offer her something. In a bar it might just a drink by asking her what she's drinking and if she's almost finished, if she'd like another one. Take the same strategy to your website and inbound marketing, offer something. It could be a whitepaper or free trial but it should be something.

And after all that it is up to you now to take that lead and move it on to the second date. To help you secure that phone number, SiliconCloud are running free webinar today on how to make the most of your website and increase your conversion rate. You can read more here: Website Workshop

What does inbound marketing, your website and the world cup need?

For inbound marketing, your website and the world cup it is a simple answer, it needs goals. Imagine a world cup where the teams ran around with no intention of scoring any goals. Worse than that, where eleven men are sent out on to a football pitch with no direction as to what they had to achieve. Really would not make for a very successful football team. Well your inbound marketing strategy or website needs similar direction or goals as to what you want to achieve.

With inbound marketing and website design you sometimes have to think about your goals and what you want to achieve before anything else. Your goals for your website and inbound marketing can lead to very different approach to your planning, design, and promotion. We have come up with two basic goals your can have for your inbound marketing and website.

First Inbound Marketing strategy or Website goal: Your website is not the end it should be the starting point. Maybe all that is required from your website is simple information about your company, your products or your services. Your website could simply be a website to provide your clients or your potential clients with information. Remember Inbound Marketing starts with someone asking a question or looking for more information.

Second Inbound Marketing strategy or Website goal: Most company's goal is for simple lead generation and if this is the case then try to view your website as part of advertising strategy. While it is fine to provide information on your website you should look to take it a stage further and find ways to engage for the purpose of generating leads.

When thinking about inbound marketing and your website these should be just the starting point for your strategy. Regardless of why or what your inbound marketing or website goals is make sure you have one and stick to it. To help you along, SiliconCloud are running a free webinar this week on how to make the most of your website. You can read more here: Website Redesign.