Remington BeggIf you want your company to attract new customers, build trust in the community, and delight current buyers into repeat purchases, you need to be implementing inbound marketing into your brand’s marketing practices. No matter where someone is on the buyer’s journey, proper inbound marketing techniques will help your company reach and convert them. But inbound marketing is not a set it and forget type of marketing plan. By t
he very nature of it, inbound marketing is always changing and adapting to the needs of modern consumers. Here’s a look at a few trends experts in the industry are saying savvy brands should be keeping an eye on:
#1 User-Generated Content
Word-of-mouth marketing may be the oldest forms of advertisement, and the rise of digital media has made it one of the most important again. If something involves social media engagement and creating new content for your website, you can bet it’s a good fit for your inbound marketing strategy. Take the recent example of Bottica, a fashion website, that is now using customer submitted photos on their website’s homepage. The thought behind this is that the user-generated content acts as a testimonial to potential customers, and it encourages their many Twitter, Pinterest, and Facebook fans, to share/link to their personal photos. Their fashionista customers love to see themselves on the homepage of a popular brand! It is a pretty solid strategy for link building as well.
#2 Hyper- Segmentation
Micro-targeting, or hyper-segmentation, is the process of using consumer data to broadcast your brand message to the right people at the right time. Visitors leave a wealth of data every time they visit your website, and clever inbound marketers can access this information to target niche audiences. Think of it like Buyer Personas, only even more broken down and detailed. Bannerflow recently revealed that targeted advertisement campaigns prove to be twice as effective as non-targeted ones. More and more marketers are expected to use this technique to closely target consumers in 2016, and you should too.
#3 Email Marketing’s Resurgence
Years ago, many experts were saying that email marketing had run its course. It had become too spammy and too invasive; people simply began to ignore their ever-filling inbox. But now, with the rise of spam filters and segmented folders in Gmail, users feel safe in their email accounts again. A recent study revealed that email conversion rates are three times higher than social media, with a 17% higher value in the conversion. Clearly, email marketing, if done correctly, can get the results you’re looking for. For every $1 spent on email marketing, the average return on investment is $44.25. If email marketing was ever truly “dead,” it’s certainly resurrected now.
#4 Episodic Content
Many content marketers have reported that constantly and consistently creating engaging content is the most difficult part of their strategy. This is what has lead to rise of episodic content, telling a compelling story in your blog, piece by piece. It is a wonderful technique to boost engagement and retain consumers over an extended period of time. Remember, your website visitors are people just like you, so use their human nature to your benefit! A gripping storyline and the eventual conclusion makes episodic content emotional, relatable, and hopefully addicting.
Inbound marketing is always going to be focused on customer engagement, interaction, simplification, and accessibility. While the core values don’t change, exactly how and when customers want to be interacted with will always be dynamic. The good news is that you don’t have to guess what’s next- let Impulse Creative do that for you! Download our recently updated eBook The Beginner’s Guide to Inbound Marketing to understand the most up-to-date marketing tips and tactics. Get your free copy today!
