Growing your business in today’s highly competitive marketplace relies on an inbound marketing strategy that places your company in front of the right people, at the right time. Creating such a strategy involves many parts that must integrate seamlessly for the greatest impact. Make sure you have everything you need for a dynamite campaign with these 10 steps of an effective inbound marketing campaign.
1. Get to know your target audience.
Before you can design a campaign that will interest your potential buyers, you first must know your target audience is. You have to develop buyer personas that don’t just outline who you’re targeting, but really get to know these people. The more you know your target audience, the easier it will be to create a campaign that will meet their needs.
2. Be SMART!
Use the SMART (specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, time-bound) goal-setting system to clearly define what you are aiming to accomplish through your inbound efforts. This will help you stay on track with the 10 steps of an effective inbound marketing campaign and give you bragging rights when you succeed.
3. Develop your offers and optimize your landing pages.
Develop offers that provide value to your customer personas. Combine your knowledge of your ideal customer with the value in your offer to create a CTA they can’t resist. The key to crafting an effective CTA is to use text that is specific to your offer with a powerful action word, not just trying to bait with a promise. For example, instead of “Click now!” opt for “Download your Free 10-Point Checklist for an Effective Inbound Marketing Campaign Today!” Once you have crafted your strong CTA, optimize your landing pages for SEO.
4. Design your lead nurturing plan.
You have to be ready to nurture your conversions along the buyer’s journey so they become customers. Create an actionable plan for following up and nurturing your leads along the sales funnel.
5. Tell the world!
You have developed an offer that will enhance your target persona’s life and you want to make sure they know about it. Write a blog post to introduce your offer to the world. Remember not to be “salesy”, you want to entice your audience to review your offer, not turn them away with the hard sell.
6. Tell MORE of the world!
Attract more visitors to the top of your sales funnel by sharing your offer over your social media profiles. Focus on being engaging and valuable to prospective visitors so they will pass along your offer to others in their social media real estate.
7. Make use of long-tail keywords.
As you promote your campaign and throughout, make use of long-tail keywords. Never stuff your content or social media posts with long-tail keywords that sound awkward. Use the keywords naturally so you get a maximum SEO benefit. If you use your long-tail keywords appropriately, your offer will remain relevant and searchable long after you stop nurturing the campaign and it has run its course.
8. Broaden your horizons.
Keeping your SMART goals in mind from the second of 10 steps of an effective inbound marketing campaign, consider incorporating paid search or other channels to attract more visitors. As you broaden your horizons, measure the efficacy of each channel so you maximize your ROI.
9. Investigate your traffic sources.
A little detective work can go a long way in fine-tuning your inbound marketing efforts and the channels you use to promote them. Track the URLs of your visitors to find out where are they coming from and how they are finding you. Compare this information against your SMART goals and take some notes for your next campaign that will help you strengthen weak areas.
10. Shout from the rooftops!
Okay, maybe just report on your numbers, using your SMART goals as a benchmark. You’ve worked hard to meet or exceed your goals and you have met with great success. Be sure to pat yourself on the back for your accomplishment. You can also use these numbers to make notes for future campaigns, including areas of strength and weakness so you can strive even higher!