One of the many great things about inbound marketing is how well it can integrate with your current business. Even if you already have a sales team or a PR campaign planned out, you can increase the efficiency of any of these strategies and more with inbound marketing integration.
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Sales Strategy
Probably the most common combination is integrating inbound marketing with the sales process, which involves aligning both along the same end goal of moving leads down the sales funnel via the methodology of attract, convert, close. To succeed, integration between sales and marketing must be based on mutual respect and open communication.
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The Bigger Picture
To correctly integrate sales with inbound marketing both teams must be educated and encouraged to see the bigger picture. Inbound is based on information, analytics and results, which must be appropriately shared and explained so that everyone can see the entire sales cycle. It’s no longer “get a lead, make the sale”—it is a much more nuanced process of attraction and nurturing leads. This process will not happen overnight, but as all team members see a bigger ROI it will help foster continued integration toward a common goal.
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The PR Angle
Similar to traditional sales strategies of pushing your message out and covering mass bases, public relations can benefit from an inbound injection. Integration has never been more important than in our social-media-heavy world. Of course, you are still going to write news releases and articles, but you are going to post them on SM, blogs, and other topical sites to draw readers to you. Think more content-based and educational as opposed to opinion-based and promotional. It no about reinventing the wheel, it’s just about modifying the wheel for today’s audience.
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Outbound Abandonment
Depending on your particular business or industry, inbound marketing integration does not happen immediately. And, you want to evolve wisely. For example, if you have been experiencing success with traditional outbound marketing tactics, such as direct mail and list blasts, you should not abandon them overnight. If you have a more mature audience who responds well to hard copy mail, switching to all-Facebook marketing, will ostracize your key prospects and decrease sales. You know your customers best, so try blending some innovative inbound techniques with your most successful traditional approaches; this way you can gain a wider audience without losing your current clients.
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Master Metrics
As mentioned above, open communication is one of the best tips for integration. And part of that is sharing analytics and metrics. In order for non-inbound team members to become converts, they must understand how inbound works and what the numbers mean. Once people can see the impact or various campaigns, web pages, and blogs, they will be able to see how the process attracts lead, why they should be nurtured and where they fit within the process.
Inbound marketing is paving the way for better quality leads and higher sales. While the exact details may vary, every business can benefit from inbound sales integration.
Download this Inbound Marketing 101 primer to share with your team and begin integrating.
