Who was your hero growing up? Do you have one now? In the face of adversity, we often look to a person with admirable qualities that we wished we possessed. In the world of marketing, there are so many companies coming up with amazing campaigns that inspire and motivate. Check out some successful campaigns by inbound marketing heroes that will definitely give you something to look up to, and make you wish you had thought of them yourself.
#BallotBriefcase By PwC
Snapchat is not just a platform for teenagers. PwC knows how a B2B company can effectively use Snapchat to engage a new target market, and they’ve got the Shorty Award to prove it. Their campaign followed the Oscar ballot briefcase around the country leading up to the Academy Awards. With the help of Snapchat as a marketing tool, not only can users experience a brand’s personality, but its journey too. The beauty of this app is that there’s no video editing option to make things look “perfect.” Watch how PwC’s campaign gets it right:
#LowesFixInSix By Lowes
Lowes has created a series of videos sharing home improvement tips through a six second (or very short) video. With inbound marketing, people are looking for content that is useful and solves their problems, but most importantly, is not a sales pitch. Lowes gets this, and provides tips from which their audience can benefit. This campaign takes advantage of the shareable features of video on social media by creating content that people will want to engage with and share.
See how Lowes does it:
It's fun to check out what other companies are doing right with their marketing. Let's focus on tips to help you strategize like an inbound superstar.
Set S.M.A.R.T. Goals
Setting goals and measuring your success is integral for your marketing strategy. You need to know where you want to go in order to make an effective plan to get there. SMART goals are: Specific, Measureable, Attainable, Realistic, and Time-bound. When you set SMART goals, you are helping to focus your marketing efforts on things you can actually achieve and ensuring you understand what it takes to get there.
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Document Your Inbound Strategy
Every inbound marketing superstar understands the value of having a documented marketing strategy. According to Content Marketing Institute, marketers who write down their strategy are more likely to actually accomplish their goals. However, only 37% of B2B marketers and 40% of B2C marketers have a written content marketing plan.
Writing down your goals and game plan helps to solidify your objectives, as well as to prioritize what really needs to be accomplished. Having a documented strategy gives you and your team something to refer back to and keep everyone accountable.
Check Out The Competition
If you don’t know which direction to take with your marketing and could use some inspiration, don’t be afraid to check out what others are doing in your industry. You can use your competitors to grow your business. Take a look around their website, blog and social media profiles so you can understand what you’re up against. How does the user experience on their website measure up compared with your own? Have they covered any interesting topics on their blog lately? It’s important to be able to differentiate your company and brand from competitors in your industry. Knowing what your competitors are doing is an opportunity to improve on your own strategies, and also see what isn’t working.
“Every #inboundmarketing superstar understands the value of having a documented marketing strategy,” by @RspnsvInbndMktg (Click to Tweet)
Fundamentals Of An Inbound Marketing Strategy
There are certain fundamental components an inbound superstar has as part of their marketing strategy:
- Buyer Persona
- SEO
- Content: premium offers, blogging
- Analytics
- Lead nurturing
- Social media
Use these elements as tools to achieving your goals and as the building blocks of your inbound strategy.
Get Ahead Of The Curve
The marketing landscape is constantly changing, so staying on top of the latest developments can be overwhelming. Following industry blogs and thought leaders is one way to steer ahead of the competition, and see how you might be able to incorporate new trends into your strategy.
Video marketing, for example, has become increasingly important for marketers. With Facebook Live launching, and other live video streaming platforms available, this is one area where it’s time to up your game. Inbound superstars are innovators that take risks and are willing to experiment.
