The 4 Steps of Inbound Marketing Explained

So you've figured out what Inbound Marketing is and why its so important for your business. You know the steps: Attract, Convert, Close, and Delight. But what do these really mean? How do you begin the process of turning strangers into happy clients? Responsive Inbound Marketing is here to help! 

Let's start from the beginning.First, you must attract strangers to your site -- you won't get new business if people don't know what they're missing! This is where social media, keywords, and blogs come into play. If you write interesting content, the strangers who stumble upon your website will come back, becoming visitors. Make sure that you are producing content that is relevant to your target audience, or buyer persona. If you are selling dog toys, don't blog about the "Top 10 Reasons to Love Your Cat." Your goal is to attract the attention of potential customers through content that they want to share, thus drawing even more visitors to your website. A recent Business to Community article expresses the importance of creating potential leads in this way, indicating how social media and blogging can increase exposure to your company's website. The more excited people are about your material, the more that blog post, image, or article will circulate, which means more traffic to your site. To get started on your blog, check out this easy introduction to business blogging!

Once you have captured the attention of these strangers and directed them to your page, your next task is to convert these visitors into leads. To do this, you need to connect with them more directly, which means collecting their contact information through forms, calls-to-action, and landing pages. 

A call-to-action (CTA) is a link that leads website visitors to a landing page, which prompts them to provide you with their contact information. This is a vital step in converting potential clients to leads. Once you have the email addresses, for example, of potential customers, you can communicate with these people directly, addressing their specific interests or needs. (Stay tuned for some tips on how to use email more effectively!) In order to incentivize your visitors to fill out a short informational form, you should create a CTA with an offer that entices them to click on it. Use action language that encourages a response, like "Make an Appointment," or "Get a Free Consultation" Not sure how to make a CTA button? We have you covered. 

Now that you've created a content-rich blog and collected the contact info of your potential leads, its time to close the deal and turn those leads into customers. You'll do this by nurturing your leads through emails, signals, and workflows. Emails are vital, because they allow you to reach your leads on a more personal level. Start with a clear subject line! Not only will this decrease the likelihood of your email being marked as spam, but it will also attract the attention of leads who are in search of your service or product. Make sure to individualize your emails to as great an extent as possible — according to Hubspot, "...targeted emails nearly triple click-through rates! Use your blog content to educate leads who have provided you with contact information but haven't become customers yet and encourage them to interact with your site. By focusing on useful, relevant content, you can build a trusting relationship with your new customers. "

But you're not done yet! After all the hard work you've done to gain your new clients, you want to make sure that they are happy with their decision to choose you, and to maximize the chances that they will recommend you to others. Now is the time to delight these customers, turning them into promoters of your product. Present clients with adaptive offers that change based on lifecycle stage and buyer persona. Use your social media platforms to provide quick and easy customer service — their function is not limited to the attract stage! Build customer loyalty by continuing to provide your clients with great educational content that helps them to overcome challenges and reach their goals, and keep them involved in the growth of your company by suggesting new products or improved features that may be useful for them.

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