If you’re looking to gain new customers, inbound marketing is the way to do it. Long gone are the days where you had to buy email lists and spend a small fortune on ads.
These days, it is all about creating valuable content that attracts direct inbound leads who are actually interested in your product or service.
Here are three solid methods you can start using right away.
1. Create a blog
Blogging has become one of the most popular ways to attract customers online. Adding a blog page to your website doesn’t just potentially attract new customers, it also helps to keep existing ones checking back to see what’s new.
In order to make it work, you will need to add fresh, relevant content on a regular basis, ideally each week. So what is relevant content? Well, put simply it is something that your customers are interested in right now.
You could use it to answer common questions you are asked about particular products and services. Or you could update it with latest industry news.
It also gives you the opportunity to prove yourself as an expert. This will increase your reputation and make customers more willing to buy from you.
2. Offer something free
Everybody loves a freebie and you can use this to attract inbound leads. Not all customers are going to want to buy from you the first time they visit your website.
That’s where offering a little incentive comes in handy. This can be anything from a short eBook to an entire video series.
This largely works for those selling services rather than products. Discounts offer the same results and are more effective for businesses selling products.
While high quality content and a good marketing strategy will attract new leads, a free gift or discount will help you to convert those leads into sales.
3. Focus on the right keywords
Search engine optimization has long been the most effective way of generating inbound leads. However, it’s extremely easy to get it wrong.
It works by using targeted keywords in your marketing content (such as the text on your website and blog) that will be picked up by search engines.
In order to attract the right type of customer, you need to make sure you are using the best keywords. Popular short keywords are great, but you will be facing a lot of competition.
For example, if you’re a dentist, the simple keyword “dentist” is unlikely to get you to the top page of Google. Instead, you would need to focus on what is known as localized longer tailed keywords.
These could include “cosmetic dentist in New York,” “root canal New York,” or “affordable dental implants in New York.” Fewer competitors will be using these keywords and you’ll also be targeting a more specialized group of customers.
Overall, attracting inbound leads is easy once you know the right techniques to use. However, it is going to take a lot of time and effort to learn the ropes and perfect this powerful lead generating process.