Inbound Marketing

Traditional marketing communication techniques have relied on "push" tactics to gain awareness in the marketplace. TV, radio and print are reach and frequency media vehicles that allow advertisers to have a one-sided conversation with consumers. Advertisers talk, and the recipient can either listen to the message or ignore it. Even though these media are certainly still viable and are excellent at ensuring massive ad impressions quickly, there are limited feedback channels available. People are no longer as receptive to these efforts alone. They say "don't tell me about your grass seed, speak with me about my lawn." It is the hyper-reality of the old adage "what's in it for me?"

Executing these "pull" marketing techniques can increase website visitation and search engine rankings through consumer engagement across social networks, content and search marketing.

Inbound Marketing is a culmination of three elements: content marketing, social networking and search optimization. By harnessing these simultaneously, a brand can increase website visitation and visibility.

Components of Inbound Marketing

  • Content marketing involves creating engaging and unique information and disseminating it across the Web. Sending press releases that have been optimized for search engines with embedded keywords and links is a must. Moreover, writing online articles and syndicating them also encourages inbound linking, a huge influence on search engine rankings. The more links that you have to your website equals higher placement on search engine results pages. Finally, Blogger outreach is important to add insightful comments (with a link) and pitch your story ideas.
  • Social networking is interaction with consumers across several channels including sites like Facebook, YouTube and Twitter. It also includes social sentiment monitoring to track social mentions and garner new opportunities for engagement. Video submission helps spread your content across many video-sharing sites to build awareness, as video viewing on the Web continues to grow exponentially.

Search optimization in Earned Media begins with website benchmarking. This provides a starting point for tracking metrics including inbound links, search rankings, and goals or visitor conversion funnels. Moreover, keyword research must be performed to provide a road map to content creation. In addition, adding listings on select website directories will also provide the aforementioned increase in inbound links for better website search visibility.