With allergy season upon us, you might find yourself sneezing at the thought of writing content for your company’s inbound marketing strategy. If you would rather be sitting poolside, taking the day to weed your garden, or having a picnic at the beach, you can hire a ghostwriter to complete your content for you. Professional writers that have expertise in your industry can fulfill your content needs while you pursue other interests. As professionals, they will not only be able to express themselves eloquently, but also stay updated on the best ways to write for maximum authority and promotional value on the Internet.
Why Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing has become the new marketing catchphrase of 2014. If you are not familiar with the term, this definition by Larry Kim is a good one:
“Just like inbound flights are the ones arriving at the airport, “inbound marketing” refers to marketing activities that bring leads and customers in when they’re ready, rather than you having to go out and wave your arms to try to get people’s attention.”~Larry Kim, Marketing Land
Inbound marketing is not just a tool for small business anymore. It is a powerful form of marketing for big and small businesses alike that necessitates an expert’s knowledge of writing in order to create content. Writers and marketers work together to derive the perfect combination of words, images, videos and podcasts to reach potential customers when they are ready to buy.
This notion is far different than traditional marketing because we are dealing with a new type of customer. This customer is researching their purchase by themselves via mobile technology and the Internet before they ever walk into a shop or land on a website to buy. They may never interact directly with you before a purchase, instead independently making decisions based on content, peer opinion and online reviews.
Opportunities Lost
If your company is not adding inbound marketing to your marketing strategy, then you are losing critical opportunities to reach your potential customer before they make a buying decision. You may be leery because you are not comfortable with content marketing or you do not understand its value. Here is an example of an opportunity gained through content marketing:
Recently, I wanted to buy my father a gift for Father’s Day. Since my father is over 80, it is difficult to find a gift for him that he will actually use. Therefore, I went searching on the Internet from my mobile phone for ideas. I found several articles on gifts for senior adults. One of them was on a website that sold lounge pants for men. I ultimately decided on buying lounge pants and bought them from that particular company. Why did I choose them? Because this company gave me the idea of what to buy and had what I needed in stock.
The key takeaway from this example is that I bought something from a company that answered my need for information. The content was valuable to me because it answered my question, my need. This is how inbound marketing works. It is a powerful tool to reach qualified customers before they buy from your competitor.
Paula A is a writer by day and a voracious reader by night. She is currently trying to keep her house clean and her mind uncluttered…or is it the other way around? She specializes in sales and marketing, hazelnut lattes and admiring local art.
