What is “Inbound Marketing” aka -“Sell Me This Pen”

“Sell Me This Pen” (As an Inbound Marketer that is!)W

I’m a big fan of dictionaries & definitions. I first learned about the amazing benefits of dictionaries & definitions when learning more about the Study Tech. They said think of the word “Cow”; and then write down what your definition of the word “Cow” would be.

How quickly I learned the value in dictionaries! While I don’t remember the exact ‘definition’ I wrote down – I’m sure it had to do with some 4 -legged animal/farm animal. When in reality, ‘cow’ can have several different meanings – and if you do not understand each of them ( or KNOW what it means) – how lost and confused (and turned off to further understanding) will you be? [You can read more here. or purchase the amazing book here!]

But in brief – to “have a cow” (as in owning a farm animal) vs “having a cow” (as in an emotional reaction) – are two entirely different things and need to be understood as such, to be fully grasped and accepted.

Inbound Marketing is quite the same.

Unlike “Cow” – if you Google Search: Define: Inbound Marketing – there is no immediate result; instead it links you to other resources & pages that have defined the term. (Update: Google has now added the definition – will Bing be adding the definition soon than as well?)

Some of the first queries define Inbound Marketing as:

1. Wikipedia: promoting a company through blogs, podcasts, video, eBooks, enewsletters, whitepapers, SEO, social media marketing, and other forms of content marketing which serve to bring customers in closer to the brand, where they want to be.
2. Hubspot: Sharing is caring and inbound is about creating and sharing content with the world. By creating content specifically designed to appeal to your dream customers, inbound attracts qualified prospects to your business and keeps them coming back for more.
3. TrustEMedia: defined as a marketing strategy where businesses implement tactics to “get found”, or as we say, “get spotted” by customers.

However, I think that Johnathan Dane of Disruptive Advertising – best summed it up during a conversation we had many moons ago: Traditional marketing efforts are disruptive & interruption focused while inbound marketing is connection & draw focused.

On the contrast – if you aim to define Outbound (which some may argue is the ‘opposite’ of Inbound Marketing):

1. Google: Outbound marketing examples: Tradeshows, TV commercials, radio commercials, print advertisements (newspaper ads, magazine ads, flyers, brochures, catalogs, etc.), cold calls, and email blasts.
2. Wikipedia: Older, non-pejorative sense of marketing communications Newer, pejorative sense of interruption marketing
3. Marketing-Schools.org: Outbound marketing tries to reach consumers through general media advertising as well as through in-person contact. Depending on the venue, the approach can be extremely broad (TV advertising), thoroughly personal (face-to-face meetings), or “impersonally personal” (cold-calling or blanket emails). Through each outbound methods, sales leads are generated and then followed by internal sales representatives.

If you Google “Outbound Marketing” – you receive ~ 6 million page results; while if you search for “inbound marketing” (the ‘new’ way) you’ll find over 10million page results. THAT alone should speak volumes about the support and emphasis on inbound vs outbound marketing.

However – what about when it comes to sales?

I would never deny that any form of marketing/advertising & sales – are MEANT to go hand in hand. However, I would very well argue that outbound marketing (as well as ‘cold calls/the entire process of disruption/interruption of stereotypical sales) – something of the past!

If you could spend 10 minutes a day and an additional 2-3 hours a week engaging with your targeted demographic/audience – knowing that you would see results & benefits, wouldn’t you? If you knew you could spend a nominal on a salary or agency fee– knowing you would receive a HUGE ROI – wouldn’t you?

Maybe NOT – but you should!

While marketing is never meant to REPLACE sales – I argue that I could draw in amazing successfully nurtured sales via social media, engagement, content (blogs that generate in SEO/content on your website that will create leads + guest blogging that creates leads & traffic from other websites), paid advertising (I’m Google Adwords & Bing Ads certified – as well as a facebook advertising rockstar… #justsaying)and more – that would generate in leads that went straight to the funnels you wanted, but were nurtured & ready for that sales person to connect & close – rather than having to have the sales person waste their time, effort, energy & expense – trying to nurture the client.

Depending on your business/company funnels and approach – the entire sales & marketing spectrum could differ from another company or business’s funnels and approach – however; INBOUND MARKETING is absolutely ESSENTIAL to include on your SALES TEAM!

After all – what business doesn’t want to grow because others are so passionate and engaged with your brand?

P.S.– How would I, Blair Pettrey, sell the pen as an inbound marketer?

1.) Paid Advertising & Engagement(Hand in HAND!)I would create paid advertising that targeted my demographic – depending on whom that demographic was, I may only focus on Facebook (a more targeted & cheaper resource) – or I may include Google Adwords/ BingAds as part of the campaign. I would create (strategic, keyword rich & researched) content both within the advertising as well as on social media, the company blog, and other verticals, joint venture partners and platforms – that would generate leads….

2.) Landing Page OptimizationFrom the leads that were generated from paid advertising and social media/content/linking – I would optimize the experience of the viewer. Depending on where the lead came from – I would create an unique & targeted landing page (and thus funnel) specifically geared to them. (This is where utilizing LeadPages and/or Unbounce come in handy!)

3.)Build Specific Sales/Marketing FunnelsFunnels that are specific to the lead are absolutely essential. By being able to nurture leads based on where they are coming from (what traffic source), and where in the sales process they may be – prevents any over sales/under nurturing. It allows you to build trust and engagement – without wasting your sales teams time – until that lead is truly nurtured and ready for the solution your company has! (I’m also trained in AMAZING sales & marketing funnel building & generation techniques including Jeff Walker’s Product Launch Formula)

4.)By my Focus on the LEAD Engage, Connect, Nurture, and Draw Leads so WELL that by the time they’ve contacted your company/reached your e-commerce store – they are ready to BUY. They’ve built trust & desire so much in your offer/product/service – that the sale is done – no closing/selling necessary!

5.)They say there are two rules to success– and the first rule? Never telleverythingat once!

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