The primary goal of inbound marketing is to draw prospects to your website by distributing valuable content and then convert them into leads through the use of premium offers and nurturing campaigns.  Content has a part in nearly every marketing function including traditional techniques such as teleprospecting and direct mail.  The inbound process involves providing a clear path for qualified prospects through the purchasing process.  A focus on educating your audience has been the dominant trend, with the personalization of brands and connecting with your audience on a social level becoming increasingly important.  As Google and social media platforms continue to alter their newsfeed algorithms, supplementing organic efforts with paid advertising will be necessary to command the same type of reach once expected through posts to company pages.  Having a flexible and detailed plan that outlines every aspect of your inbound marketing strategy will keep your campaigns consistent and organized. 

Research:

Competitors:

“Analyzing your competitor's website is the fastest way to gauge their marketing efforts.” - HubSpot

Performing a competitive analysis to see where you stack up against key competitors in regards to inbound marketing optimization is the first step in developing your marketing plan.  This will give you key insights into how your competition is reaching your target audience and where you need to improve.

Buyer Personas:

“Knowing and understanding targeted customers is the overarching rule of exceptional companies.” - Forbes

Developing detailed buyer personas will help you to create targeted content and address key pain points being faced by your ideal client.  Buyer personas not only dive into demographics, they uncover the story of your target audience and provide insights on where and how to reach them.

Keywords:

“Thankfully, when it comes to achieving SEO success on your website, there's one rule of thumb that remains a tried-and-tested technique: optimizing your website with relevant and targeted keywords.  By having a well-optimized site, you'll start to see results like improved visitor quality, higher conversion rates, and in the end: more closed customers.” - HubSpot

Keyword research helps you identify the terms being used by your audience to search for your particular solution.  Although your website and marketing campaigns may target several different keyword phrases, each piece of content should focus on one long tailed keyword.  This is an integral part in optimizing your content for search engines.

Key Performance Indicators:

“The first step in identifying KPIs is removing all the data noise in your team.  Focus not on what you can measure but what you must measure.  Ask yourself: if I didn’t have this KPI, could I adequately report on my performance?” - Klipfolio

Determining which statistics are the best indicators of your success will depend largely on the goals of your company, but there are some specific KPIs that can be applied to any inbound marketing campaign.  Leads, MQLs, SQLs, website visits, blog views, email open rates and social engagement are very telling when evaluating the effectiveness of your marketing efforts.

Revenue Goals:

“Because forecasts are living and breathing numbers, changing as current information gets inputted, forecasts can help you meet your sales opportunity and revenue goals. You’ll know whether you’re likely or unlikely to hit your target, which is essential information for decision making and decision makers.” - Bizible

First determining the current revenue you are generating through digital efforts and then shaping a plan that both meets your budget and revenue goals will provide you with your most telling statistic, return on investment.  Inbound marketing is a long-term solution so it is important to set measurable, attainable expectations and allow the process time to produce.

The First Stop On The Road Through Inbound Marketing: Research

The Second Stop On The Road Through Inbound Marketing: Content

The Third Stop On The Road Through Inbound Marketing: Distribution

The Final Stop On The Road Through Inbound Marketing: Analytics