What is Inbound Marketing? Definition of Inbound Marketing, Inbound Marketing Meaning and Concept

Inbound marketing is a type of online marketing, which consists of guiding the customer in the purchase process.

People want to save time searching for information and going through their purchasing processes. Inbound marketing is responsible for accompanying and leading buyers, throughout the process, from when they know the product, until they have it in their possession.

First of all, inbound marketing seeks to attract visitors. To then turn them into a sales opportunity, immediately transform them into customers and finally build loyalty.

For this, interesting and creative contents are used, which attract the attention of the web visitor and an interactive communication is handled.

It is one of the most modern methods used in 21st century marketing. Marketing specialists have understood that people who act in the market as buyers no longer behave in the same way as they did in years past.

The really important thing is to capture the buyers at the beginning of the process and give them adequate follow-up. We say follow-up, from the beginning to the final decision process. It is a more effective way to achieve positive and beneficial results for companies.

Inbound marketing is usually a better option than outbound marketing, because it reaches the user in a more favorable way, not in an almost obligatory or inopportune way.

Phases of inbound marketing

The phases of inbound marketing are:

• Visitor attraction : In order to attract visitors, it is necessary to generate interesting and attractive content using social networks, content marketing and SEO. This content becomes a value for the company, since the content is not lost, and the company can continue to use it.

In this phase the number of visitors is increased, in this type of marketing millions of visitors are needed.

• Convert into a business opportunity : Of the most interested visitors who have entered the networks, then they go to our page and there they provide us with their data, so that we can follow up with the information that is truly suggestive.

Obtaining your data is very important, because here the company can generate its database, with personalized information that will help it to provide better support to the interested party, sending information to the user that is really useful.

A lead is considered in marketing as a person who agrees to give us their data by filling out the form that appears on the web.

• The user becomes a customer: Turning a user into a customer is the best thing that can happen to a company, because they buy our product. A user can become a customer when the information used is directed to meet the personalized need of each subject.

Here, data automation will be used to objectively consider that an interested party becomes a customer (lead scorign).

Lead scores and preferences can also be used, to be used to convey information to these contacts taking into account their need (Lead nurturing).

• Loyalty process: If we have done a good job, at this stage the user becomes our loyal customer and will carry out the repurchase process. In addition, he recommends our brand, in this way an efficient promotion for the company is achieved.

The content already gives us a performance, this implies that income increases due to the optimal use that is given to the content focused on the needs of each buyer.

• Control process: Here the company can verify how it has performed and the results it has obtained. The purpose is to have feedback, to continue strengthening what is being done well and correct what is subject to improvement and optimization.

Scheme

The steps can be summarized in the following scheme:

Inbound marketing has a cost, but when compared to the benefits obtained by companies, it can actually be considered more as an investment; not as an expense.

The benefits can be summarized as follows:

• The increase in visitors and traffic on the page.
• Obtaining data to form an information base.
• The increase in reach, audience and followers.
• The generation of content that gives returns.
• The greatest impact and awareness of the brand.
• The best criterion to segment.

We can conclude that inbound marketing is becoming a strategy used in recent years. Because marketing, the buyer and the market in general have evolved and as a consequence companies have to adapt to the new way of doing things.