Quick Guide: Inbound Marketing for Small Businesses

Marketing has changed.  In a world loaded with technology, multiple options, and convenience, we must diversify our marketing approaches to find affordable lead generation solutions that ensure our long-term success.  Therefore, you must master inbound marketing for small businesses.

What is Inbound Content Marketing?

As a small business owner, you’ve probably heard this term, but what does it mean?  In short, inbound marketing for small businesses involves attracting and building relationships with potential clients over more direct or outbound forms of advertising and sales.

The approach uses organic materials to provide value, educate, advertise, sell, and promote products directly.  Inbound marketing takes content marketing strategy and elevates it using data, lead generation, web design, and SEO.

Here are some top strategies you can incorporate into inbound marketing for your small business. 

1.   Get Creative

Inbound marketing is all about your ability to create interest and activity.  So when you’re creating inbound marketing for small businesses, it’s essential to develop engaging content.

Have resources that won’t cost prospects and provide actual value without investment.  Include tools like videos, blog posts, attractive images, downloadable content, whitepapers, infographics, and more. 

You might be worried about giving away too much information, mainly in the info product or services business.  Those who have successfully created inbound marketing follow the maxim, “Tell them what to do but not everything about how to do it.” Find the nuggets of truth in your approach without giving a step-by-step.  Short-form content is one of the best ways to share why your system is superior without giving away your secret sauce. 

2.   Utilize Social Media

Use social media to your advantage for an effective inbound digital marketing strategy.  Avoid posting about your products or services directly to sell.  Instead, develop a plan for what kind of users you want to draw in, then determine what content will activate that type of reader.  It most certainly won’t be the latest feature of your product.  When browsing social media, get in their headspace and imagine what they look to consume.  You can systematically attract valuable customers for what you sell through good customer segmentation and a personalization approach. 

3.   Tune Up the Website

Optimizing your website is one of the best strategies for inbound marketing for small businesses.  Users want speed, exciting, usable content that is easy to locate and has simple, intuitive functionality.

First, you must tune up your website and focus on making it more valuable, engaging, and easy to use.  Next, consider hiring an SEO expert to do a technical audit to identify backend details hindering your ability to rank for primary keywords.  Finally, website speed and load times are critical for your prospects and search engines.

4.   Prospect List

Have you ever heard of the 5/10/50 prospecting approach?  Ultimately, you start by listing 50 companies you believe are your target market to begin your sales funnel.  Then, you take your list of 50 and choose 10 potential customers in the early stages of nurturing.

From there, choose five that are high-potential prospects.  They are the ones you’ve started building a relationship with and look like high-probability potential customers.

In inbound marketing for small businesses, you can create this prospect list and constantly renew it, work it, and reshape it.  I recommend using a CRM system to help track and manage your funnel and activities.

Use the valuable content from your website and social media to build relationships with your list of future customers and increase trust.

An inbound marketing strategy is essential to grow and generate demand for your small business.  Please complete my contact form for a complimentary coaching call to work on your inbound marketing program.  If this all seems too complex for a time-starved business owner, I can help you find a great marketing agency.

Coach Dave