Ever since the beginning of business, marketing has been vital. Making sure the world knows who you are and why they need you in their lives is the key to success, helping propel your brand into the big leagues. But, how you should go about your marketing has seen a shift. Gone are the days of Mad Men and their billboards, catchy slogans, and newspaper advertorials. Now it’s all about inbound marketing.

What is Inbound Marketing?

To explain more about inbound marketing, we’ll start with outbound marketing. This is the older, more traditional method of attracting customers, and it worked by finding customers and bringing them to you. It’s an obvious, in your face kind of strategy where brands are all shouting to be heard, using things like TV ads and billboards to show the world they’re here. It’s a strategy that worked for many years, but times are changing. Enter inbound marketing.

Inbound marketing is a smart strategy that uses pull marketing to attract new business and build awareness around a brand. Rather than chasing after them, you make your business so appealing that they come to you instead. It can include a number of different marketing methods, such as blogs, social media, PPC, SEO, and events, making sure your company is ‘out there’ without having to shout about it.

Why is it So Popular?

There are plenty of reasons why inbound marketing is so popular and why 60% of all European companies now use it to gain leads. Here are just a few:

• Cost effective with excellent ROI – each lead costs 61% less on average than outbound marketing leads.
• Multiple marketing options to engage clients – you can test out a virtually endless list of attracting clients, whether B2B or B2C, to see which works best.
• Create long-lasting loyalty rather than a one time sale – inbound marketing adds value to your business and can create a rapport with your audience, creating relationships that go beyond sales.
• It appeals to B2B – 80% of decision makers in business would rather learn about a brand through articles rather than an advert.
• Reach a wider, more engaged audience – people across the globe could find your blogs, videos, or products by searching for them, meaning that they’re actively looking rather than passively watching, so they’re going to be more engaged in what you have to say.

How You Can Use Inbound Marketing

In the financial services sector, there are many ways you can start implementing inbound marketing. For example, by providing financial and insurance advice through blogs, you’ll be able to show your audience that you’re an expert in your field and gain their trust. You can also use data to personalise your marketing to your audience’s needs, something that’s being demanded by 80% of consumers, and create content they actually want to see.

This is only a brief introduction to B2C and B2B inbound marketing, so if you want to know more then be sure to get in touch with our digital marketing experts at Vitale. We can tell you more about how it can benefit your business and which marketing tactics would work best.