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What Exactly is Inbound Marketing in 2023? | Phyxter Digital Marketing

What Exactly is Inbound Marketing in 2023? | Phyxter Digital Marketing

One thing will always be inevitable. Where there is marketing, there are sure to be new and cutting-edge buzzwords used to describe the future of digital marketing and how we reach consumers.


You’ve probably heard many of them already—programmatic, remarketing, contextual targeting, etc.


Inbound marketing is one of these buzzwords that have gained quite a bit of traction over the last few years.


What is Inbound Marketing anyway?

A simple definition would be any marketing type that attempts to attract a potential customer to your business utilizing internet content.


This differs from “outbound” marketing as it brings customers to you without an outside impetus like advertising.


Examples of inbound marketing, or content marketing, include blogs, white papers, infographics, and eBooks.


Notice that in each of these cases, how a consumer will find these is likely to be an organic search or another method that puts the action of finding your business back on the consumer.


It pulls a user into a business’s sales funnel without resorting to advertising that may interrupt or disrupt a potential lead’s way of browsing the internet for information.


The brilliance behind inbound marketing is that it a low-pressure way to introduce your brand to a potential customer or client.


The user is already searching for information. Your business just happens to be there with the answers at the right time.


Let’s examine some different types of inbound or content marketing that your business can employ to capture new leads:


Blogs

Blogs are one of the simplest forms of content marketing and often require the least amount of time.


That being said, they can be incredibly effective in pulling traffic into your website. They relay the correct information to a user searching for specific information (hey, you’re reading one right now!).


The advantage of creating blogs over a white paper or longer-form content is that a business can create a lot of different blogs that cover a wide range of topics.


It can also be a great way to increase organic rankings for different keywords that a business has deemed important.


Blogs act as a double whammy when it comes to web content. The first whammy offers great information to any potential client seeking out information that a business can offer.


The second is that search engines love fresh content. The more blogs a business writes, the more content is indexed by the search engines, which means more chances to rank for valuable keywords. 


There’s no exact science as to how long a blog should be; however, industry best practice states that a blog should be at least 300 words to rank well in search engines.


While 300 words are the bare minimum, businesses should consider offering longer content to convey more information. The other side of this coin is to keep the blog post short enough to keep the reader interested.


White Paper or Guides

When it’s time to go for longer-form content, a business can employ white papers or industry guides. These content pieces are specific and limited to topics that a business has a great deal of expertise in.


These differ from blog posts in a few ways. However, the most notable being white papers are usually written from a technical standpoint. They lack the conversational tone that a blog has and are usually more to the point.


Many businesses choose to “gate” long-form content like this and share it with potential clients in exchange for an email address or other contact information.


This acts as a win-win for both the business and the user. The user can find accurate information on a topic that they were interested in.


The business captures important information and gains a new lead within their sales funnel. 


White papers and guides are typically 5-10 pages long (depending on the content) and often include graphs and other visuals to convey important information.


It’s also a good idea to give white papers a great looking design to increase readability and add branding elements.


They are also usually delivered via a downloadable PDF so a user can save the file and reference the information at a later date.


Case Studies

Did your business gain a big win with a client? People want to hear about it! That’s what the purpose of a case study is.


It presents a client win in a format that lists the client’s former situation, the problem it was facing, and the ultimate solution that led to success.


Case studies are a great way to convey competence to a potential client or customer.


While case studies aren’t necessarily going to be found via organic search and drive traffic to a website.


Once a potential client is perusing a company’s website, case studies are a way to pique interest in a company.


They give potential customers confidence in a business. They can show that a company can solve complex problems for their customers.


Case studies are typically going to be a web page on a company’s website rather than a downloadable PDF.


This allows the case study to be found easily on a website and won’t require the email for content exchange seen with gated content.


Length for case studies vary, but you can’t go wrong with the short and sweet approach. Give the user the necessary information, no more, no less.


Infographics

Infographics offer information in a visual and digestible format. Infographics are nice and “easy” pieces of content because they’re a fun way for a user to absorb the information.


While an infographic design is far from easy, how the information is presented makes it easy to absorb the message and further a user’s knowledge on a particular subject.


Infographics are all data-based and will likely employ facts and figures that tie back into a specific topic.


A designer will want to use different types of graphs and minimal copy to deliver the overarching message.


Remember, an infographic is supposed to be easy to read, so businesses should not crowd too much information into one infographic.


It is up to a business whether they would like a particular infographic to be gated content. It may make sense to have these infographics living on the website to read and digest.


It may also make sense to provide a preview stat and promise to deliver the full infographic in exchange for an email address.


eBooks

The content type with the longest format on this list is the eBook. eBooks dive into a subject and provide a lot of information to a user. Think of it as a longer whitepaper.


However, the writing style can be less technical. eBooks will likely take the most time to write and design. Still, once they are done, they can be used as a powerful tool in establishing your business as a thought leader within an industry.


eBooks should always be a form of gated content and easily accessible on a website. They should include elements of design and branding; however, this is not a necessity.


They will most likely be a downloadable PDF that a user can save as a reference later.


eBooks will provide a great deal of information on a specific topic and provide a depth of content that users will not find with a blog post or even a white paper. 


The length of an eBook will vary depending on the topic. That being said, a business can plan on at least 20 pages when writing one. Remember, it’s an e “book,” not an e “paper” or another short-form content type. 


Feeling better about Inbound Marketing now?

Are you feeling a little more comfortable with the term inbound marketing? For more information on how inbound marketing can benefit your business, contact Phyxter Digital Marketing Services today!


If you're a Home Service Company, check out our article on HVAC Marketing.


This article was written by Russell Jones

VP of Operations @ Phyxter and SEO Specialist @ SEO Kangaroo

Click here to connect with Russell on Linkedin

4 Comments
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Posted on  01/25/2022 10:21 AM Citrus Ornge is a specialist performance marketing, technology, and publishing business who are experts in high-end B2B & B2C lead generation.
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Posted on  01/25/2022 10:23 AM Citrus Ornge is a specialist performance marketing, technology, and publishing business who are experts in high-end B2B & B2C lead generation. https://www.citrusornge.com/
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Posted on  02/02/2022 10:01 AM Citrus Ornge is a specialist performance marketing, technology, and publishing business who are experts in high-end B2B & B2C lead generation. Visit: https://www.citrusornge.com/
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