Inbound marketing largely refers to the process of creating high-value content, allowing your prospective customers to come to you, being patient and establishing a level of trust, and then allowing them to make the first move. But what are the various different types of inbound marketing and which is the most effective? Let’s have a look…
What are the different types of inbound marketing?
There are dozens of types of inbound marketing, but rather than drown you in them all, we’ll list some of the most common (and effective):
- Video content: video content is awesome and when done well is one of the single most effective means of qualifying your leads and demonstrating your authority – whether they be product reviews, explainer videos, or entertaining podcast discussions.
- Blog posts: the blog is the ‘ye old faithful’ of inbound marketing. While so many new and exciting inbound marketing methods are forever emerging, blogging will always remain as effective as it has ever been. Take your time to create high-value blogs for your audience and you will invariably attract more traffic to your website.
- eBooks: eBooks are effective lead magnets that can help you build and nurture an email list. The eBook format allows you to cover a subject in immense depth, using all manner of visual elements as well.
- Social media: don’t neglect having a solid social media presence and creating fun and informative content to attract and engage with your audience. Having one to one conversations with your customers can help ‘humanise’ your brand in their eyes, create a sense of ownership, and ultimately boost credibility and trust.
- Infographics: infographics are awesome for explaining complex subjects in an easy way using beautifully designed visual elements. Not only that, but they’re awesome for sharing in blogs and eBooks and on social media.
- Industry expert interviews / podcasts: featuring opinions of others on your website (especially those with significant experience and renown or controversial views) is a highly underrated method of inbound marketing.
What is the most effective form of inbound marketing?
It’s difficult to choose the single most effective form of inbound marketing when every single method (when executed well) can bring such incredible value to your business. Not only that, but depending on your industry and target audience, different methods resonate better than others.
In any case, our favourite method of inbound marketing right now is an amalgamation of inbound and outbound marketing:
- Using Technical SEO, onsite SEO, and content marketing to improve your Google rankings and drive more traffic to your website for a selection of relevant keywords.
- Having a FREE, high-value eBook on your website to attract warm prospects into your email list and securing those who aren’t quite ready to make a purchase.
- Sending out weekly newsletters with updates, insider knowledge, expert tips, and promotions to nurture, convert, and upsell your email list.
The above example is particularly effective in the B2B market. For example, an agency that offers digital marketing in Singapore could give away a free eBook that has “everything you need to know about SEO in 2023” (or something to that effect). In doing so their prospects will be curious to learn as much as they can – while ultimately realising just how much work is involved. When they recognise the value and would prefer not to all do the work by themselves, some of them will invariably hire the agency to handle it for them.
Final thoughts
As you can see, there are many different forms of inbound marketing and the one thing they each have in common is:
- Creating free, high-value content that helps your prospective customers improve their day to day lives with an emphasis on a quality customer experience.
- The more value you offer, the easier it is to demonstrate your authority and ultimately build trust.
- Once that element of trust has been established, those prospects go from cold to ‘ready to spend’ and ultimately make the decision to purchase by themselves.
