In today’s world, traditional marketing never seems to get it quite right with consumers. Further to not getting it right, it’s becoming more obnoxious, pervasive, and intrusive as the decades fly by. Google research shows that over 74% of mobile users find these marketing tactics extremely annoying. If you do not wish to face your customers’ ire, use inbound marketing tactics that nurture leads without being pushy.
Inbound marketing has a 14.6% close rate, relative to traditional advertising’s 1.7% close rate. This novel way of reaching out to the consumer is not interruptive, poorly timed, or abrasive. It creates content that solves a consumer’s problem, opening doors between your brand and its customers.
The inbound method focuses more on customer retention than traditional marketing does. It attracts, converts, and delights its customers, making them brand ambassadors. Below are five top-notch inbound marketing strategies that will bring in the highest return on investment come 2021.
Voice search
Home devices with voice capabilities such as Amazon Echo or Google Home are finding their way into every sphere of life. For this reason, every inbound marketing strategy needs to incorporate voice search for success. Voice search is a growing trend used by 27% of online visitors. By 2023, there will be over 8 billion devices with voice technology in use.
Inbound marketing content optimized for voice search is easier to interact with than text-based content. The response to vocal searches is longer and offers an enjoyable user experience for your leads. Alexa, Siri, or Google Assistant will increase the speed of interaction with your customers and enhance personalization.
A strong voice strategy will keep you ahead of the curve, increasing opportunities for the coveted featured snippets spot on Google’s organic results. To optimize for voice search, use natural long-tail language keywords and input local information. Observe SEO best practices such as fast loading speeds and the use of structured data.
Google My Business
Most businesses use the Google business listing or profile feature for visibility on the search engine. You might not know that you cannot manage this profile should you decide to leverage it for SEO. In contrast, the free Google My Business (GMB) gives you ownership of your profile.
You can manage your GMB and unlock features that enhance local SEO. Respond to customer reviews, answer questions, and enable direct messaging. You can post alerts to your GMB, provide in-depth business data, and access local search performance analytics.
According to McKinsey, there has been a 15% to 35% increase in online shoppers because of the ongoing pandemic. Fundera says that over 64% of small businesses have shifted their operations online. To stand out from the noise, use GMB for SEO.
Interactive content
Inbound marketing is versatile and dynamic. For this reason, the popularity of static content is quickly falling behind its interactive counterpart. Over 93% of marketers say that interactivity increases the educative nature of content. So what exactly is interactive content? It’s a piece of content that engages people because it requires their active participation. Your customers will have a richer customer journey if you provide interactive infographics, calculators, videos, assessments, or white papers.
This content offers active rather than passive consumption of information. It is more engaging and 50% more sharable, meaning that your site will have a lower bounce rate. Additionally, interactive content will capture more data by providing an immersive experience that encourages lead data capture. Why does it work, you ask? Simple, it hacks the audience attention using classical learning and psychological triggers. Interactive content taps into gamification, allowing users to engage with content in a game-like process and helping it stick in the consumers’ mind for longer. A good example of this is social media. Ever noticed how much time people spend on social media nowadays? This is partly because a lot of the content that is consumed there is not static and serious but rather interactive and engaging. Social Media also grants the user power to create and comment on content they find interesting.
Mobile friendliness
I’m sure you’ve experienced a website that wasn’t optimized for mobile recently. Imagine being on the go and checking out a restaurant your friends told you was nice and then seeing that you have to pinch and zoom each section on their mobile site. Odds are you will get annoyed quickly and try a different restaurant’s site on the search results. Lesson learned: You don’t want to have a site that is not optimized for mobile.
Did you know that 57% of all online traffic is mobile? That means that over one-half of all buyers online use mobile devices to make purchases. Best-inbound marketing strategies are also mobile-friendly. This feature enhances competitiveness, trust, and visibility.
57% of online buyers will not recommend your business if its mobile site is poor. Yes, it’s that big of a deal to have a mobile friendly site. 85% of them expect your mobile site aesthetics and functionality to match that of your desktop site. A responsive website will reach a wider audience and increase engagement. It will provide a better user experience for users, an important ranking factor on Google. Another important benefit of mobile friendliness is that it makes it a lot easier for prospective customers to contact you. When you have a mobile site, you will also offer a phone number and email address for your customers to contact you with. Keep in mind that having your site load faster on mobile is a huge factor, considering that people in today’s digital age have attention spans resembling that of a goldfish.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one of the most incredible advances in technology in the recent years. Its use is also growing at a steady pace in marketing. By fusing machine learning and a simulation of human intelligence, AI machines can learn from experiences and adjust. AI in inbound marketing will amplify your understanding of your target audience through accurate, in-depth analysis.
AI tools will help you predict your customer’s moves, elevating their user experience through personalized recommendations. These tools will also increase productivity through automation or mundane receptive tasks such as email sequencing.
Use AI tools such as chatbots to boost customer service efficiency and sales. 47% of shoppers will make AI-assisted purchases, as per HubSpot data. Although it can seem intimidating, keep in mind that AI is not there to replace us, but rather to assist us.
Conclusion
Businesses, now more than ever, are digitizing to serve their customers. The ongoing pandemic has led to a historic deployment of business efforts towards digital access expansion. Businesses that do not stand out online through progressive inbound marketing tactics will not achieve all the success that this process can generate. Implement these inbound marketing trends with Ogno in 2021 and make it a memorable year!
