What you’ll learn about building an inbound marketing strategy for 2021:
- The right tactics for an inbound marketing strategy are always evolving
- We’ve compiled a list of dos and don’ts for inbound marketing
- You should focus on short-form video, share content across multiple platforms, and use data to inform your decisions
- You shouldn’t overlook SEO, ignore your audience, or focus on platforms that aren’t aligned with your target audience
The inbound marketing strategy of today looks way different than it did a few years ago. With social media constantly evolving and video content growing in popularity, it’s more important than ever to be on top of what is and isn’t going to help increase your sales.
The most important thing to remember when creating your inbound marketing strategy, regardless of the medium you choose, is that there is a fine line to walk between providing valuable content to your audience and interrupting them with information that they don’t want. This is why it’s key to put your focus into developing interesting, relevant, and useful content for your target consumers.
If you aren’t sure whether or not you’re achieving this already, you’re not alone. To help make it clearer, we’ve compiled a list of what to focus on — and what to avoid — that will put you on the right path towards enhancing business growth.
Inbound Marketing Infographic
Things to Do when Building an Inbound Marketing Strategy
Do focus on short-form video
Now more than ever, short-form video is taking the lead in engagement on most platforms. Even YouTube has begun offering short-form video content to get in on the market that TikTok and Instagram Reels has created. Use this opportunity to create something educational or entertaining and try to keep these videos from feeling like too much of an “ad” if possible, in order to increase overall engagement and push it forward on the algorithm. If this format is new to you, check out our introduction to the major platforms in the short-form space!
Do invest in creating educational and consumable content
Whether it’s photography, video, blog posts, or ads, the best way to capture your audience’s attention — and keep it — is to provide value. Information that is useful and inspires creativity will directly benefit your audience and keep them coming back for more. Start thinking about how your product, brand, or business can take on that role.
Do think in terms of saves and shares
The algorithm on most platforms prioritizes content that’s been saved or shared. This means that putting out material that encourages these actions could ultimately help increase your visibility. Not only that, as soon as your target consumer chooses to save a photo for inspiration or send a video to a friend because it made them laugh, they are also sending a signal to their own algorithm that they’d like to continue seeing that type of content.
Do consider where your target audience is spending their time online
Your time and energy is more valuable than any marketing campaign, so remember to focus it on the platforms that will provide the most fruitful results. If you’re trying to reach an audience between the ages of 35–55, for example, you might not need to worry too much about building a presence on TikTok.
Do create versatile content that can be used on multiple platforms
Consider repurposing your content. What we mean by that is this: if you’re going to spend the day making a YouTube video, shoot it in a format that will also be compatible for IGTV (record in a wide shot for YouTube, but ensure that it can be cropped to 16:9 for Instagram). Consider whether the short-form video content that you’ve included in your email campaign will also work for TikTok.
Work smarter. This one is important. If you’re curious how you can stretch one piece of content into several posts across multiple platforms check out our post on the Content Marketing Pyramid.
Do use data to narrow in on your niche audience
Data is your best friend. Narrowing in on your niche is going to provide the best results when it comes to translating your inbound efforts into more sales.
Things to Avoid when Building an Inbound Marketing Strategy
Don’t share, send, or post something just for the sake of it
About to post something on one of your platforms? Ask yourself these 3 questions first: is it aligned with your brand? Is it inspiring? Is it educational? If the answer is not “yes” to at least one of those things, don’t share the content.
Don’t dismiss the idea of appealing to emotion or lifestyle
Some of the most successful brands appeal to their audience in a way that evokes emotion or a feeling of reliability. Creating a “lifestyle” around your product is a great way to offer this connection within your inbound strategy.
Don’t put energy or money into marketing on platforms that aren’t relevant to your specific niche
Know the audience that you want to reach. Do your homework. Hone in on those consumers. Narrow your targets and keep track of the effectiveness of each ad campaign, so you know where to make your adjustments.
Don’t overlook the power of SEO
About 25% of people searching on Google will click the first link on the list. That’s 25% more people than you may have otherwise reached. On top of that, some surveys have shown that only 5% of people will reach the second page of a Google search. With the saturation of webpages on the internet, focusing on SEO optimization is extremely important. If you think your site could use an audit, use this blog post as a guide to the SEO mistakes you should avoid now and forever.
Don’t be afraid to engage with your audience
Connecting and resonating with your audience is an integral part of any inbound marketing strategy. Ryanair is the perfect example of this. A discount airline with a reputation for rough landings, it has managed to amass almost 500,000 TikTok followers, often reaching millions of views on each video. This is because their marketing team decided to give the brand a snarky, funny vibe. Watching the videos, it almost seems like a GenZ employee hijacked the account and just hasn’t been caught yet. But it is putting Ryanair on the map, especially amongst the younger generations. There is so much power in breaking out of the box that you feel your product or service offering belongs in.
Don’t get discouraged on the down days
The only thing that can set you back in your progress is the feeling of failure. Apply these tools, but remember that there will be fine-tuning involved. Keep a close eye on what works and what doesn’t. Always check your insights and analytics. And if you go through a lull, don’t forget that you are living during a time where connecting with consumers is more feasible than ever before. That’s something to be excited about and something that will continue to inform your overall inbound strategy moving forward.
We’ve always got our finger on the pulse of what’s changing in the inbound marketing landscape. Want to learn more? Get in touch.
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