Companies are well aware that inbound marketing is less expensive than outbound marketing. However, it's not just about lead generation but also about customer retention. Yes, having an inbound marketing strategy will reduce the costs of lead generation. However, success is ultimately about keeping the business you've won and this is where companies benefit the most from today's digital platforms.
The old adage of "it costs five times more to find new customers than it does to keep existing ones", is exactly why every company needs an inbound marketing strategy. After all, no company wants to spend the time winning new business only to lose it. Losing customers is an indicator that something is amiss. So, how can inbound marketing reduce costs and help you keep the business you've won?
Inbound marketing will help you find and keep more customers.
1. The Age of Continuous Customer Engagement
Our digital age is ultimately about customer engagement. Today's digital marketing strategies can reach customers no matter where they are or what they're doing. However, it's not about inundating customers and your market with constant, nonstop messaging. Instead, it's about having an inbound marketing strategy that delivers the right message at the right time to the right person.
There's a lot of work that goes into making a digital marketing strategy work. However, you have all the data, metrics and analytics at your disposal. With inbound marketing, you'll know why customers acted, what they acted upon, why they ordered, when they ordered, and when they'll return. All of this information is made readily available and it allows you to keep your customers engaged, interested and motivated.
2. Marketing Automation is the Norm
By no means is marketing automation new. However, what is new is how it's quickly become the norm for companies looking to continually engage their audience. Marketing automation plays a critical role in customer retention by constantly keeping customers engaged, interested and aware of what your company has to offer.
This is the tool that makes customer engagement work. It's based on a simple principle of tracking customer actions and defining preset markers. Marketing automation takes over when customers take an action that moves them past a certain marker. It works because it continually reintroduces customers back into your sales process, constantly reminding them of your latest solution and incentivizing them to act.
3. Improved Opportunity Management
There was a time when marketing's sole purpose was lead generation. Once the lead was generated, it was handed off to sales and that was that. However, today's marketing and sales teams are working closer together and it's this cohesiveness that is helping companies reduce the costs of lead generation and customer retention. Why? Simply put, marketing has become a proactive revenue-generating role and digital marketing is the reason why.
A unified marketing and sales team is an absolute must.
Your inbound marketing strategy will force both marketing and sales to work closer together. They'll have a better understanding of what strategies work, when they work and when to make changes. Most importantly, the instant feedback they receive from real-time digital marketing campaigns will help them react faster and make better decisions.
4. Reduced Customer Management Costs
Think of all the ways that having an inbound marketing strategy can reduce your costs. First, there's your content. You own it and it will continue to produce leads long after its published date. It's a long-term investment whose returns never stop. There's video-advertising, a platform that is ideally suited to audiences with short attention spans. There's email marketing, a low-cost lead generation and customer management tool that keeps customers coming back.
There are digital advertising campaigns that allow you to scientifically target a specific keyword used in online searches by your audience. There's your website, a solution that defines what your company does and why customers should buy. There's social media, a low-cost lead generator. Finally, there are apps, a mobile-capable, low-cost solution that helps to define your brand and keep you on your customer's mind at all times.
Inbound marketing will allow you to reduce the costs of generating leads, reduce your costs to close those leads, and then reduce costs even further by helping you keep more customers. With inbound marketing, you'll be able to pinpoint exactly what's working, exactly what needs to change and exactly why your customers buy.
If you're looking to upgrade your inbound marketing strategy, contact us --- we can help!
Written By: Doug Milnor
