Over the past 6-12 months, Inbound Marketing has become a term that has started to be used on a regular basis in the digital marketing industry. Although most of the terms that arise are the outcome of some clever marketers looking to create the next buzz word, Inbound Marketing isn't just a buzz word. It's an important way to look at grouping a number of services together under one umbrella to create a funnel that attracts prospects. The concept of Inbound Marketing is like the name says, "inbound". In the sense of digital marketing, the idea is "bringing people to your online asset". Another way to look at this is to think of inbound marketing as a tactic to attract people to your website or online entity which in turn might bring you a new business lead. Inbound Marketing goes a little further than just being about getting people to your website, it includes the process of converting someone from just a visitor into a lead and the analysis around the movement through the marketing funnel. If you're familiar with digital marketing or have stayed abreast of news, you'll know that services such as SEO, Social Networking, Blogging, Content Marketing and Conversion Rate Optimisation (CRO) are no longer services that should run on their own, but instead, these services should all work hand-in-hand with each other and it's this collection of services that has brought the term Inbound Marketing into play. Of course, these services may be used individually and results will be achieved, but to maximize the results, they should be used in conjunction with each other. It is the all encompassing Inbound Marketing that leads to a successful online venture in this competitive platform we know as the World Wide Web.
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One should look at Inbound Marketing as an involved plan that encompasses the services listed above, but also includes a number of additional tasks such as defining calls to action, landing page design, lead nurturing, the analysis of website visitors, conversion rates, as well as competitor analysis. In South Africa, Inbound Marketing is still a somewhat unknown practise. However, like most things, as Inbound Marketing becomes more popular overseas and success stories increase, so will South Africans start to incubate the term. Get ahead of your competitors by embracing Inbound Marketing before it becomes the done thing. If you're interested in employing some Inbound Marketing strategies for your business, please don't hesitate to drop us a line and we'll be happy to assist.