Inbound marketing is a low cost, high return way to make the most of your startup marketing budget. Businesses that take an inbound approach create compelling, useful and engaging content for their prospects and customers to read and enjoy. Once the customer accesses this free content, they’re prompted to visit the business or to take another action that begins to build a relationship with the business. By offering relevant and useful content, you allow your prospects to get used to learning from you – and position yourself as the person to turn to when one of your readers or viewers has a need.
3 Benefits of Inbound Marketing
Low Initial Costs
You’re already an expert in what you have to offer; sharing some of your knowledge with prospects and visitors requires very little monetary investment. From taking the time to write up a simple how-to, create an engaging and informative infographic or even use basic, readily available tools to create a video, you can make your own content without making a big investment. If you have a limited startup marketing budget, then focusing on inbound marketing allows you to make the most of the funds you have. As a bonus, any evergreen content you make now can live on your site and continue to add value for visitors and prospects.
Unlimited Reach
If you’re relying on traditional marketing techniques like ads, mailers and promo pieces, you will need a way to distribute these pieces effective. A single campaign can rapidly deplete your startup marketing budget and you’ll be limited in the number of tangible pieces you can afford to order. Inbound marketing materials can be accessed by anyone with a computer or mobile device, and greatly expand the number of people who are exposed to your product or service. Opting for inbound marketing frees you from the restraints of geography or a postage budget and allows you to compete for customers all over the world. In some ways, inbound marketing is an equalizer, allowing small businesses and startups to compete with larger, more established firms; if you’re delivering quality content and information, prospects will listen to what you have to say.
Expert Positioning
When you take the time to create videos, blogs and other content that is truly useful to consumers or your target prospects you do more than just engage with them, you position yourself as an expert in your field. As prospects become more familiar with you and your offerings and see that you are actively providing relevant information, they begin to trust you and your business. This trust can translate to sales when your prospect has a problem or is ready to buy. Positioning yourself as an expert can also help with your publicity and public relations efforts and get your press releases noticed, too.
The low cost and high return of inbound marketing makes this approach a natural match for businesses with a tight startup marketing budget, and the materials you create now can continue to work for you as your business grows.
