We provided a succinct overview of inbound and outbound marketing in our last post. We discovered the advantages and difficulties associated with both marketing tactics. Although a lot depends on the type of organisation and marketing budget, it wouldn’t be inaccurate to claim that inbound marketing has emerged as the top choice for contemporary marketers.
Inbound marketing generally focuses on tactics like SEO, blogging, and social media marketing to draw audiences and guide them through the sales funnel. This is generally accomplished through the creation of evergreen content designed to establish enduring connections with the audience.
Our inbound marketing strategies should be reviewed as we move from 2022 to 2023 to ensure that they are still contributing to achieving our business goals. While the majority of the methods stay the same, there are a few fresh ideas to take into account that could prove to be a valuable addition to one’s marketing arsenal.
So, here are the best inbound marketing strategies for the year 2023.
SEO
Today, the majority of firms rely heavily on SEO. The main objective of this inbound marketing tactic is to get a website to show up at the top of search results, which will enhance traffic and conversion rates.
In an inbound approach, SEO tactics aid in opening a route for qualified, enduring visitors. You can approach these users and persuade them to become potential clients or customers using a variety of tactics once they have reached your website.
Following are the SEO techniques which must be known to businesses eyeing a major chunk of web traffic to achieve their objectives which could be anything from branding, lead generation or sales.
- Selection of effective keywords through keyword research
- Creating highly optimized user-focused content
- Using a proper title and heading tags
- Making meta description stand out from the rest
- Utilizing alt-text to help images define content.
- Making use of URLs that have been effectively optimised to increase connectivity and understanding of the content
- Building quality links to improve visibility and ranking in search engines
- Staying up to date with the latest SEO algorithm updates
SMM
SMM stands for Social Media Marketing. This type of marketing uses social media platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Twitter, etc… to spread its message to the target audience and convert them into customers.
By 2025, it is anticipated that there will be more than 4.4 billion active social media users worldwide.
By utilising the best social listening tools, it’s crucial to understand what people are saying about your company on social media, even when they aren’t directly interacting with you, and that you produce awesome content that is affected by the most recent trends.
Following are some inbound marketing strategies that can be used with social media:
- Utilizing Instagram stories and reels
- Creating video content
- Connecting with influencers
SEM
SEM stands for Search Engine Marketing. This marketing strategy employs sponsored advertisements to draw visitors who use search engines to purchase goods or services.
Along with SEO, SEM has also turned out to be a vital marketing strategy for businesses online. Interestingly, SEM was considered an Outbound Marketing strategy initially but it is not the case anymore.
Due to the fact that PPC advertisers target every advertisement they run, the majority of marketers now view PPC as an inbound technique. That implies that the ads would only be seen by individuals who were already considering buying the good or service.
The idea of Inbound Marketing is very closely aligned with how SEM services like Google Ads assist organisations to position themselves as thought leaders and draw in niche markets.
Additionally, Retargeting can also be incredibly successful in assisting in moving potential leads along the buyer’s journey.
PPC isn’t just one kind of incoming channel. But when utilised in conjunction with a larger inbound marketing strategy that uses social media, blogs, videos, infographics, emails, SEO, gated content, and more, PPC may have a huge impact on the outcomes a company is able to achieve.
Short Video Marketing
Nowadays, short videos are all the rage. It’s ubiquitous and extremely popular on social media sites like Tiktok, Instagram, and Facebook.
Prioritizing short-form video, which has the highest return on investment of any social media marketing tactic, will prove essential for marketing success in the year to come, according to a recent HubSpot survey on 2022 marketing trends.
To say the least, it’s not about producing quick videos. The video actually needs to follow the rules for short videos and should be compelling enough to make an impression in line with business objectives.
It’s crucial for marketers to produce videos with a fast-paced, easily digestible TikTok-style of content. Additionally, brand strategists should consider how the newest trends in short video production, such as viral audio clips, editing effects, and transitions, might fit into their marketing plans.
Below listed are some tips to create impactful short videos:
- Customizing video content as per the platform
- Keeping it all authentic
- Participating in the latest trends
- Focusing on educational stuff
- Avoiding being salesy
The aforementioned tips can help marketers strengthen the authenticity of their brand, create connections, and foster trust, all of which encourage customers to interact with and become loyal to your company.
Influencer Marketing
In 2023, 89% of marketers who use influencer marketing will boost their investment or keep it the same.
Additionally, 17% of marketers anticipate investing in it for the first time in 2023.
Consumers of today desire a more customised, reliable, and interruption-free buying experience. They want to build a relationship with the brand and determine whether it’s worthwhile buying rather than being persuaded to do so.
And this is the reason why influencer marketing is gaining popularity these days.
Influencer marketing focuses on brands working with online “influencers” to market their goods or services to their loyal following.
The benefits of influencer marketing are as follows:
- Reaches your target audience
- Based on trust and credibility
- Filled with high engagement values
Influencer marketing encourages customer interaction, but only when the consumer chooses to do so. A blog post on how it functions alongside an influencer’s recommendation gives consumers a comprehensive understanding of the product. Long before they make any purchases, consumers have the opportunity to build a relationship with the brand.
Podcasting
The act of promoting oneself, one’s goods, or one’s services via the production and dissemination of audio content is known as Podcast Marketing or Podcasting.
The idea is to influence people with a daily dose of audio content which results in the sale of products and services.
Though Podcast popularity is currently limited in countries like India, it’s hugely popular in US, UK and China. There was a huge surge in Podcasting during the pre covid era, especially in a country like India.
With numerous apps like Gaana, Khabri, and Jio Saavn aiming to offer high-quality audio listening services to the masses in multilingual and region-specific podcasts, the future appears bright.
As a business owner, Podcasting can help you in the following ways:
- Generating traffic
- Creating a loyal community
- Increasing ROI
Chatbot Marketing
Bots are everywhere these days. Chatbots are not an exception. In fact, they have become an integral part of today’s websites, especially business websites which want to manage processes and generate leads and customers.
The practice of using a chatbot to promote a business is known as chatbot marketing. Since Facebook made it possible to incorporate bots with its Messenger function, this tactic has become increasingly popular.
A chatbot marketing approach ensures that your customer service inquiries are addressed, and many of them can even assist with lead creation and sales.
Here are some interesting stats related to chatbots published on backlinko blog – 40 AMAZING Chatbot Statistics for 2022 (backlinko.com)
For businesses looking to automate lead generation and customer support processes, chatbot marketing offers a fantastic avenue for the same. The use of chatbots in digital marketing is common and highly effective. Setup is undoubtedly time-consuming, especially when using third-party software to build your chatbot and create conversation trees, but if you employ this tactic properly, the initial effort and money spent will be more than worthwhile.
Mobile App Marketing
By 2023, mobile apps are predicted to generate over $935 billion (Statista).
Mobile app usage has peaked in recent times. No wonder, businesses are looking to leverage the same to their advantage. One of the better ways to leverage the same is to find unique and consistent avenues to market it to the target audience. Mobile app marketing is thus becoming the need of the hour for today’s businesses.
The goal of mobile app marketing is to develop marketing strategies that engage consumers at every point in their app lifecycle, from when they initially download it to when they become devoted customers who frequently make in-app purchases.
As app marketing can involve SEO, SEM and related activities, it won’t be wrong to assume that inbound marketing strategies are applicable to app marketing as well.
Below are some of the ways to market your mobile app in the market:
- Perform market research
- Design user personas
- Create A Landing Page On Your Website
- Grow Your Social Media Presence
- Implement Email Marketing
- Make video content and use paid advertising
- Showcase on App Stores
- Set Up Key Metrics For Monitoring
Marketing Automation
Marketing automation is the number one most effective digital marketing technique after content marketing according to global marketing professionals. (Statista)
The inbound methodology relies heavily on marketing automation. By implementing an effective marketing automation process, businesses can interact with customers at every stage of the purchasing process including awareness consideration and decision-making stage,
You can benefit from a wide range of automated marketing operations, which has several potential benefits. The top five, however, are included here.
- Streamlined reporting and administration of marketing data
- Making data-driven decisions in marketing
- Consumer experience that is tailored
- Effortless communication between the sales and marketing departments
- More effective lead nurturing and lead generation
In 2023, marketing automation will fundamentally alter industry dynamics. Companies are certain to see positive growth as they start implementing it to fine-tune their business operations.
So, here you go. 2023 is just around the corner and inbound marketing should be your preferred strategy if you looking to run and expand your business in the long run.