You’ve wisely decided that inbound marketing is the smartest and most strategic way to reach qualified leads, attract them to your business, convert them into customers and inspire them to become brand evangelists. Good move!
Unfortunately, if you’re like the majority of businesses, then you haven’t been suitably educated by your consultant or marketing firm (which you have hopefully since fired!) on what to expect, and how to head in the right direction.
As a result, you’re at very high risk of making 3 common mistakes that, frankly speaking, will destroy your inbound marketing investment -- and send you behind instead of launching you ahead of your competition:
1. You’re not publishing high quality content.
Whether you’re creating content in-house or outsourcing the task, high quality content is the essence of inbound marketing. There is simply no substitute.
In fact, you’re arguably better off not publishing any content than promoting blog posts, eBooks, infographics, and other assets that aren’t worthy of your business or your brand. These will damage your brand and give your competition a boost.
2. You’re expecting overnight results.
Inbound marketing is fundamentally designed for tracking and analytics – which makes it qualitatively superior to conventional (“interrupt”) marketing. However, inbound marketing success is all about playing the long game; especially since your competitors (including some you may not be aware of!) may have a significant head-start.
So while you should definitely expect results, don’t make the fatal mistake of pulling the plug on your inbound marketing campaign because qualified leads aren’t beating a virtual path to your website a few weeks after you start blogging. It doesn’t work that way, and any consultant or agency that promises otherwise is NOT going to deliver.
3. You’re not managing your inbound marketing campaigns on a daily basis.
If you’ve been led to believe that rolling out an inbound marketing campaign is as simple as doing a few blog posts each week, and maybe an eBook every month or two, then think again.
A single inbound marketing campaign will typically have over 100 tasks per week, and thousands per quarter. Some of these tasks are relatively minor (like choosing the right photo or image for your blog posts), while others are substantial (like crafting compelling eBooks, or developing robust buyer personas).
All of these tasks need to be competently completed on time, every time. Otherwise, you’ll run into bottlenecks and fall behind; catching up will get more challenging by the day (actually, by the hour!).
So, if you don’t have the in-house resources to handle all aspects of project management – including working with various specialists such as copywriters, graphic designers, keyword researchers, SEO and SEM specialists, and more – then either do some hiring ASAP, or reach out to a proven inbound marketing firm that will instantly let you plug into their expertise and resources (and for a fraction of the cost).
The Bottom Line
We know that inbound marketing delivers remarkable results.
But, we also know that there are consultants and marketing agencies out there that are making ridiculous, irresponsible promises and statements. And as a result, their victimized clients are making fatal mistakes that destroy their inbound marketing investment.
If you think you might be making some of these mistakes, or you want to clearly avoid them from the beginning, then contact Leap Clixx today. We’ll empower you with HONEST information, so that you can make decisions that put you on track for lasting success. After all, we’re here for the long-term as well!
Topics: Inbound Marketing
