Here at Leap Clixx, we strive to educate our clients so that they can make smart decisions that are best for their business – both in the short-term, and especially into the long-term. And in light of the above, we’re focusing today on an important question that our clients want and need to know: “how much does Inbound Marketing cost?”
Let’s start with this: there is no definitive, standard answer to this question – and any agency or consultant who says otherwise is LYING or INCOMPETENT (or both!), and should be avoided. This is because Inbound Marketing is not a product or a commodity. It is an approach and an arrangement that can be all-encompassing or modular, extensive or intensive, elaborate or streamlined, and so on.
However, while it’s impossible to offer a bottom-line number here (like the kind you’d find on a restaurant menu), we can certainly provide some meaningful guidance by highlighting the general cost components that comprise a typical Inbound Marketing program:
1. Strategic Consulting
This component includes conducting a marketing audit of our client’s current marketplace positioning relative to its top competitors. This essentially gives us a clear understanding of what the landscape looks like, and the goals we need to achieve to separate our client from the pack so they can command more mindshare and marketshare.
2. Buyer Persona Development
This component includes identifying our client’s key target audiences, and developing buyer personas that capture their respective goals, aspirations, options, pain points, behaviors, and other elements that will help shape and drive various Inbound Marketing campaigns.
3. Infrastructure Upgrades and Updates
Often, our clients have not upgraded or updated their website or social media properties in several years; or if they have, it was not necessarily done in a strategic manner or in light of Inbound Marketing goals and tactics (because at the time the changes were made, Inbound Marketing wasn’t on the radar screen).
As such, if necessary (and it usually is) this component focuses on how we can make low cost, high impact upgrades and updates to our client’s website and social media properties -- so that they’re primed and ready to impress customers, and usher them forward on the customer journey.
4. Keyword Research and SEO Planning
All credible Inbound Marketing experts agree that SEO and keyword research is not exclusive or separate from content marketing, but integrated with it. That is, it’s possible to impress customers and make Google happy – it doesn’t have to be one or the other!
As such, this component involves conducting in-depth keyword research and SEO planning. This includes selecting specific keywords and keyword phrases/terms, but goes far beyond this by identifying themes and concepts that are relevant and meaningful to our client’s target market at this very moment.
Stay Tuned for Part 2
In part 2, we’ll explore the remaining components that combine to answer the question: “how much does Inbound Marketing cost?” Stay tuned!
Topics: Inbound Marketing
