A significant strategic error that many B2B and B2C businesses make these days is that they offer valuable content to non-gated customers. We’ll explain why this is a mistake and how to fix it in a moment. First, let’s quickly explain what gated content means in the context of inbound marketing.

By now, you may be aware that inbound marketing is an approach that ushers customers through a journey that covers four successive phases: Attract, Convert, Close and Delight.

But what you may not be familiar with is WHY inbound marketing works. That is, why does it even exist in the first place? What was the matter with conventional marketing? And if conventional marketing is so bad, why do many companies – including large, successful enterprises – still use it to some extent? 

In the digital marketing world, it may be the most frequent of all frequently asked questions – and it’s also among the most important: how do you attract more visitors to your website? 

It’s the conversation that a lot of sales and marketing professionals like you dread; the one where you clear your throat, straighten your posture, look your boss in the eye, and do your best to express the values and virtues of investing in more marketing.

And the reason that you and your counterparts in other businesses would rather get a root canal or give yourselves a tax audit than have this particular conversation, is because it doesn’t tend to end with a thumbs up. It’s more likely to end up with a shrug and those cruel words that parents tell their children when there’s no chance that their request will be fulfilled within the next decade: “we’ll see about that.” 

There was a time when offering ebooks to their customers was an optional “nice-to-have” strategy that some businesses took advantage of -- but most didn’t. However, that time is over, because on today’s competitive business landscape, ebooks aren’t merely an important piece of the inbound marketing puzzle: they’re essential!

On today’s hyper-connected digital landscape dominated by websites, emails, apps, texts, tweets, and posts, it’s easy to overlook that there’s an essential piece of the inbound marketing puzzle that was patented way back in 1876: the phone!

In a previous blog post, we highlighted the importance of blogging on a daily basis – which for many businesses is a considerable step-up in terms of volume from what they’re doing now. However, as explained in the above-noted blog, blogging once a day is now the standard best practice, and so it’s not a preference or a choice.

Over the past few years, blogging has gone from being an optional “nice-to-have” element, to an essential piece of the business marketing mix. However, there continues to be some uncertainty and confusion around how many times per week a business should be blogging.

In part 1 of our series, we looked at 3 best practices that help B2C companies win the inbound marketing game:

1. Offer Quality Research Information
2. Remember that Content is King
3. Develop Robust, Realistic Buyer Personas

Now, we continue with a look at 3 more best practices that translate into maximum ROI.

While inbound marketing has been around for a few years, the fact is that some B2C companies are benefiting much more than others.