Inbound Organization

Chapter 18Inbound Marketing Is a Strategic Imperative

Inbound marketing is a strategy focused on attracting buyer attention by using relevant and helpful content. By matching content to every stage of the buying journey, a seller can add value to every interaction. Potential buyers find, research, and select potential vendors through channels like blogs, online events, search engines, email, and social media and move at their own pace toward a purchasing decision.

Inbound marketing is about creating poignant, personalized content to address the problems and needs of the ideal buyer personas, and then attracting those prospects online to earn their trust and gain their business. Inbound marketing isn't about blasting the same message to everyone as if using a bullhorn. It doesn't try to interrupt people to get their attention. Inbound marketing is about being human, adding value before extracting value, and providing help for buyers who need it.

Because the content is the primary vehicle buyers use to find answers to their questions and to solve their problems, online content becomes strategic in helping prospects make decisions as they move through the stages of the buyer journey.

Why Inbound Organizations Must Be Great at Producing and Publishing Content

Because 97% of consumers now use online media when researching products and services in their local market¹ and 93% of all B2B purchases start with an Internet search,² inbound marketing should be a priority if organizations ...