How To NOT Do Inbound Marketing

October 22, 2015Inbound Marketing

I’ve been spending a lot of time on Twitter lately – it’s been fun organically growing my Followers plus really keeping my fingers on the pulse of what other marketers are up to. For the most part it’s a great experience – the sharing of ideas, laughing at funny Tweets, learning the Dos and Don’ts of about 50 different aspects of marketing. But as an Inbound Marketer there’s one thing that really stands out to me each time it happens – how many times I will Follow-Back only to be immediately hit up with a “Buy My Product” automated email reply (and I include Free Trials in this bucket too).

I immediately think, “Woah buddy, who are you?”, “Why would I trust you?”, “How do I know you really know what you’re talking about, that what you’re selling is really going to be helpful to me?”. Sharing information is one thing – but to immediately say “Hey, thanks for the Follow, buy my product.” just goes against my Inbound Marketing grain.

It’s why I love Inbound Marketing. It really is about the 5 Stages of Inbound – Attract, Convert, Close and Delight. It’s about really caring about your customers – wanting to educate them and solve their problems. Creating Ambassadors out of Customers for the long term.

Inbound Methodology

Inbound Marketers DO NOT

  1. Inbound Marketers DO NOT hard sell.
  2. Inbound Marketers DO NOT withhold valuable information (both Externally, to their customers, and Internally, with Sales) in exchange for some quid quo pro.
  3. Inbound Marketers DO NOT complete a sale and never communicate with their customers again.

Inbound Marketers DO

  1. Inbound Marketers DO build relationships before they sell.
  2. Inbound Marketers DO educate – both before, during and after a sale.
  3. Inbound Marketers DO work hand-in-hand with Sales to ensure that Qualified Leads are defined ahead of time and then passed along in a timely manner for optimal close rates.

To really do Inbound Marketing well it’s important to know and execute upon the 5 Stages – Attract, Convert, Close and Delight. An ideal Inbound company implements these stages throughout the company – Marketing, Sales, HR, Customer Service, C-Suite, etc. When the Inbound methodology becomes your cornerstone, you will find it impossible to not let it permeate every aspect of your business.

For more information on Inbound Marketing, click here.