Are You Content With Content and Inbound Marketing?

Whether you’re a small business owner, marketing student or large scale corporation, content and inbound marketing are important in generating the results you want. But first let's explore what both are and what they have to offer you in the marketing realm.?

What are inbound and content marketing??

Inbound marketing focuses on engaging content creation to gain the attention of a consumer. As this is one way to acquire new consumers, there are many benefits to engaging with inbound marketing.

As a consumer, it can be tiring to see multiple ads while scrolling through your favorite social media or trying to search for a product you need. While consumers move down the product purchasing funnel, it’s crucial that companies and brands utilize tactics such as inbound marketing. By specifically tailoring messages and campaign content, you are able to reach the right audiences while decreasing costs on broader marketing tactics.? Creating trust between the offering and consumer can only benefit the company in the long run as it creates loyalty and better conversions. Furthermore, we can see what focusing on that content can provide a company.

What's the difference??

You might think that inbound marketing is basically the same as content marketing but they differ in small ways. Content marketing focuses on the actual message that is being used to gain a consumer's attention whereas inbound marketing focuses on engagement with that content. Producing content can make or break your company as it can be done well or it can send the wrong message. Creating an effective content marketing strategy means setting the right goals for your company and understanding what content drives your conversions. Whether it's a call to action, a simple email or infographic, this content should be tailored to your audience and address their needs.

Now, what makes either of these successful marketing tactics?

We can look at the effectiveness of both inbound and content marketing as a whole. With both of these tactics, we can then see that they lead to higher engagement, conversion rates as well as positive exposure for your brand or company. Investing in either of these can increase returns such as sales, cost savings, and creating higher profits through the content created. Utilizing inbound and content marketing is an easy way to generate more users and loyal consumers.

Inbound marketing uses three strategies for consumer engagement: attracting, engaging and delighting. These are a part of the inbound methodology which focus on acquiring the right consumer. Overall, investing in these tactics will only make your company stronger and rank higher in your audience's awareness or considerations list.

Learning more about content marketing:

As Hubspot is one of the top academic resources to attain your certification in content marketing, there are other helpful courses you can take (that are free) to receive the same skills and knowledge. Google has a course within its digital marketing certification program called "Get Started with Content Marketing" which provides you with information based around promotional content as well as how to write for online audiences.

Similar to Google's Analytics courses you are able to take quizzes at the end of each module and are provided with transcripts of each video. Although Google has its hand in digital marketing courses, it's important to note the benefits of Hubspot's Inbound Certification. Similar to Google, you are provided with in depth videos and transcripts to read as well as additional resources for further learning.

Overall with Hubspot's Inbound Certification course, you are given the opportunity to learn about content and inbound marketing for free. As a college student or even a current digital marketer, it's helpful knowing that these resources are out there and you too should take advantage of this course.

Sources:

https://blog.marketo.com/2016/01/the-efficacy-of-inbound-marketing.html

https://www.dreamhost.com/blog/how-to-create-content-marketing-strategy/

https://blog.aspiration.marketing/different-types-of-marketing-content