For start-ups, inbound marketing offers an excellent alternative to traditional advertising because it generates sales at a much lower cost.  The Matrice team recently had the opportunity to speak at the Expo Entrepreneurs 2020 show, where it presented the conference, “Sell Less, Sell Better”, introducing participants to this sales strategy.

But what is inbound marketing? Why talk about it at the event? Keep reading to find out!

 

Marketing from a different point of view

Inbound marketing is a strategy that aims to drive people towards companies rather than to chase them with advertising. To do this, brands must attract Internet user interest by providing them with relevant content about their products, services or industry.

Unlike advertising, which people generally try to avoid, Internet users voluntarily consume this content because it is interesting, useful and non-invasive.

In a nutshell, inbound marketing happens in three stages: attract, qualify and convert.

 

 

The three main stages in an inbound marketing campaign

1. Attract: right off the bat, we want to capture the attention and interest of an Internet user by offering content that interests him or her. Content can be presented in myriad forms: blog article, graph, video, podcast, webinar, etc.
2. Qualify: at this stage, we want to learn more about the people that consume our content and find a way to reach them. Often, this happens through an online form that people must fill out in order to access the content. In B2B, we could inquire about their industry, company and needs. We would also request their email address so as to remain in contact.
3. Convert: to complete the process, these prospects must become clients. The time has come to send personalized promotional offers based on the information they provided.

 

 

In short, inbound marketing allows companies to not only focus their efforts on qualified prospects, but also to get to know their audience better.

 

Multiple action levers for entrepreneurs

In the short term, inbound marketing serves to generate leads and boost sales. At the same time, it also has a positive impact on the long-term. That’s why it is such an interesting solution for start-ups.

Content created for the campaign helps brands to improve their SEO and brand awareness. Producing content relevant to their field of expertise also allows them to develop their credibility and position themselves as opinion leaders in their field, particularly in the B2B sector.

In short, with a single campaign, they obtain several action levers that meet the needs of many entrepreneurs.

 

A learning experience

Through concrete examples and scenario, participants came away from the conference with tools to help them set up their own inbound marketing campaign, either on their own or with the support of a specialized content marketing agency, such as Matrice.

This experience was also extremely pertinent for us as well, as we had the opportunity to exchange with numerous entrepreneurs to learn more about their needs, concerns and level of familiarity with content marketing.

Don’t worry if you missed our conference! You can download the presentation here.