Inbound marketing is a complex system of various tactics working together to produce one result: conversions! You should always be focused on attracting new business. This can be done by creating repeat sales with current customers or by reaching potential customers.

Either way, it has to be done. The second you stop working on your inbound marketing strategies is the moment you start to lose business to your competitors.

This is a problem that’s hard to bounce back from. You need to be in constant dialogue with your audience in order to keep them interested and to expand your audience as a whole.

Inbound digital marketing helps you do just that.

Here are 10 inbound strategies you can use to make your business even more successful than it already is.

1. Improve Your SEO Performance

SEO is one of the most beneficial inbound marketing strategies you can invest in. It’s a low-cost tool that creates significant returns. Search engine optimization helps you build brand exposure, encourage brand loyalty, generate more site traffic, and of course, create more conversions.

It’s an inbound marketing tool that offers ongoing results once you learn how to leverage it. But, the key is to learn as much as you can about how SEO works.

Too many business owners out there are doing the bare minimum for their SEO. They’re only focusing on things like keyword research or link building, without thinking of the value that search tools like custom URLs and smart meta descriptions can offer.

Don’t be like them. Educate yourself about SEO and put your new knowledge to work!

2. Use Social Media More

Another inbound marketing tool that can work wonders is social media.

If you don’t already have a social media page for your business, create one right away. Actually, create multiple ones. Open an account on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter. Consider using channels like YouTube and Pinterest, too.

No matter how many social sites you’re on, though, the key is to engage. You have to get personal with your audience. Create a social calendar to keep you on track with posting, then go beyond that.

Make an effort to comment back to the comments you receive and to “like” what people have to say. Let your brand voice shine as you interact with your social audience, and learn how to work a product or an opt-in into your social posts.

3. Produce New Types of Content

Social media actually goes hand in hand with SEO. Google bots crawl social content in the same manner that they crawl your website. They’re looking for all the ways you’ve tried to reach users on digital platforms and they apply this data when creating SERPs.

Basically, when it comes to SEO, content is king.

“Content” applies to all the social media posts you create, the blogs you publish on your website, and the videos and podcasts you publish as well. No matter what your favorite form of content is, you need to diversify the information you offer.

Don’t make everything you produce a “how to” or a listicle. Mix up what you’re writing or videotaping. This will make you more interesting to your audience and keep them engaged with your brand long-term.

4. Write Guest Blogs

As good as it is to mix up the content you publish under your brand’s name, it’s also smart to write guest blogs. Guest blogs are when you publish content on someone else’s website. You still do so under your name, but the content is meant for the audience of the site you’re writing for.

The benefit for you is that you’re able to show off your expertise and industry insights with this new audience. Just one guest post can significantly expand your audience. It reaches new users in a way that makes it easy for them to trust you and want to learn more about you.

5. Try Your Hand at Email Marketing

There’s a lot of back and forth in the digital marketing world about how effective email marketing is. Some people have the perspective that it’s too spammy to really work, while others swear that growing their email list is the best marketing decision they could have ever made.

The truth is somewhere in the middle. Email marketing can come off like spam if you don’t do it right. When you get users to opt-in to your newsletters or weekly updates, though, it’s a smart way to keep the conversation going with them.

Your emails have to be informative and interesting. They can’t be the same old same old every single week (or month). They have to consistently offer value to your users.

6. Create an Informative “Freebie”

Have you ever seen a free online course or infographic offer come up on your screen? Do you see paid ads for this or have you gotten an email update about a new e-book that one of your favorite bloggers has just written?

Such freebies can significantly improve your inbound marketing efforts.

They’re a great way to show users the kind of value your actual products/services can offer. A free download is like a sample of what your items that are available for purchase can do. They introduce your brand to your audience in a way that makes them want more – so much more that they’ll come back to purchase something!

7. Encourage User-Generated Content

Here’s an interesting thought: not all of your inbound marketing efforts have to come from you. One of the most underrated inbound marketing strategies out there is leveraging user-generated content.

User-generated content offers multiple benefits to your business.

It increases the performance of your search strategy because Google bots pick up on the reviews and comments that users have written for you. It gives you great content that you can recycle for social media or email marketing purposes.

More so, user-generated content builds trust.

When new users read a 5-star review on Google My Business, they become much more curious to learn what you’re all about. They’re more likely to go to you for what they need than a competitor.

8. Work on Getting Your Business News Coverage

Sometimes, you have to reach users in a way that they don’t expect.

Instead of focusing all your inbound marketing efforts on the content you can produce or the search tools available to you, think beyond these things. The next time you host a big event or reach a big achievement, reach out to a local news station.

Create a connection with their writers and reporters. Ask them to publish press releases about your business on their website, and try pitching a few news stories to them, too. You won’t get on the news every time you try. But, all it takes is one or two features to get people talking about who you are and what you do.

This is especially beneficial when you’re trying to reach your local audience.

9. Start Speaking at Events

Up next on the list of smart inbound marketing strategies is to start speaking at industry events. Think about it: one of the main reasons to produce high-quality, interesting content is to establish authority. You’re trying to make yourself known as a thought leader online whenever you write a new bog or produce another video.

Why not take that thought off-screen and run with it?

Try to get on stage at local events and national conferences, too. It may take a bit of time to get the opportunity you’re looking for, but just keep reaching out and your time on stage will come. This is a great way to not just introduce your brand, but to get face to face with the people who you’re hoping will become consumers.

It’s a personal way to offer value to your audience on a large scale.

Plus, it gives you great pieces of content to work with in the future! You can take a video of you speaking at an event and publish it on YouTube or your website. You can tweet to attendees and other speakers during your time at an event, and you can recycle some of the content later on, too.

All of this is possible with just one speaking engagement. Imagine what having a handful of speaking opportunities on your calendar could do!

10. Clean Up Your CTAs

None of your inbound marketing ideas will work as well as they should if your CTAs are falling short. Go through all the calls to actions you’ve written in your blogs, emails, and social captions. Think about how you get people to opt-in from your site’s landing pages and how you lead them to your site from the emails you send.

Every interaction matters.

Whether you just want someone to sign up for your emails or you’re trying to get them to buy something, your CTA is the closer. Always make it as best as you possibly can if you want to use your inbound marketing tools to their full potential.

Make the Most of These Inbound Marketing Strategies!

It’s one thing to read about inbound marketing strategies and it’s another to actually see the results they can offer. Great results don’t happen overnight, though.

You have to work on learning as much as you can about inbound marketing. Try your hand at a few of the strategies mentioned above and don’t be afraid to ask for help, either.

If you want help to get the most out of your marketing efforts, click here!