The rise of the internet and access to information has drastically changed the buying process over the last several years. As a result, both sales and marketing have evolved as well. Where marketing used to be responsible for just top-of-funnel activities, it is now much more involved in the sales process. Buyers these days are researching more on their own than ever before, so it is important to make sure you are reaching them at all stages of their journey.
According to HubSpot, “Inbound marketing is focused on attracting customers through relevant and helpful content and adding value at every stage in your customer’s buying journey. With inbound marketing, potential customers find you through channels like blogs, search engines, and social media.” The inbound approach will allow your sales team to close more deals with sales-ready leads, rather than spinning their wheels in frustration. Besides generating warm leads for your sales team, here are four benefits telecom and IT businesses can expect from inbound marketing.
1. Truly understanding your telecom/IT buyers
Before executing on your IT or telecom marketing efforts, it is important to understand who your ideal buyers are and to create those buyer personas. What does the buying process look like for them? A great way to do this is to interview current clients or partners to really put yourself in their shoes and get inside of their head. Why did they choose your company? What are the top 3 benefits they have seen working with you?
You want to get as much info on your ideal buyers as you can so that when it comes time to create content, you can aim it directly at them and speak to their pain points. If your ideal buyers feel like you really understand their needs and can help solve their problems, they are more likely to engage with your company. You want them to view your content and say, “Wow these guys really get me.” Preparing for a successful inbound strategy will give you a true sense of what your ideal buyers look like and what steps they take when making a purchasing decision.
2. Authority and brand awareness
A great side benefit of inbound marketing is appearing like a larger, more professional brand. People will start to feel like they are seeing you everywhere. A good inbound strategy will not only drive more traffic to your website, but it will distribute the right content to the right people while maintaining consistency
3. Empowering your buyers (and customers) with engaging content
Creating content just for the sake of having it is not enough. These days, content needs to be personalized, optimized, and engaging. You want to have different types of content available to your prospects at all stages of the buyer’s journey. If they are in research mode, they are more likely to engage with blog posts, videos and social media. As they progress through the funnel and are considering options further, heavier content like webinars, research reports, ebooks, and infographics will be helpful. Case studies, testimonials, demos, and FAQs will come in handy when they get closer to making decisions.
The point is to have content readily available and aimed at your buyers throughout the entire buying cycle. A recent report by CompTIA showed that 39% of IT buyers researched and finalized their decisions on their own before reaching out to sales. Having a good inbound marketing strategy in place will ensure that you are empowering your buyers with easily accessible and engaging content no matter what stage of the buying process they are in. This content will often be helpful to your existing customers as well.
4. A strong social media presence
Having a strong social media presence is another side benefit of a successful inbound strategy. Once the content is created, it makes sense to distribute it through all of the social channels.
Social advertising is inexpensive, and it doesn’t always take an ad budget to increase your reach on social.
One thing we have been doing here at Mojenta with our clients on our ongoing telecom marketing programs is increasing their presence through employee advocacy. If you are sharing the right content and having the right people engage, then your social presence will only grow over time.
The main reason a company will look into inbound marketing these days is to generate sales-ready leads. It is reassuring to know that there are some other great benefits that come along with having a successful inbound strategy. Considering a marketing strategy for your telecom or IT business? Contact us to learn more!
