Where: Gigi’s on Fairmount – Cleveland Hts, Oh http://GiGisOnFairmount.com
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The idea of inbound marketing is best illustrated from this graphic produced by Hobspot; producers and one of the industry leaders of inbound marketing software.
Taking people from strangers to visitors; from visitors to leads and then hopefully customers and ideally promoters of your business is what inbound marketing is all about.
Inbound marketing depends so much on producing good content to your audience and providing it consistently and having a comprehensive plan or blueprint for content marketing. At EdwardsCom, we stress the “3 Es”: Entertain, Educate and Engage.
If your audience or perspective clients require a fair amount of information before they make a buying decision, content marketing could work well as part of your business and sales processes.
Where would these dollars come from? A lot of businesses are diverting or cutting back on monies that are part of a traditional marketing budget and are using those monies to budget for inbound and content marketing.
Inbound marketing can do a number of things for your business:
- It can increase your SEO because of the content you will produce
- You become an expert in your field to your customer base
- Allows you to build your own valuable library of proprietary information (which you can then turn into Whitepapers, eBooks, e-newsletters or even your own public speaking appearances)
- and mostly… it’s about building YOUR LIST, which we will expand upon in another VLOG.
Besides developing your content marketing strategy document or blueprint you need to begin building your list; your email address list of people that opt-in to read or watch your really cool content. Do this as soon as possible.
Recommended Email Marketing Solutions:
MailChimp – You’ll love Freddie and what MailChimp has to offer – Fairly easy to use and understand, very inexpensive and you get a lot for your $$.
Get started with MailChimp —- > http://bit.ly/MailChimp-Get-Started
AWebber – Another great email marketing solution; easy to use and understand as well. Good pricing and a solution to consider using for your business.
Get started with AWeber —- > http://bit.ly/AWeberGetStarted
Both solutions offer attractive and easy to use templates to help you. And both offer responsive design templates; your content looks great on phones, tablets, desktop and laptop computers.
As always, if you would like to know more or have questions we would enjoying hearing from you and listening to what you have to say. Email us anytime: barry@edwardscom.net or mark@edwardscom.net
Links and Stuff:
**Nice articles from the Content Marketing Institute’s own Joe Pulizzi on B2C and B2B Content Marketing and successes**
- 2014 B2C Content Marketing Research: Strategy Influences Success
- B2B Content Marketing Success on the Rise for Small Business
- The Content Marketer’s Blueprint
Gigi’s On Fairmount – GiGisOnFairmount.com
Once again, big thank you to Gia and Jim at Gigi’s On Fairmount for their sensational hospitality and warm welcome. We truly enjoyed it and you will too. Stop by for lunch or dinner and you will walk away with a fine dining experience from a place that feels like home. http://facebook.com/gigisonfairmount
We went there last saturday – WONDERFUL! Very cozy place.
I second that. But best to go on a week night IMO. Too crowded on weekend nights (although you’d miss out on the prime rib).
Great info, guys! I think I perhaps may be a bit guilty of not following thru completely “inbound” with my social media. Is there actually a rule of thumb for mixing in your own promotions with your content?
Thank you for your question, Colleen. Mark always says that 25% promotional content is about the maximum. Keep in mind that in order to retain the audience that you worked hard to build, you have to Educate, Entertain & Engage them with your content – its nurturing the relationship.