Inbound Marketing Agencies are new to the world of advertising and so it's natural for businesses to have questions on what we do, how we work, and how it fits into their business.
The following are 12 frequently asked questions about inbound marketing agencies and inbound marketing in general.
1. What is the ROI of Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is more than just converting visitors into customers; Inbound marketing can also build brand authority in your industry and help with customer retention. All of these are important to the long-term health of your business. And not all of these elements are measurable, making it impossible to determine if you received a positive return on investment.
2. How quickly will I see results?
There is no set answer to this question because there are multiple factors involved, such as your industry, how well your website is already performing, how much and how often content is produced, and many more elements. Having a long-term, marathon-like, mentality with your inbound marketing is the best way to think about results.
You can use paid advertising like Google AdWords to help build traffic in the short term if you need traffic ASAP.
3. Can I just do an a la carte marketing plan - where I just pick what I want as I go?
You CAN do a la carte marketing, but it isn’t in your best interest. Without a strategic plan for how all your moving parts work together, you aren’t likely to see results. Just like a basketball team works best with a game plan so that each player knows their role in winning the game, your marketing will work best with a game plan too.
4. Couldn’t I just do this myself?
Of course hiring marketers internally is an option that many companies use. The benefit to hiring an inbound marketing agency like us is that we have experience doing inbound marketing and you’d have a team of us working together on each client.
Also, finding an inbound marketer can be difficult, depending on where your business is located and how much you’re willing to pay.
5. Why do I need whitepapers or ebooks?
Advanced content like whitepaper and ebooks are your ammunition for capturing lead data. Without providing something of value, why would visitors give you their contact information? And if you aren’t capturing contact information, how are you continuing to reach them and build a relationship in order to convert them into a customer?
6. So for social media - does that just mean Facebook?
In short, no. Rarely will social media just mean Facebook. Which social media platforms you should engage on depends on your business. Most B2B companies benefit from posting and engaging with users on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Google+. Other platforms to consider, depending on your business, could be Pinterest, Instagram, Vine, Flickr and the list goes on.
When we provide social media services, we will be using different platforms that fit your business best.
7. How do you write for so many different industries?
We are able to write for different industries by conducting Subject Matter Expert interviews, using members from your company. Your employees know your company and industry best so why not leverage that information for your own marketing?
Additionally, we select writers that have knowledge in your industry so they are able to communicate the information your Subject Matter Experts share.
8. Are you a full service agency?
We are not a traditional advertising agency. We provide services for your online marketing. You can use content like your whitepapers offline and we can help you incorporate inbound marketing principles into your traditional advertising but we do not provide services like print ad design.
9. Should I also hire an SEO company?
Inbound marketing can definitely help you with search rankings. Our team members keep up-to-date with changes in search algorithms and we use best practices for SEO in our work. If you have room in your budget and you want extra help with local or international rankings, you could hire an SEO agency that specializes in your specific SEO needs. We are happy to work with SEO agencies to help accomplish your goals.
10. Can you help me with my branding?
We help our clients develop their online brand based on their company’s already established brand guidelines. If you need help developing your company's overall brand and guidelines, we suggest hiring a company that specializes in brand strategy.
11. Do I have to use HubSpot?
Using HubSpot is not a requirement for implementing inbound marketing. You can use tools like WordPress, a WordPress Form Plugin, Hootsuite, Mailchimp, CRM, and Google Analytics, but it definitely makes it easier using just one tool. That’s why we use HubSpot with all of our marketing clients.
12. How quickly can we get started?
We usually begin with a new client 2-4 weeks after a signed service agreement. We use the time before starting services to prepare our team for service launch. We do things like transfer knowledge from our engagement strategist to your dedicated marketing team members, find a writer specifically for your business and prepare tools and templates for you. This preparation helps us create a smooth and easy transition with our clients.
If you have more questions about inbound marketing agencies, check out our inbound marketing page or contact our engagement strategist, Bridget.
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