Recently, I was asked to join a new company and found out that we would be developing our first inbound marketing campaign. This was not the marketing plan that I had been familiar with and while I was aware of the basic elements, I didn't really know how we were going to measure our progress. After explaining to them what we wanted to do, they went on to tell me that there was no way that I could ever put together a marketing plan on my own. They pointed out that they had assembled the biggest, most successful marketing teams in the world and that I would be way behind their success if I tried to do it myself. I can't help but shake my head and think to myself “Why would they hire an inbound marketing agency?”
In the first years of being in business I always strives to put together inbound marketing strategies and tactics, sometimes in as little as a week. I built huge networks and did everything possible to drive traffic to my websites. Eventually, I learned that there is no such thing as cutting corners when it comes to advertising and capturing customers. I realized that I needed to build massive relationships and then bring them closer to me so that I can convince them to buy the products that I was trying to sell. I learned that I didn't have the time or knowledge to put together a comprehensive inbound marketing plan and in the end I decided that I was never going to master the art of internet marketing.
So, what did I do? I started to research different ways to put together a complete marketing strategy. I read tons of information about creating a comprehensive marketing plan and I tried many different techniques. The problem is that none of them produced the results that I wanted. Instead of putting together a solid marketing strategy, I ended up putting together a mountain of half baked ideas that didn't work.That's the unfortunate truth about most Internet Marketers. We spend days and weeks on setting up a new marketing strategy and then spend the rest of our time trying to figure out how to implement it. In the end, we don't always know what works. We don't really understand our customer or what needs to be done in order to generate leads. So, instead of creating actionable goals and a plan of action, we spend most of our time theorizing.
Well, instead of spending weeks theorizing, I decided to hire a seasoned digital marketing firm to help me put together a complete inbound marketing plan for my business. After talking with the team of experts at the best League of Legends online marketing agency I've ever worked with, I created a unique plan that would take advantage of the power of social media marketing, PPC and SEO to explode my online visibility and business. The team created a custom web and social media marketing package that was designed to fit my budget, marketing goals and business model. I spent less than two months implementing the new system and have had steady growth ever since.
This is one story that illustrates how powerful having a solid strategic plan can be. I didn't have a great content marketing strategy when I started, but I started discovering measurable marketing metrics that were driving more traffic to my site. I also started seeing more sales and conversions, which helped me decide that maybe I should turn this focus over to the digital marketing team. They are expert SEO content marketers that are also very successful in their inbound marketing efforts. They made it easy for me to start getting leads, building up my brand identity and converting traffic into leads.
This is just one story, but it's a good one and a perfect example of why discovery is so important. There are so many ways to make money online these days. Even the traditional offline marketing methods like newspaper advertising, yellow pages, direct mail and cold calling can be difficult to execute, especially if your business doesn't yet have a solid online presence. Getting your business name in front of your target audience is key to inbound marketing success, but it can take time and a lot of trial and error before you're able to find the right ways to bring in targeted leads.
Getting inbound leads is one thing, but getting them to become loyal and stay with your brand is another. That's why marketing professionals know all about testing and measuring. It's not enough to write an article or blog and hope that people will stumble upon it and find it interesting. Marketing professionals know that they need to constantly test and tweak their online marketing campaigns in order to ensure that they're getting the most out of every dollar spent on their campaigns. Discovering what works for you and how to implement it can help you grow your business online faster than ever before.
