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O P I N I O N
A re you lost in the jargon about inbound marketing, content marketing, thought leadership, and converting leads? Inbound marketing made simple If your content is consistently valuable, potential clients might give up their personal information to have it, and choose your firm over others when it’s time to close the deal.
No matter what you create, you have to be able to effectively get it out into a public space where your potential clients can find it. Inbound marketing usually relies on internet-based methods. This piece of content has to be so appreciated and so valuable that not only will your potential clients like it, they will also pass it on to others they think might be interested. Content sharing happens when a news or industry website picks up your content and re-publishes it, social media posting, liking, sharing, and retweeting, or simply by forwarding an email. “Inbound marketing works in a more subtle way: First, a firm creates something valuable. This is called ‘content.’”
Here’s a no-nonsense explanation of inbound marketing and where I think this concept is going: To first understand inbound marketing, you have to understand outbound marketing. Outbound marketing relies on “old-fashioned” tactics like buying ads, buying mail lists, cold calling, and mass-emailing direct promotions of products/ services. Outbound marketing is a billboard on the highway that says: “Use my firm because it is the best!” Inbound marketing works in a more subtle way: First, a firm creates something valuable. This is called “content.” The key to creating valuable content is putting yourself in your clients’ shoes and understanding what interests them. Some examples include a fascinating article on a person your audience wants to know, a presentation of research that might help your clients do their jobs better, or a white paper on a new approach used to tackle a project.
Christina Zweig
See CHRISTINA ZWEIG, page 10
THE ZWEIG LETTER June 13, 2016, ISSUE 1156
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