Related terms

• Growth hacking
• Lead
• Outbound marketing

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Inbound marketing

Inbound marketing is a set of marketing techniques used to attract as many users as possible to a brand with the aim of converting them into leads. To achieve this, it uses informative or educational content, in contrast to outbound marketing, which is more focused on sales.

How does inbound marketing work?

The sales funnel is the central focus of inbound marketing. Although it pays special attention to the top part, its techniques cover the entire buying process, including the bottom part where leads become the responsibility of the sales team.

Inbound marketing selects the most appropriate technique for each stage of the funnel based on the characteristics of the buyer persona and their customer journey. This methodology tailors’ content and other actions to capture the attention of users who fit the desired profile. Therefore, it's crucial to understand their needs, as otherwise, they won't be willing to share their data and won't convert.

To assess the readiness of leads to move through the funnel, inbound marketing uses lead scoring. This scoring is based on interactions with the brand, such as website visits, material downloads, or event registrations. To increase the lead score and move them closer to a purchase, marketing automation sends them initially general content and later more commercial content.

Examples of inbound marketing

In B2C businesses with a high-consumption product, an example of inbound marketing could involve social media content suggesting newsletter sign-up for a discount. After this initial conversion, subsequent communications would focus on repeat purchases.

For B2B businesses with an industrial service, an example could include a webinar that requires registration, followed by messages related to the webinar topic, offering related materials such as guides or tutorials.

Inbound marketing tools

Content marketing, SEO, social media, and email marketing are the main pillars for practicing inbound marketing, and there are specific tools for each: WordPress, Instapage, SEMrush, Hootsuite, Acrelia, and more.

Alternatively, you can look for a tool that integrates all these functions. The most well-known of these is HubSpot, as it was the pioneer of this methodology. It serves to create a blog, landing pages for registration, host eBooks, qualify leads, and even has a CRM module for managing the proposals of the sales team. Other similar options include Marketo, Eloqua, or Mautic.