Studies show that most clients need 5-10 ‘touches’ in order to do business with us. (see: Why it Takes 7-13 Touches from OMI and “It Takes 6-8 Touches.. from Salesforce) So the big question becomes, how do we create relationships that create those 5-10 touches? I believe we do it with an Inbound Marketing Campaign. This campaign needs the following components broken down by “touches”:
Touch 1: Inbound Marketing: Search Optimization
A client has a need. They type their need into a search engine. The search engine populates results. These are cold leads, but we are building credibility by coming up in the first few results. Sometimes these are paid results and sometimes they are organic. If you don’t know the difference between these, check out the blog, “The difference between paid and organic search listings.”
Touch 2: Inbound Marketing: Landing Pages
A client has a need and you came up in search listings. They click and it takes them to the EXACT page on your website that addresses their pain. For example, they type in ‘Prevent Osteoporosis’. They go to a page that talks about how your product and service prevents osteoporosis. It DOESN’T take them to your home page that lists your services that include age reduction creams and weight loss pills and life coaching. It DOESN’T take them to a page that features as RX3000 Machine, which you know prevents osteoporosis but they don’t. You are going to talk about their pain and how YOU have a solution and then…
Touch 3: Inbound Marketing: Call to Action
You are going to ask them to contact you in some way with a call-to-action. They are going to pick up the phone and call or fill out a form to get more information or they are going to schedule a free consultation or download a whitepaper or other value-added document. Ideally, you want to capture their information because you will…
Touch 4: Inbound Marketing: Follow up
Yep. The ‘F’ word. Who follows up these days? Oh yes, successful salespeople do! Here’s the beautiful thing, this can be automated. A simple follow up email can be activated on ‘cold’ leads, and ‘hot’ leads can get a phone call. Using automation can help create a natural funnel to allow for follow up.
Touch 5: Inbound Marketing: Email Marketing
With automation, you can now create a series of follow-ups that will create those additional touches. They can be dynamic in that they allow for email campaigns that take a certain interest one direction and others a different direction. For example, we have one client who offers a survey and if all 5 questions receive a ‘yes’, it is considered a hot lead and the client calls the lead as soon as possible. If not, the lead will get a series that addresses each of the 5 points in a way that allows them to work on something so they can get to the 5 ‘yes’ status. This creates a series of 5 more touches, which, if the automated email campaign is engaged with, the lead will become ‘hot’. You know, the right person, ready to buy, knocking on your door…
Touch 6: Inbound Marketing: Blogging & Video
What if each landing page you created for the pain points also had a blog or 3 or 10 or 50 associated with it? What if there was a video introducing you or the topic? Video and blogging build credibility, offer value, and are great for Organic Search Engine Optimization. They can also, together or apart, create a Content Creation Strategy that can be reused in…
Touch 7: Inbound Marketing: Social Media
Take the client’s pain point and put in on social media. Create a stir. Ask for engagement. Will you get engagement on this title: “The RX3000 Machine helps people with osteoporosis”? Maybe. Will you get more engagement on this one: “How 92 year old Betsy reversed her osteoporosis so she could dance again”. I think so. Engaging content that adds value is what people are hungry for. So hungry, they will come to you over the competition who gives them nothing to chew on.
Touch 8: Inbound Marketing: Social Media Follow Up
I’m talking about following up again. When someone engages with your social media, you should respond. It’s like they are leaving a voicemail and you aren’t calling them back. Seriously, you think this is a no-brainer, but people are so busy, they don’t pay attention to the relationships they are building online. Engage back. Don’t leave your followers hanging.
Touch 9: Inbound Marketing: Who you seek is seeking you
Do you know your clients’ pain points? You should. You are serving them because of it. Who else has this pain? Who else serves those with this same pain? Find these people. Connect with them. Ask them to engage with you. This means: ask them to guest blog, ask to interview them, ask them to share your stuff, share their stuff, ask them to be a brand ambassador, be their brand ambassador, co-create something… build a relationship.
Touch 10: Inbound Marketing: Offer value forever and ever
Keep creating value. Keep offering connection and engagement opportunities for clients. Once they have purchased, continue to give them information, continue to ask for connections, continue to service them by offering additional products and services. Some people call this customer service, but so few have a client retention program in place. There is more to customer service than serving the client in front of you in the moment. Continue the relationship and continue to harvest the benefits from a crop that already understands what you do and how you do it.
What if you could offer a ten touch inbound marketing solution to your business? What if it was automated to create less work for you, rather than more? What if you knew your clients’ pain and spoke right to it, directly and clearly? What if every one of your ideal clients understood the true benefit of working with you?
I would love to help you launch a new Inbound Marketing, Content Marketing, and Social Media Marketing strategy that will deliver qualified leads for your B2B or B2C business.
It all starts with a Stern Storming Session.
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