Call it eagerness. When I accepted the marketing manager position at Weidert Group I was clawing at the walls to learn all about inbound. I think it’s my innate instinct to be curious and learn as much as possible. I find new thought processes fascinating, which means I dive in and learn as quickly as possible. So by the end of my second full week at Weidert Group I had conquered 12 HubSpot certification courses. I wanted to know as much as possible before diving into discussions about our own inbound program. During those two weeks I had so many "aha" moments, but below you will find a few of the top takeaways that helped me dive right into my new role here at Weidert Group.
Before coming to Weidert Group, I worked at a media company where we did email campaigns for some of our clients, but I never put much value on our email strategy—it often was an afterthought. I’d have to say I’ve done a 180 in regards to how I approach email campaigns. Honestly, email campaigns are a huge part of what will make your inbound strategy work. Email campaigns are integrated into many facets of an inbound methodology; it’s a key part of sending potential clients the right information at the right time.
No, seriously. Your marketing campaigns are not about you and how awesome your brand is, even though you are the coolest iron coil maker in town. Your marketing campaigns should be about how your brand is the solution to a problem your customers are having. Whether your campaign speaks to what that problem is, provides different ways to spot the problem, or actually highlights ways to fix the problem, it should be relevant to your customer.
We’ve all known for a long time that how customers make purchasing decisions is changing. This is definitely highlighted in the B2C world, but it is just as true for the B2B world. Millennials have changed the way we as a society make purchasing decisions. In order to be part of their consideration, you need to provide them value in the beginning phases of their purchasing cycles. It’s all about them and what their needs are at the time.
Working at a media company and now at an inbound marketing agency, I definitely have a respect for well thought-out content. It is not an easy task to create valuable content every day for your customers. By creating relevant content you are engaging with your customers and potential customers. It is imperative that the content you are putting out is what your audience is interested in. Both HubSpot and Google know how important relevance is, that is why you will start seeing changes in how content affects SEO.
I came from a sales position so I might be biased. Actually, I’m not. If anything, I can provide more insight into why marketing and sales should be one unit. By working together, sales and marketing can provide an epic customer experience before they even become customers! Envision this...your marketing department begins a conversation with a potential new customer. They answer questions and provide helpful feedback when the customer needs more information or even a second opinion on the problem at hand. After marketing knows the customer is ready for more in-depth information regarding their company’s products or services, they introduce the customer to their sales department. Then the sales department meets with the customer to find out if it would be a good fit for both parties. If it is, great! They move onto the sales process and then sign a contract.
When marketing and sales work together, you are able to create the highest quality customer service possible. Because, like I said in my second point, everything is about your customers.
Topics: Inbound Marketing, Inbound Sales
