For today’s inbound marketers, the pressure is on. Leads are demanded — and new customers are expected — because of your inbound efforts and investments.
Sure, those who really know inbound understand it takes persistence and patience. It’s fair to say that inbound is more of a marathon than a sprint, and understanding at the beginning that the greatest benefits accrue over time helps to get expectations properly established. Yet, marketing leaders are likely under the gun from day one to deliver results that get leadership talking. And nothing speaks louder than quick wins that demonstrate early progress and payback.
As Weidert Group’s vice president of business development and client services, Nicole Mertes leads the agency’s new business efforts. She knows the long term success of a new client’s inbound program may be predicated on how quickly they start to see results. That’s why new client programs today always include elements intended to show early impact. And that knowledge was the inspiration for Nicole’s upcoming presentation at the sixth annual Experience Inbound June 3 and 4, 2019, which we’re previewing just a bit by sharing this recent interview with Nicole.
Nicole: We’ve always provided insights to new clients on expected ROI and payback, but we realized that some clients had pressure to show senior management more immediate impact attributable to their commitment to inbound. So we became more intentional about building some “quick wins” tactics into the startup phase of programs.
Nicole: They are low-effort/low-cost tactics, things you can execute pretty quickly without a ton of effort or budget. They are the things that you do by rolling up your sleeves and hitting the ground running, exerting limited-effort with current assets that show fast results. In a lot of ways, these are the low-hanging-fruit ideas, the things you would obviously do first if you just had a little help or a little more capacity.
Nicole: Great question! If a business has historically never had much formal marketing support and they’re launching a formal inbound program for the first time, they might be feeling some doubt about the wisdom of committing significant resources to a new direction. In this case, the team needs to have some early wins to build momentum and support for the direction they’re taking.
A startup business faces different challenges, most often that the need to demonstrate to investors that they’re making all the right moves since startups generally don’t experience a ton of patience from their backers.
More mature businesses may be in the situation where their growth has plateaued and they need encouragement quickly that growth is still possible. They might also be looking for hard evidence that a formal investment in inbound could deliver an attractive ROI.
Each situation potentially points to different tactics, since in each case they’re starting from a different place and doing it for different motivations.
Nicole: Marketing technologies and human behaviors are changing so fast it’s hard for them to pick a direction with confidence. Think of all the technologies and applications you heard about just in the last 30 days! There are too many choices, and people want to feel some assurance that what they do will move the needle!
Nicole: While it’s important to take action on low-hanging fruit, that’s no substitute for solid strategic marketing plans for your long game. A well constructed inbound marketing plan takes time to build, execute, and realize the benefits, but it’s the best way to build sustainable distance between your business and competition.
Nicole: I want everyone to walk away with multiple ideas that they can quickly and effectively implement for their businesses within 30 days of EI.
Nicole: Any sales or marketing manager or leader looking to improve results, whether you’re just starting an inbound program or have a fully deployed program that hasn’t achieved its full potential.
Nicole: I think it will be a great opportunity to reflect on your current program and plans. Hopefully, you’ll get excited about some ideas that are completely new, and maybe you’ll experience relief that there are tons of possible ways to boost your results.
Don’t miss Nicole’s session and the chance to put these actionable ideas into play for your own marketing and sales teams. Join us June 3 at Miller Park in Milwaukee or June 4 at Lambeau Field in Green Bay. Click below to see the full lineup of speakers and to register!
Topics: Weidert Group Events
