5 Old Outbound Marketing Habits Sabotaging Your Inbound Marketing Campaign

Hands down, our target audience prefers inbound marketing to our more traditional hard sell tactics, calling them during dinner, interrupting their shows and videos, etc., etc., etc.., flashing annoying ads up on their screens. In a win win, inbound marketing strategies like content marketing, custom content creation, SEO, Social Media Marketing, Multi-channel marketing have been shown to have a higher return on investment than traditional methods.

And yet, old habits die hard. Somehow we think that applying traditional marketing tactics and metrics to inbound marketing will make it better. Stop it. Give customers what they want and reap the rewards. Here are 5 old habits that we can't seem to let go as we try to embrace a new era of engaging content.

5. Annoying Visitors with Pop ups

I'm not talking about the unsolicited ones that can be blocked with pop-up blockers. The ones that we pop up while people are trying to read our blogs are just as annoying. The CTA is important. But engage your audience first. Remember marketing 101, Get attention - Gain Interest - Engage - Call to Action. Don't be so afraid of not converting a lead that you annoy the customer into leaving your site. They aren't coming back.

The average conversion takes place after 8-11 touches with your brand, so be strategic. Lure them in. Give them a reason to come back, like, share, follow. Give them what they want first. And the conversion will happen. The ROI will come naturally. Don't try to force it.

4. Valuing Quantity over Quality

Since multiple touch points are necessary for a conversion, some of us just try to produce as much content as possible. But think long term. If they keep clicking on low quality content, those touch points are not building confidence in your brand. And this confidence is what leads to sales conversion -- not the number of touches.

This also applies to trying to make content longer to appease the Google gods who prefer longer content. If the length of your content is not adding value, then you will not meet your objectives by trying to add fluff to your content.

3. Applying Outbound Metrics to Inbound Strategy

Why isn't it working? Why do others say it's so great? Why can't I get it to work? If you are asking these questions, you are very likely trying to use your old traditional outbound measures. And when you see that initial low conversion rate, you start thinking inbound marketing is a sham. But content is more like a jet than a helicopter. It has to pick up speed before it can leave the ground. But once it's up it beats any other form of transportation.

2. Taking Existing Customers for granted

Outbound marketing has traditionally been about acquiring new customers and not customer retention. But inbound strategies give us a great opportunity to foster loyalty and increase the customer's lifetime value. Existing customers are much more likely to buy, try new things, and keep buying if you treat them right and provide them with engaging, shareable content. So don't forget the customers who are already helping get the word out for you and padding your bottom line. Unless you're a start up with no customers, nurturing this relationship is your first priority and then acquisition.

1. Being Afraid to try new things

With traditional methods, trying something new could be very costly. You might spend a million+ on a clever ad campaign and bomb. But content is different. The individual investment is smaller. It's much easier to try new things. And the inevitable failures have minimal impact. You just learn from them and move on, developing a better strategy and better content.

Be creative. Experiment. Be a little quirky. Have a personality. In some strategies, "offending" some people is a technique that may work for you if it endears others to you. But be strategic with that or it can backfire. Draw customers to you and make them feel like a part of your brand. Give the customer what they want and they'll be yours for a lifetime.

Thank you for sharing this content piece with me. If you want to increase leads and inspire loyalty with the right content, reach out to Already Content. We're happy to help you on your next Content Marketing Campaign.