5 differences between content and inbound marketing
Inbound marketing enables software publishers to create leads by bringing prospects directly to their brand. This marketing technique is increasingly replacing the traditionally more commercial methods of BtoB publishers. So how does this differ from content marketing, which also aims to attract leads by writing search engine-optimised web content? Our 5-point answer: motivation, interaction, socialisation, automation and collaboration.
CONTENTS
The end of outbound marketing?
Before developing an answer to the question posed, it is important to understand that in the space of a few years, outbound marketing has created practices that are partly counter-productive for software publishers. In fact, outbound marketing is first and foremost advertising marketing via paid channels that are more or less omnidirectional, such as television commercials. But in the age of online advertising, web users are over-solicited with poorly targeted transactional marketing messages to which they are paying less and less attention.
What's more, outbound marketing budgets can quickly become very high for advertisers, without their performance being measurable and therefore without their profitability being on target. Traffic managers, those responsible for generating web traffic on a site and managing outbound campaigns - such as Google Adsense, to name but one classic lever - are well aware of this difficulty and will not deny it.
This situation became even more acute in 2015, particularly for software publishers, with the arrival of Adblock technologies on a massive scale, preventing advertising banners from being displayed on websites.
The arrival of content marketing
Content marketing was developed on the basis of this observation. Content marketing encompasses a number of terms that are broadly equivalent, such as brand content. Brand content is promotional content about a brand, to enhance its visibility and reputation, rather than about a theme related to a company department. The aim in both cases is to produce hard-hitting content with real added value, in line with search engine queries, in order to attract new leads.
White papers, case studies and company blogs have been appearing on the web for nearly 10 years. Content marketing integrates a brand or service communication logic into a relational media marketing approach, rather than being directly transactional. Content marketing is therefore well suited to BtoB software publishers who are looking for inbound contacts through communication that is close to their raison d'être and their know-how.
However, over the past 4 years or so, content marketing has reached its limits, with more and more software publishers writing content... As a result, inbound marketing has quickly become the logical evolution of content marketing.
5 differences with inbound marketing
Inbound marketing also seeks to attract the attention of prospects by offering them quality content that provides them with a genuine service; but its scope of action is much broader.
In fact, inbound marketing manages the entire lifecycle of a prospect and of a software publisher's value chain. All areas of communication (product, marketing and sales) are impacted, from a visitor's first contact with a brand, through to purchase and renewal.
Inbound marketing therefore encompasses all the processes involved in marketing and selling a brand: the production of content becomes just as important as sharing it on social networks or re-using it in relational emails. Motivation, interaction, socialisation, automation and collaboration are the 5 fundamental elements that differentiate content and inbound marketing.
1) Target engagement
Inbound marketing combines quality content with the use of incentives, i.e. rewards and actions that motivate web users to provide information about their profile and expectations. Sending a white paper to a known e-mail address, an eBook that can be consulted online after a "LinkedIn connect" or even an infographic shared on a Facebook profile, with data recovered in the process. The possibilities are endless.
2) Interaction
Inbound marketing seeks to convert prospects by means that go beyond a simple website. The provision of call-to-action buttons and the creation of personalised landing pages, for more targeted interaction based on a search, are the two main levers.
3) Social networking
Inbound marketing makes advanced use of social networks to promote content (Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, etc.) or to offer new content in a particular format (YouTube and Dailymotion for video, SlideShare for presentations, Pinterest for infographics, etc.). Content curation can also enable a publisher to become a source of intelligence for getting closer to influencers and ambassadors.
4) Marketing automation
Inbound marketing instils a culture of contact (nurturing) with prospects in order to maintain a close relationship with them while they are waiting to make a purchase. The automation and management of interactive actions (or marketing automation) as well as lead scoring make it possible to measure the potential of prospects for the services of a software publisher.
5) Collaboration
Finally, inbound marketing streamlines the sales process to improve the service offered , with systematic measurement and monitoring of traffic: conversion studies between prospects and customers, real-time analysis of return on investment, shared dashboards between departments to create genuine co-construction between the marketing and sales departments.
Conclusion
Inbound marketing enables software publishers to create a genuine relationship with their prospects. The idea is to offer less intrusive content and interaction. Offering an interesting service is no longer enough: you need to know how to create a strong universe around your brand, where each of your prospects will want to belong.
Article translated from French