The Ultimate Challenge
While the challenges of outbound marketing revolved around physical production – paper, billboards, sound, CD’s, phone systems, etc. – the attractions of inbound marketing are its transparency in mediums. The systems are virtual and scalable for consumption. The hard part is to ensure it is targeted, measured and effective. Outproducing your competition has some merit; however, there may be a lot of wasted efforts as well.
Thomas Edison said, “Opportunity is missed by most people because it’s dressed in overalls and looks like work.”
The overalls in inbound marketing are the continual job of thinking. Thinking about the strategy, the buyer and the process is hard work. In today’s information age, it is a continual moving target as well.
Inbound Marketing Strategy Thinking
How to approach and engage your buyer has several dimensions. Their psychological profile, urgency of need, and budget are a few of the criteria to qualify and create a profile which should be serviced specifically. The buyer and their problem may be varied in your selling process. Thus, the strategies which you implement may create multiple pathways for the buyer.
The hard work of thinking through each step requires empathy and an ability to disengage yourself as a seller. Ask yourself, “Would I be interested in this offer?” and “Why?” Would the gift you are giving to your prospective buyer be valued? On a scale of 1 to 5 how do you ensure it is a 5 in value and not anything less? Once you can do the hard work of thinking it through as a buyer, line up the process to ensure it is convenient and clear so that a step cannot be mistakenly missed.
Someone Will Want The Marketing Opportunity
If the overalls intimidate you, then your competition will gain an advantage. With the barriers of mediums now gone, someone is willing to do the hard work and think through how the strategy and process work for utmost effectiveness. Furthermore, the game of inbound marketing is relentless. Winners win big and losers are obscure. The rewards are worth it if you can embrace the overalls.
