How Inbound Marketing Works: Content Distribution (Part Two)

In a previous blog, we covered the first four elements of how inbound marketing/content distribution works: 1) content usage, 2) search engine optimization, 3) landing pages and 4) lead scoring. But there are three more.

Let’s pick up right where we left off.

5. Automated Prospect Nurturing Campaigns
Set triggers so prospects already on your doorstep have a roadmap to advancing their business relationship with you. Examples of triggers could be:

• A day after a prospect downloads a white paper, send an auto thank you note and suggest complementary content.
• If someone downloads a white paper and visits your services section, send a 30-day trial offer.
• If someone receives a trial offer from you and doesn’t take action within seven days, extend a sweeter trial offer, perhaps 45-days, or keep it at 30 and offer something else instead.
• If someone accumulates half the points to becoming an official lead (and presumably a hand off to sales), but went cold for 30 days, warm him or her up with a webinar offer, waiving the $99 fee.

6. Smart Content
One of the most important jobs of any marketer is to create relevance with each prospect. Today’s automation tools allow you to make each visit to your website a one-to-one experience more relevant to their individual needs. Examples of "smart" content are:

• Treating customers differently than prospects. Your current customers don’t need the 30,000 view of your company. They need to know how you can provide more benefits than they’re already experiencing. Not only do you want to upsell and cross sell other services to them, they crave knowledge as well. You can provide it through "smart" content and offers.
• Create local relevance. If there’s a local angle to your business, create relevance by placing smart local graphics for regions that are important to you.
• If different stakeholders require different information, show different messaging to the C-Suite, sales, estimating and plant operations.

7. Marketing Automation Tools
Let’s recap the inbound marketer’s needs we’ve discussed over the past couple of weeks: post content, create landing pages, lead score, deploy automated nurture campaigns and offer smart content. While not impossible, it’s very hard to accomplish all this without the assistance of a marketing automation tool.

There are plenty of options in this solution category. Some better known ones include HubSpot, InfusionSoft, Marketo and CallidusCloud. Before I go any further, let me unequivocally state:

1) Nothing’s perfect

2) I don’t have any incentives to advocate for one solution over another

Some tools have their own CRM system, some integrate more easily with your CRM system, some are better at push marketing, and some are better at offering smart content.

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Join me next week for a discussion about how these seven inbound marketing action steps jive with what marketers really want.