This is a question many of you may be asking, and you will be right to. Social media applications such as Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and LinkedIn are very useful tools, indeed. But your business will only gain the kind of competitive advantage that inbound marketing can provide if they are part of a broader transformation.
I got the idea of inbound marketing as a competitive advantage from a recent workshop in which Bill Aulet, Managing Director of MIT Entrepreneurship Center, described the three core benefits that inbound marketing brings to businesses:
– Lowering the cost of customer acquisition (LCCA)
– Developing the capability to rapidly respond to your prospects, customers and markets
– Creating the ability to learn from your prospects, customers and markets to provide them with the innovation they crave.
Lowering the cost of customer acquisition
All companies are seeking to grow their customer base and looking to do so at the lowest possible cost. Traditional demand generation using outbound marketing techniques, such as cold calling, ad buying and trade shows, are becoming increasingly expensive and are showing diminishing returns. You can fill the top of the marketing and sales funnel with relevant leads at a significantly lower cost-per-lead using valuable digital content to engage your prospects, customers and markets.
Speed
Investing in the development of an engaged group of subscribers to your valuable content will give you the ability to react quickly to opportunities and threats, such as negative sentiment around your products and services, or breaking news that will encourage your stakeholders to reach for you.
Learning opportunities
That same group of subscribers will be willing to provide you with feedback to new product ideas and innovations that were previously only accessible to the biggest of multinational companies.
Business transformations do not happen easily and require a change in your company culture to become one where everyone feels they are part of a digital dialogue with your prospects, customers and markets. Such an investment, however, will ultimately provide your business with more speed, innovation and opportunities. So why not get ready for it?