Inbound Marketing Blog

Buyers today don’t have the time nor the interest to read through lots of information to find what they’re looking for. They expect an experience with your brand that is aligned with what they want. And they want to find that information easily, and quickly. 

Salespeople are hired to sell, right? But did you know that the modern sales person spends just a mere 34% of their day actually selling? If salespeople are spending just a third of their day selling, what are they doing the rest of their day? Research shows the majority of a sales person’s day is spent carrying out administrative tasks such as writing emails, data entry, prospecting and scheduling meetings. Sound like a waste of time? That’s because it is.

As we move into the second half of the year, many SMEs are taking the time to reflect on what marketing strategies worked, and what didn’t work for the first half of 2018. If your company is still relying on outdated outbound marketing techniques rather than inbound marketing, there’s never been a better time to make the switch. In HubSpot’s 2018 State of Inbound Report, when asked which marketing tactic provides higher quality leads for the sales team, 59% of respondents said inbound, while only 16% reported outbound. The thing is, outbound marketing works by disrupting buyers. Its relies on cold calls, direct mail and unsegmented emails. On the other hand, inbound marketing works to bring in the right people, people who are actually interested in what you have to sell. 

Content marketing is big business for SMEs. Did you know that content marketing generates more than three times as many leads as outbound marketing, and costs 62% less? Content marketing is crucial for organisations who are looking to get more leads, boost sales and grow their business. Whether you’ve already jumped on the content marketing bandwagon or you’re just starting out, it is never a bad idea to revisit your content strategy. The thing about content strategies is that they should be dynamic; they should change and grow as your business changes and grows. If you’ve never created a content strategy template or are looking to update your content strategy template, you’ve come to the right place. In this article, I will be showing you how to create a winning content strategy template that can easily be updated and grow with your organisation.

We talk a lot about the buyer’s journey on the TIMCo blog. Why? Because understanding the buyer’s journey is vital when it comes to creating the framework of your content strategy. The buyer’s journey should underpin every aspect of your content strategy, and as a small to medium sized organisation, it’s essential you understand the journey your customers take when researching and buying your product or service. In this article, we are going to be talking in-depth about the importance of understanding the buyer’s journey and how once you do, your marketing efforts will be more successful than ever before.

‘What’s a HubSpot partner?’ and ‘How will it help me increase sales?’ are both common questions asked by SMEs who are looking to grow their businesses and are thinking about outsourcing their marketing efforts. Basically, HubSpot’s Agency Partner Program helps agencies deliver effective inbound marketing and sales services through training and support for their clients. Okay, but what does this mean? Essentially, it means whenever an organisation engages a HubSpot Partner to help them with marketing or sales for their business, they can be confident they are educated and certified in the latest marketing and sales tactics that get results. 

These days, there is an abundance of content online, and it can be overwhelming for even the most prolific internet users among us. This content saturation, is making it harder for organisations to stand out from their competitors. In fact, recent research from BuzzSumo revealed that as a topic becomes more popular, there is often a massive increase in published content around that topic, which inevitably saturates the topic area and makes it harder to have your voice heard.

The buyer’s journey. You’ve no doubt heard the term before, and perhaps it’s left you scratching your head asking, “What is this all-important buyer’s journey and how will it help my business?” Well, if you’re a small business owner who’s looking to grow your business, the buyer’s journey is what’s going to help you do just that, grow your business. These days, most of your customers will find the information they need to make a buying decision by themselves. So how do you make sure your organisation is what they decide on? You need to provide the information they are looking for at each stage of the buying process.

There’s no doubt the marketing industry is undergoing a dramatic change. This is primarily due to the fact that buying habits have changed. Consumers don’t want to be sold to; they want to connect with a brand and feel as though that organisation truly understands them and their challenges. And, as the world of marketing continues to change in response to the changing needs of consumers, getting leads has become increasingly challenging for small businesses. According to HubSpot’s 2018 State of Inbound Report, when asked what is more difficult to do in sales compared to 2 to 3 years ago, 28% of respondents said ‘prospecting good leads’.