We were lucky enough to sit down with inbound strategist, Sean Farias, for an interview recently. Sean is a University of Virginia graduate who has been working with in inbound marketing since 2013, first with Business on Market St. and now Campaign Creators.
What exactly is Inbound Marketing?
Inbound marketing is different than outbound or interruption marketing. Inbound marketing is all about attracting people to your site by creating content that promotes engagement. Our growing dependency on technology in the Information Age has forced people to change their information seeking techniques. Gone are the days of pop-up ads and junk mail, and along with it the complex pop-up blockers and spam filters that come preinstalled on computers. Inbound is all about being innovative and finding new, less annoying ways to generate leads.
How does inbound marketing work?
Inbound marketing works through organic traffic. People search for information they are interested in learning more about and by providing free education, in return for an email address. Of course, the people who engage with your brand by choice are more likely to return to your site and eventually become a customer. In order to be successful at inbound marketing, you have to create channels to target those you’re interested in building relationships with. Our inbound marketing funnel is designed to attract and convert potential clients.
What type of activities help move the needle?
Well that depends on what resources are available and a company's ability to internalize. It’s also difficult to put a fixed cost on it. The more knowledge you have, the easier it is to move the needle without extra costs. With inbound marketing efforts, such as blogging 2 to 5 times a week, your traffic could double within 6 to 9 months, but it’s important to remember that it’s not just about content creation, it’s the inbound ecosystem that matters. We were able to double our traffic within a couple of months just by increasing our blogging from 2 times a week to everyday. Inbound works.
What excited you the most about inbound marketing?
The thing that excites me the most is the evolution of company involvement with consumers and the ability for consumers to have more power. Businesses have to be savvier when it comes to communication and they are now forced to build relationships with their consumers. This is a new challenge that businesses will have to adapt to, it’s an exciting time to be in marketing.
I’m new to this whole content generation thing, what advice do you have for me?
Content generation needs a purpose. Understanding whom your trying to communicate with and tailoring your content to them is key. Content is key, but only if it’s relevant.
We would like the thank Sean for his time. If you have any questions you’d like to ask him, comment below and we will send them along!
