When you use a tool, you make a strategy, you use a technique, in addition to knowing its strengths, the advantages to be fully exploited, it is very important to also be aware of the weaknesses, the possible downfalls, those weaknesses to which you have to pay a lot be careful not to fall into a trap.
It is for this reason that here, now I will suggest the 6 most serious errors that you could but you must not commit when implementing an Inbound Marketing strategy.
1. Don’t hit the target
In the post “How to set up an Inbound Marketing strategy “, I made you reflect on the importance of a careful and detailed preliminary analysis, fundamental to know the internal and external situation of the brand and, therefore, also your target audience.
Furthermore, I have repeatedly told you that the fundamental principle of Inbound Marketing is: designing the right message for the right people so that you can be found in the right place at the right time. The knowledge of your target audience is therefore essential.
Who are the people you are communicating to? You have to study them in detail and to do this you can help yourself with the Buyer Personas model. It is a sort of identity card of your interlocutor, in which to insert all the information that you will have been able to collect about him (age, gender, purchasing power, nationality, job, education, purchase habits, consumption habits , hobbies, and so on).
The more information you can get, the better you will get to know your target audience and plan an effective message, tailored for him.
2. Underestimate the analysis and choice of keywords
Keywords are very important to position your content and to be found by your (potential) customers. It is therefore essential to analyze and understand the research intentions of your users and choose the right keywords. Once on Google, what will your potential customers look for? And how will they search? Typing what words?
Also, be careful not to confuse a high volume of research with the sure success of your positioning strategies.
In fact, it is often wiser to choose keywords that belong to the so-called long tail (the long tail of keywords, those with lower search volumes) rather than keywords with search volumes so high that they are too competitive and for which it will be very (very) difficult to rank among the first SERP results.
3. Start without a strategy
Do you really think you can start doing Inbound Marketing without a precise strategy that defines the goal you want to achieve, that you set the guidelines to follow, that provides ways out in case of need?
You need a strategic document in which to indicate the destination to be reached, the intermediate stages, the ways in which to get there and the means you can use. Without strategy you will move in the dark. And you will fall.
4. Don’t find the right tools
Can you sail at sea if you can’t count on a solid boat, travel in the sky without an airplane, and take a trip if you don’t have a means of travel at your disposal? No, and the same goes for Inbound Marketing: if you don’t rely on the right tools, your strategy will fail.
But what are the right tools? Those suitable for you, your goal, your target audience, your message. In this post I have suggested all the Inbound Marketing tools.
5. Underestimate the importance of the blog
This is one of the most common and also most serious mistakes. The blog is a central tool in your Inbound Marketing strategy and for several reasons:
- helps your website to position itself in the SERPs of search engines and, more generally, to be found , thanks to content that meets the needs of your users, to the wise use of keywords and to sharing posts;
- It helps you to consolidate your brand reputation and to establish yourself as an expert in the sector;
- Allows you to increase your brand awareness, or the reputation of your brand;
- Allows you to attract customers potentially interested in your offer;
- Allows you to retain customers you have already acquired.
The prerequisite is one: content. That they are well planned, carefully studied, of interest to your user, real and written in an engaging way.
6. Underestimate loyal customers
Loyal customers are the real asset of your business. And do you know why? Because they give you two invaluable advantages:
- A loyal customer will return to buy from you spontaneously or, without you having to try too hard to convince him. And this translates into savings of time and money resources;
- A loyal customer will become an active promoter of your brand and your message. This for you means a lot of promotion not only free but also perceived as honest and disinterested by the people who are part of your client ambassadors network. He will activate a positive word of mouth towards you and you will benefit from all this.
You will understand well, therefore, how and how fundamental it is not to neglect and indeed enhance the last phase of the Inbound Marketing funnel, that is, the one that suggests you to nourish, pamper and delight your loyal customer over time and in a personalized way, so as to make him feel important and to take advantage of those precious advantages that loyalty entails.
6 errors of Inbound Marketing: conclusion
I have described to you what I think are the 6 most serious inbound marketing mistakes you can make but you must avoid when approaching a strategy especially like services where you get instant economic license in Abu Dhabi. There are certainly many others, but an almost complete list can only be made with your suggestions.
So now it’s your turn! What is the biggest mistake we can make when implementing an Inbound Marketing strategy?