Do you face the ABC inbound marketing problem?
Most of us do, including those who practice inbound for a living. And that includes me.
Should I start with 'A', 'B' or 'C'?
A for Acceptance
I would like to quote Yannick Bollore, the chairman and chief executive officer of the global communications group Havas, here.
"Clients are asking for digital but I would say it is one-third of their spends and two-thirds of their concerns"
There is denial. Ironically, tentative.
Unquestionably, there is increasing interest for inbound marketing. On the flip side, not everybody accepts it, yet, as a legitimate marketing strategy.
Marketers are realizing that traditional marketing is breaking down. But, is the realization leading to acceptance?
Yes, in pockets. And that is when they confront 'B'.
B for Belief
This is tricky. Just one month into our inbound marketing assignment, the Herald Logic management team quipped, 'This thing works'.
Seeing is believing. True.
But, what does one do when there isn't much to see? Or when the belief gets shaken and questioned. How does one keep pushing through?
C for Commitment
The Aanjna brothers at Dharohar Realty started off on inbound marketing when the Gurgaon real estate market was in the doldrums. Month after month, the team blogged, published SEO oriented pages, created meaningful content and responded to all prospect queries. Nothing material happened.
But, they kept at it. As an entrepreneur, I completely understand how frightful it is to keep moving forward when there are only outflows and no inflow. Then one fine day, it happened. The inbound machine cranked up. The brothers have been on a roll ever since.
It took effort and...
D for Discipline
This is where inbound marketing goes professional.
Regular blogging, consistent social publishing, responsive social media management, purposeful analytics, and buyer persona oriented campaigns require sophistication, organization and creativity.
Did you say 'E'?
