Books are great. In fact, you could argue that there’s never been a better time to learn from business leaders thanks to the rise of social networking and the explosion in publishing options and marketing potential. That’s why we’re starting a new series where we’ll be taking a look at some of the best business books on the planet and sharing the wisdom that they have to offer.
Today, we’re kicking things off by taking a look at Inbound Marketing by Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah. This seminal release comes from the two cofounders of HubSpot, the company which pioneered the inbound marketing methodology and found itself valued at almost $1 billion after its high-profile IPO.
In Inbound Marketing, Halligan and Shah share their vision for a new type of marketing that follows on from Seth Godin’s Permission Marketing but takes it one step further. Here’s how.
Inbound Marketing
The main concept behind Inbound Marketing is the switch from the old style of intrusive advertising, in which people are interrupted while watching TV or reading a newspaper, towards a new form of unobtrusive advertising that people actually want to consume.
It does that through something that we’re all now very familiar with: the creation of content. This was a much more revolutionary idea when the book was first published back in 2009, but the basic principles that the two authors espouse are still just as relevant as ever.
Instead of interrupting people with advertisements, inbound marketers create content to address customers’ pain points, bringing them in through search engines and social networking sites by providing something of value. Of course, value means different things to different people, from creating entertainment-based content to providing instructions or informational content, which means that the whole approach is perfect for both B2B and B2C businesses.
Inbound Marketing for B2Bs
For many B2B brands, this involves the creation of ebooks, whitepapers, blog posts, webinars and more which take a subject that’s relevant to their audience and explore it in depth. There are multiple benefits to doing this, such as the ability to strike up a two-way conversation with your audience and the fact that you can repurpose content. If you film a webinar, for example, then you can share the slides and turn it into a series of short videos and an accompanying blog post.
The best part is that after you provide this content, you can hit your prospects with a call-to-action, encouraging them to do whatever it is that you want them to do. If you’re truly adding value then they’re going to be more than happy to do something in return.
There’s much, much more to be learned from Inbound Marketing than we’ve covered here, but this should be good enough to give you a rough idea of what you’re in for. If you’re intrigued by the concept and want to read more then head over to Amazon and get yourself a copy.
Dane
Dane Cobain is a published author, freelance writer, book blogger, poet and (occasional) musician from High Wycombe, UK. Before going freelance, he worked as a social media marker, now specialising in writing about publishing, technology and marketing.