Angelfish Marketing Blog

Regardless of your industry, the web is an ever increasingly competitive space. Battling it out on the SEO playground has never felt trickier. Just when you think you’ve got it sussed, the rules of engagement change and everything that worked in the past seems futile. And there’s always some SEO expert selling their magic sauce for traffic-pumping success. But the truth is there is no magic sauce. And Google isn't trying to thwart online businesses by making it hard for you to rank. They want the same thing we all want: A great user experience and for everyone to find the best, most relevant content as easily as possible.

This is where the topic cluster SEO strategy comes in...

In a world of increasingly stretched budgets and advancing marketing methods, you may not know which strategies to use to boost your business’s brand and reputation.

However, inbound marketing could help you to reach your target audience and get more customers in a highly cost-effective manner.

Inbound marketing is simply a marketing method based on attracting customers through content and interactions. The key to a successful inbound marketing strategy is that this content and these interactions are relevant and helpful to your customers, which builds your brand, creates true customer loyalty and transforms your customers into brand advocates.

But how much of your inbound marketing budget will have an impact on your marketing strategies cost?

It’s a fair question and one that many businesses are keen to answer.

Inbound marketing is a highly effective marketing solution. On average, businesses spend significantly less on their inbound marketing compared to traditional outbound techniques. However, over 50% more leads come from inbound marketing services.

Inbound marketing is also a long-term and ongoing solution. There are a range of inbound marketing services and strategies available to your business. For example, you may decide to invest in a blog or create a series of targeted landing pages. As a result, its cost can vary greatly depending on the extent and range of strategies you decide to adopt.

At the Inbound 2018 conference earlier this year, Brian Halligan, CEO of HubSpot, announced that the inbound marketing methodology is changing. As marketers, we have become very accustomed to using the marketing ‘funnel’ model when devising and managing our marketing strategies. We know how it works; the process is simple: attract, convert, close, delight. The focus in recent years has been on the attract stage; creating valuable content to pull customers in has been the best way to generate new leads and grow your business. But now, 'cracks' are starting to appear in this funnel.

What are chatbots?

Imagine a world where we could communicate with robots to help us solve problems. Sound crazy? Well, this is actually becoming a reality with the increased use of ‘chatbots’ on websites. Chatbots are computer programmes that conduct conversations, designed to simulate how a human would respond to particular problems or issues a customer raises. Clever, right?

Digital marketing services are now branching out and beginning to implement artificial intelligence in their marketing strategies to increase value and save time. These days, how often do you pick up the phone and ring someone, compared to sending a quick text or WhatsApp message? Messaging networks such as Facebook Messenger are hugely popular as you can contact anyone, anywhere, and get an almost instant reply. Consequently, people are now expecting instantaneous responses from the companies they contact, too.

That’s where chatbots come in; their quick answers and friendly messages meet customers’ needs and are therefore becoming a popular method of communication.

In today’s fast-paced world, the way people buy is changing - and therefore the way we market to customers is changing too. Tired traditional techniques are being cast aside, with new digital methodologies such as inbound marketing services taking centre stage. You can find out more about inbound here - but in a nutshell, it’s all about using clever content to attract prospects to you and build lasting relationships. However, as well as appealing to clients, inbound has a number of benefits for your marketing team too - including increased efficiency. Read on to discover how inbound can help make your team more efficient…