What is Inbound Marketing you ask?
Inbound Marketing built for Building Suppliers.
The world of building materials marketing is constantly evolving. One of the biggest innovations to date is the rising popularity of inbound marketing.
Originally coined in 2005 by Brian Halligan, co-founder of HubSpot, the concept of inbound marketing is also known as "permission-based marketing." It pivots around the idea that a company can attract customers to buy its products or services with amazing, helpful content rather than actively hunt them down using disruptive outbound marketing tactics.
With inbound marketing, it’s about solving people’s problems and providing the right information at the right time to help nurture them through the sales funnel.
What is a sales funnel, you ask?
Let’s explore the different stages, and how inbound marketing applies to each one.
Top Of The Funnel (ToFu)
The first step in inbound marketing for building materials companies is creating content specifically for your ideal customers, whether they be architects, interior designers, or any other type of end user shopping for supplies.
This process is largely driven by an understanding of your buyer personas and the problems they face—as well as how your product or service can solve them.
Part of the content creation process also comes through finding and using relevant keywords so your intended audience finds you easily on search engines. Sometimes this means using more expert SEO techniques to optimize your website overall, though simply using unique or long-tail keywords is a good place to start.
Use these keywords in all content you create, with blogging being a key vehicle to drive organic traffic to your site.
Through blogs (whether in text or video form), you can address pain points that interest visitors coming to your site. Of course, you can count on social media as a free place to post your content and supplement your organic traffic. Thanks to hashtags, you can use more targeting and attract those in the construction or architecture industry within minutes.
Middle Of The Funnel (MoFu)
Once you've attracted visitors to your site, it's time to give them something more valuable in exchange for finding out who they are. Before you give them that exclusive content, you need to gather their personal contact information.
You'll already have their trust with the valuable content that lead them to your site in the first place. Now it's time to give them premium content they can't find anywhere else. Consider content like e-books, a consultation, or even a webinar done live or taped in advance.
As these leads continue their journey through the funnel, you have the opportunity to position your building materials company as an industry influencer and reliable source of information. This, in turn, primes your leads to turn to you when they’re ready for the final step in their quest to solve their problems.
Bottom of the Funnel (BoFu)
After you've established a relationship with your leads, it's time to close the sale on your products or services. Do this only if a lead shows recurring interest in your content and doesn't show signs of indecisiveness—pushing too hard and being too salesy can scare them off.
Through the closing phase, you can send the leads timed emails to help them make the final move. This can include coupons, discounts, or an opportunity to request a quote or consultation with your sales team.
This is also a good place to let your building materials company shine by highlighting how your products or services compare to the competition. By now, your prospects should already know that they’re not dealing with amateurs when it comes to your company!
Delighting After The Sale
One of the things that sets inbound marketing apart is the fact that once you close a deal, you don't stop nurturing customer relationships. You can—and should—continue to send worthwhile content to customers on a regular basis to help them get the most of your product or interest them in similar products.
At stake here is getting word-of-mouth going about your building materials and maintaining loyal customers. You don’t just want people who buy your stuff—you want brand evangelists!
Is Inbound Marketing Right For Your Building Materials Company?
While it sounds like a tall order, all of the above can fit your company’s budget since inbound marketing costs very little when it comes to creating content and posting it online. Even with the added costs of marketing automation software and enlisting the help of an inbound marketing agency, the goal is to enable and increase your lead generation and sales over time, which can provide an amazing return on investment (ROI).
Inbound marketing is perfect for companies who are seeking to better understand their leads and customers, position themselves as the experts in their fields, and sell more intelligently.
Above all, inbound marketing can better enhance your brand message. It helps you to create content you know your audience wants to consume, helping you focus more on solving problems for qualified leads and less on chasing people who will never be interested.
