Are you still using outbound marketing techniques to boost your sales and build your brand? Are you tired of spending hundreds and thousands trying to establish your authority in the industry and retain clients?

It is high time to let go of your past practices and move to inbound. “Why” you ask? Let's look at some numbers to answer that question:

  • Research shows that 60% of marketers in Europe use inbound marketing.
  • 64% of southeast Asian marketers believe in inbound marketing.
  • In North America, 79% of companies are investing in inbound marketing.
  • Globally, 74% of marketers are conducting inbound marketing primarily.

Now that the impact of inbound marketing and its popularity is clear to you, look at the ROI it generates: 

A Step wise guide to Inbound Marketing AutomationSource: hubspot

Once you decide to invest in inbound marketing, you will need to use many tools to conduct the campaigns and manage the leads. In order to give you a heads up, we are providing you with all the information about inbound marketing automation. Let us start with the basics:

What is Inbound Marketing Automation?

Simply put, inbound marketing automation is any marketing automation tool that is used keeping inbound methodology in mind. Understand that inbound marketing is not a tool; it is a practice and a concept that helps users attract, engage, and delight their potential customers.

Automation Tools, on the other hand, are responsible for bringing that to life.

Inbound marketing ideology states that we need to provide our prospects with valuable, personalized, and highly relevant content that resolves their queries. Inbound marketing automation is a tool that makes this happen.

Why Inbound Marketing Automation

all you need to know about inbound marketing automationSource: content.buysellads

It is essential to weigh whether it will be a fruitful decision for your company to invest in inbound marketing automation. Therefore, we are listing three chief benefits of automating the tools of inbound marketing.

Inbound Leads are not always Easy to sell to

Inbound marketing promotes a helpful mentality. Given that, you are responsible for producing relevant content to leads at every stage of their buyer's journey. This means some of them will still be in the awareness and consideration phase. Do not be discouraged!

They might not buy yet, but they definitely need your service and will reach out when they are ready.
So, what can you do to move them forward in the sales funnel? This is where CRM and inbound automation comes into play. Instead of bugging them with calls and emails, inbound automation provides a simple tool to keep those leads moving through the buyer's journey.

The automated workflows can approach them with relevant and exciting content that speaks to their stage in the buyer's journey and encourages them to remain connected to you and your brand. At the same time, you can keep track of the leads without checking up on them every day. 

After all, your goal is to keep your sales team focused on winning business at the right stage of the buyer's journey. Automated workflows tied with the right sale productivity tools will enable you get your sales team to work as efficiently as possible.

Inbound Leads are Diverse in Needs and Interests

all you need to know about inbound marketing automation 2Source: optinmonster

Even within your target audience, you will notice different patterns in the interests and preferences. But, it is not possible for the marketing or the sales personnel to analyze the unique needs of each inbound lead that comes along.

Again, CRM suits can solve this problem. You can set up workflows, and content delivery systems that send the appropriate content to the right leads at the right time.

Initially, you have to lay some groundwork in telling your CRM which leads are meant for which personas and their position in the buyer's journey, but once it's done, your CRM solution will take care of it on its own.

It not only saves you valuable time in personalizing thousands of emails but also promises a better customer experience. Now, your prospects can access content that is specific to their experience and challenges while you are hands-free.

Inbound Leads are Content-Hungry

all you need to know about inbound marketing automation 1 1

Source: app.hubspot

Consumers today want content from the brands they support and like. They want to watch videos, read blogs, hear podcasts, etc. Why? They want to make an informed decision. They don't want to be manipulated by promotional content; instead, they want to do their own research before reaching out to you.

However, as a sales or marketing person, you can't carry out all these conversations yourself. More importantly, your audience is not yet ready to listen to you. Inbound automation makes it possible to help your customers get around the right content without being too pushy.

Inbound automation delivers the content you produced to the qualified list of leads with zero assistance from you. By providing your clients with what they need without involving them in a long tiresome process, you gain their trust and establish authority in the market.

How can you Implement Inbound Marketing Automation?

By now, it is evident that inbound marketing automation has a lot of benefits and advantages. But to make the most of them, we need to know how to automate the tools in the first place.

The first step to automating inbound marketing tools is to get an efficient CRM suite integrated into your system. You can choose from different CRM solutions in the market, such as HubSpot, Salesforce, etc. 

You can also try marketing automation with MailChimp's email services, but we think an end-to-end CRM service is a better option.

Pro tip: Before picking the one for you, do thorough research to ensure the service provider is reliable and efficient. 

Once you have made your choice among the CRM suits, it is time to get started with the automation. The three big areas of automation in online marketing are

Email Marketing

You can use software to set up automated delivery of emails based on triggering events. There are two ways to automate emails by delivery or distribution.

Social Media Marketing

Thousands of third party best marketing automation platforms allow companies to automate their content distribution over social media. But you can also automate your engagement with followers and leads on social media.

Landing Pages

Previously companies used HTML and CSS to create the designs manually. It took a long time. Now templates are available for brands to use and design their landing pages.

If you are not quite sure about fiddling with it yourself, we recommend hiring professionals to take over. Several inbound marketing agencies will take care of the entire process as a third-party service provider.

Summing Up

It may seem overwhelming at first to change your entire marketing strategy and come up with new content frequently that adds value to your whole customer base. However, with HubSpot tools and their automation, you will be able to make the most of it.

Indeed, the results you yield are added motivation. So, why wait? Get your inbound marketing automated and start publishing.

For any assistance in inbound marketing or inbound marketing automation, contact us!

Frequently Asked Questions

Inbound marketing automation is a strategy that combines inbound marketing principles with automation tools and technology to streamline and enhance the lead generation and nurturing process. It involves the use of marketing automation software to execute, monitor, and optimize various inbound marketing activities, such as content marketing, email campaigns, social media engagement, and SEO. Inbound marketing automation helps businesses attract, engage, and delight their target audience by delivering personalized, relevant content and experiences at each stage of the buyer's journey. It allows for the automation of repetitive tasks, lead scoring, and the segmentation of leads, resulting in more efficient and effective marketing efforts.

Marketing automation and inbound marketing are related concepts but serve distinct purposes. Marketing automation refers to the use of software and technology to automate repetitive marketing tasks, such as email campaigns, lead nurturing, and customer relationship management. It aims to improve operational efficiency and the management of leads throughout the sales funnel. In contrast, inbound marketing is a broader strategy focused on attracting, engaging, and delighting customers through valuable, relevant content and experiences. Inbound marketing includes activities like content marketing, social media, SEO, and blogging, with the primary goal of drawing potential customers to your brand. While inbound marketing often utilizes marketing automation tools, marketing automation is a subset of the broader inbound marketing strategy.

Inbound marketing is built on four fundamental elements:

  • Attract: This stage focuses on drawing the right audience to your brand through content marketing, SEO, and social media strategies.
  • Convert: Once you've attracted visitors to your website, the next step is to convert them into leads by offering valuable resources, such as eBooks or webinars, in exchange for their contact information.
  • Close: The closing stage involves nurturing leads and guiding them through the sales funnel, employing techniques like email marketing and marketing automation to turn leads into customers.
  • Delight: After a sale, it's crucial to continue engaging and delighting customers with exceptional support, content, and service to promote loyalty, advocacy, and repeat business.

Inbound marketing encompasses a variety of tactics and strategies. Examples include content marketing through blog posts, videos, and eBooks, search engine optimization (SEO) to improve organic search rankings, social media engagement to build relationships and brand awareness, email marketing to nurture leads and maintain customer relationships, and offering valuable resources or tools on your website in exchange for contact information. Additionally, webinars, podcasts, and interactive content like quizzes or surveys can also be effective inbound marketing tools to attract and engage your target audience. The key is to provide valuable content and experiences that address your audience's needs and interests.

Danish Wadhwa is an entrepreneur driven by a passion for continuous learning. With over a decade in Data-Driven Marketing and certifications from HubSpot in Inbound, Content, Email, and Contextual Marketing, he specializes in driving business growth online. Besides, he writes extensively on topics ranging from digital transformation and SEO to customer engagement and business innovation.