In order for B2B digital marketers to effectively promote their businesses and acquire sales leads, their websites must immediately address the needs or challenges of visitors. Inbound Marketing* strategies rely on an interactive relationship between the marketer and his prospects, and it starts with his website. There are 5 features of Inbound Marketing websites that set them apart from other websites.
- Value propositions – With large amounts of information being directed at Internet users, they gradually succumb to a shorter attention span. Thus, it is important to grab the attention of website visitors quickly so that they will stay and browse your website. Am emphasis on design aesthetics makes the website visually appealing to its visitors, such as the use of colors, catchy headlines, visual design, etc. For instance, HubSpot has the value proposition of the statement “The #1 Inbound Marketing Platform” to arouse the curiosity of visitors to their website. After all, if the marketer doesn’t care about the website, why should the visitors?
- Accessibility – Websites are not just being visited from computers these days. A comScore report says smartphone and tablet usage now accounts for at least 60% of all online traffic. Making your website mobile-friendly encourages your visitors to stay longer on it. A mobile-responsive landing page provides another channel for effective visitor-to-lead conversion and bounce rate reduction.
- Social media activity –
Friend us on Facebook.
Follow us on Twitter.
Connect with us on LinkedIn.Sound familiar? The way Inbound Marketing works is that it functions in a closed loop, where all Inbound marketing platforms are integrated with each other, such as the main landing page, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and the blog. Links for each social network should be displayed clearly for the website visitor to see so they find it easy to move from network to network.
- Landing pages – Landing pages are where the contact details of a prospect are acquired. Initially, the prospect's name and email address are sufficient for submission when s/he want to download the free offer, e.g. ebook, white paper etc.. For successive downloads, other contact details should be collected. These are done so that digital marketers can better identify the prospect and his/her keen interest in specific topics and tailor-make their content to better serve the prospect's needs. As the marketer-prospect relationship develops, the better marketers know their prospects and their problems, the more likely prospects become customers of suitable solutions.
- Calls-To-Action (CTA) – The call-to-action (CTA) button or link encourages visitor action, such as "download your FREE ebook" or "access your FREE trial", therefore it must be designed to look visually appealing yet straightforward to visitors. Here is an often overlooked tip: create a CTA button for your "contact us" page too. Set up a readily accessible channel for your visitors to contact the marketing or sales team with the CTA on as many web pages as possible. This also provides the team staff opportunities to clear prospects' questions and doubts and help them better understand the products or services on offer.
These 5 essential features are what set Inbound marketing websites apart from their traditional counterparts, not only for attracting more website visitors, but also the ideal kind of visitors that are likely to turn into leads.
* Inbound marketing is a form of digital marketing that involves SEO, Social Media, blog and landing pages to generate sales leads.
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