What is inbound marketing? That’s a good place to start. Inbound marketing companies offer services that help businesses attract, reach, communicate with, and ultimately form a relationship with potential clients/consumers in the hopes of making sales. One reason they’re popular is because inbound leads cost 60% less than outbound leads on average. Types of inbound marketing services include, blogging, surveys, search engine optimization, pay-per-click campaigns, and various other methods.
It can be a confusing and foreign space for many small business owners who are experts in their field, but not necessarily business or marketing savvy. For these people, and really anyone considering such services, here are three important questions to ask of any inbound marketing agency before hiring them.
- Do you offer services that not only increase site traffic, but also create an overall healthy marketing infrastructure?: A quality inbound marketing agency will be able to answer this question with a definitive and confident yes. An inbound marketing agency should not only be worried about driving traffic to a site. While that’s certainly part of it, creating an infrastructure that promotes cross-platform capabilities and a holistic approach is crucial.
- Ask specific questions on goals, performance, overall strategy, and what they plan on working on first: It can be easy to get bogged down with complicated terminology and unfamiliar strategies, but don’t get to distracted. Make sure to ask any potential inbound marketing agency how they plan to track, analyze, and improve your current situation. Then ask them what the first thing they will do is. There is no ‘wrong’ answer to this, but it will give you an indication into whether they’re really familiar with your company and exactly what you want or just giving you the same spiel they give everyone.
- What’s their experience in the particular industry you represent?: Although it’s not necessarily a deal-breaker if they don’t, having experience in your industry can play a big role in their ultimate success/failure. Many industries operate specific ways and those without experience might not be able to take full advantage. It’s not uncommon for an inbound marketing agency to work exclusively in one or a couple related fields.
It’s never been a more important time to invest in inbound strategies. About 54% more leads are generated through inbound tactics versus traditional paid marketing and two times as many marketers say they deliver below average cost-per-lead compared to outbound. Just make sure to ask these questions, in addition to the many more you’ve come up with, to ensure you’ll be working with someone who can get you results.