Inbound Marketing is a popular, effective marketing technique. Let’s face it, cold calls and billboards are not sufficient in the digital age. Inbound Marketing allows companies to draw in an audience, to reach out and bring a consistent influx of customers via email, Twitter, Facebook, blogs, web content, etc. While we’ve seen that Inbound Marketing is effective, what should we be wary of? Does Inbound Marketing have its drawbacks and if so, what are they? At first glance it may seem easy to throw up a blog and call it a day. Inbound marketing is more than just a simple blog. It takes vigilance and careful metric analysis. Here are a few cautionary points about Inbound Marketing.
1) Inbound Marketing Isn’t The Only Way. Inbound is certainly effective, but don’t go throwing away your other effective tools. Consider it as an additional tool your company can use. Why have one tool kit when you can have two? If your ads at a movie theater are working, then keep doing them.
2) Don’t Use The Vanity Metrics. A Vanity Metric can be defined as any metric that inflates your ego, but does little to really achieve your goal. For example, if your goal is to increase revenue from PPC, Facebook Likes would be a Vanity Metric. It’s cool to get Likes, but it’s cooler to increase the revenue.
3) Keep Working It. Your inbound efforts need to be consistent and vigilant. When you finally get your first blog that breaks 3,00 views, you’re not done. You want people to return to the blog, and so you need to ensure that the regularly-updated content is relevant and interesting. Imagine you are taking care of your vehicle. You wouldn’t just drive it until it dies, would you? You would need to provide it with the proper maintenance, the right care. The same is true when managing Inbound Marketing.
Source: Wikipedia