There are lots of reason not to do lots of things. Don’t ask if you never want to know. Don’t question if you never want to learn. Don’t explore if you never want to discover. Don’t try if you never want to fail. Not doing something is easy. It’s default. It’s the status quo. It’s where you are now, without having to lift a finger. It’s the last refuge of the lost. The last thing you’ll live to regret.
But let’s not get too philosophical. Let’s talk business. What are the things you’re doing right now, or more to the point, the things you’re NOT doing, that’s hurting your business...
- Maybe you’re not spending big on ad campaigns because you don’t have the budgets?
- Maybe you’re not pushing your head above the parapet because you don’t have the time?
- Maybe you’re not closing sales because you don’t have the leads?
Even if you’re not doing all of the above, there is one thing you can introduce that can heal the hurt….Inbound Marketing. “Why?” you may ask. After all, many CEOs don’t want to invest in new marketing initiatives like Inbound, without first seeing the proof that it works. They question whether they can afford to introduce Inbound and whether they can spend money without seeing the effect on the bottom line. What ROI can they expect? But how about we turn that on its head and ask, what will it cost you NOT to invest in Inbound? Let’s add up the opportunity cost, shall we?
You're not earning trust
First of all, you’re less likely to get ‘googled’. We’re not just talking about SEO here (although one of Inbound’s great strengths is raising your organic search results) but we’re talking about earned trust. The impartial advice that content marketing provides to educate, engage and empower your target market. The reason why people click on you in the first place. With sound advice regularly streaming from your blogs, people tend to see you increasingly as a thought leader, someone to trust. As your target audience learn the benefits of the service or products you provide (minus the sales pitch) the more likely they are to turn to you to satisfy that growing need. Just as importantly Inbound provides you with the backend levers and pulleys to track these visitors, so you can spot a quality lead and open up a channel of communication with them.
You're losing selling time
This rolls onto the next point; the opportunity cost to your sales force. After you’ve identified your leads and tracked them, separating the quality from the quantity, your sales team now have bona fide targets to follow up on. Think of all the cold calling, the networking, the fishing in the great expanse that presently serves only to waste the bait. By handing over quality leads to your sales force, they can concentrate on closing leads, rather than searching for them.
You're losing a march on the competition
So let’s say you still have doubts about introducing Inbound methodologies to your company - do you think your competition harbour these doubts? Wishful thinking, because you can sure they are using every tool at their disposal to eat into your market share. If they can race to the top and get there first, and become thought leaders within your industry while you’re busy cold calling, then you’re already playing catch up. You’re not just standing still, it’s worse than that, because the shifting sands of time are leaving you behind. You end up losing ground with of your competition and more and more of your future potential customers are already looking elsewhere.
All of which brings us back to the original point - bottom line. If you’re not investing in Inbound strategies, you’re not gaining traction on search engines; not educating, empowering and engaging your target market; not bringing qualified leads to your sales teams; and not keeping up with your competition. Surely it’s becoming crystal clear that there are significant repercussions on your bottom line.
Suddenly the question turns on its head. It’s not so much can you afford to invest in Inbound over traditional Outbound Marketing but instead the urgent question that springs to mind is, can you really afford NOT to?
At the very least, now is the time to explore the possibilities and discover if it’s right for you…
