If you had to choose between reading an article you wanted to read, and reading an article that was trying to sell you something you weren’t necessarily interested in at the moment, which would you choose? More than likely, you would prefer to read about an issue that has some sort of relevance or importance to you. The same logic applies to online marketing–your business should be bringing customers in with content that matters to your target audience, instead of shouting ads at people who aren’t ready or interested in your business yet.

Now more than ever, when people search for products or services online, they end up searching for local businesses in their area that meet their needs. In fact, according to Search Engine Watch, “50% of all mobile searches are conducted in hopes of finding local results, and 61% of those searches result in a purchase.” In other words, inbound marketing is a proven methodology for local businesses just as much as it is for larger companies.

But what are some of the reasons why you need local inbound marketing for your business, and how can this inbound marketing help your business in general? Below are just a handful of reasons why inbound marketing is good for your local business; for further details on the Inbound Marketing Methodology, check out the article in our Blog, “What is local inbound marketing?”

• Customer-centric perspective is superior to the marketer-centric perspective 

            The difference between the traditional style of marketing and inbound marketing is that inbound marketing is all about the customer, their needs, their problems, and their goals, and ultimately, how you and your business can help them, while the traditional model was all about how many people you can get to see your brand. There are various ways that the inbound methodology uses to get target audiences to your website and your business.

• Take advantage of social media to promote your business with content

One of those ways is through the use of social media, and the odds are that you are doing some form of inbound marketing when it comes to social media already! That’s right, because every time you post on Facebook or Instagram about your business, provide a link to a useful video or blog post, or use email as way to promote an eBook, you are essentially using the basic principles of inbound marketing.

• Learn about your target audience to get more qualified leads 

            Inbound marketing software is one of the many great tools at your disposal when you work with a company like LOJO, and this is perfect for local businesses because it can be difficult to know where to start when it comes to nailing down a true target audience. Once you learn more about the audience you are targeting, you can use additional inbound marketing tools to identify what the needs and problems of those people are. These inbound marketing tools also give you insight in terms of what you should build your content around, thus setting up the relationship upon which qualified leads are built.

• Lower the costs you spend on maintaining leads, and save money overall 

Don’t let all the talk of software tools and analytics fool you; inbound marketing is not an expensive alternative to already expensive marketing models. Believe it or not, according to online marketing studies conducted by Hubspot, companies on average save around $20,000 when investing in inbound marketing versus on outbound marketing methodologies.

Moreover, when it comes to maintaining leads and cutting down on attrition, inbound marketing is superior to outbound marketing by a long shot. Compared to the inefficient methods of maintaining leads within the traditional marketing model, inbound marketing is much less expensive since there is such a focus on targeting content to the right leads at the right time.

If you’re still not sure if Inbound Marketing is the right choice for your local business, a member of our friendly staff would love to talk further about all the reasons why inbound marketing can make such a difference in your business, so give us a call today!

Written by Cassie Sohn