INBOUND ACCELERATOR

How many different kinds of content marketing materials did you include in your last B2B marketing campaign? Which channels did you use to reach your target audience?

Choosing a name isn’t always easy. Just ask any parent—while some have known what they would name their kids since they were kids themselves, others like a friend of mine almost end up bringing home “Baby Boy Lastname” from the hospital because they just can’t decide.

There are many reasons a business blog should be a part of your content marketing strategy. Business blogs improve your website’s SEO and search rankings. They establish authority and thought leadership in your industry. Blogging provides opportunities to engage with readers and can be used in conjunction with other marketing strategies for lead generation. (More on why you should, or shouldn’t, use a business blog: 7 Reasons You Shouldn’t Have a Business Blog.)

As I recently reviewed our website, blog and lead generation metrics, it was interesting to note how most of our most popular downloads from the Inbound Marketing Learning Library are templates. It’s easy to see that our readers are looking for tools that can make their marketing and PR tasks simpler, and I’m glad we are able to provide those tools.

Effective marketing and PR strategies need to be designed, from the beginning, to reach prospects and customers at every point along the buyers’ journey. If you miss stages along the way, you’ll know it because conversion rates will suffer.

Successful content or inbound marketing requires working from an established strategy to create comprehensive campaigns that touch on all content distribution channels to reach the most potential sales prospects and engage them in ways that generate qualified leads and closed deals.

If you have been following my 15 Lessons From 15 Years series of blog posts (this is post #11), you may remember that when I discussed the key steps to successful marketing in the healthcare IT arena, I said that integrating PR and marketing was essential.

In fact, it is so important for all industries, not just that one, that I felt I needed to revisit the concept and walk you through the steps we follow to ensure that all communications create a cohesive message and focus on reaching the same corporate goals.

In my last two articles in this series of lessons in marketing, I’ve talked about the importance of trust when dealing with finances and money, and the importance of understanding the science when marketing in the life sciences industry. Healthcare IT is another field in which decisions are made slowly, based on data and authority.

Are you looking for a way to generate qualified leads that doesn’t involve cold calls, mass mailings (digital or print), or a heavy investment in paid advertising? Maybe a strategy that will not only provide leads, but also establish your company as a thought leader in your industry and a trusted source of information for current customers and prospects alike?

That is what inbound marketing can do. And often for a lower cost-per-lead than traditional outbound marketing. So, what do you need to do to create your first inbound marketing campaign?

The philosophy we subscribe to at JONES, and have been able to bring to fruition for some of our most successful clients, is the idea that everything you do in marketing and public relations is connected. And it should all be pointing, ultimately, toward bringing in leads and closing deals.

Our client West Corporation has successfully done just that with its healthcare communications and patient engagement technology department, working with us to take communications strategies from concepts through research, writing and design, promotion, and inbound lead generation all the way to finalized sales that