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This post is based on a question asked by the team at Rocket Matter, legal practice management software. Inbound marketing takes time, but most marketers only have a few hours in the schedule that they can carve out for inbound marketing, which can make prioritizing activites extremely difficult.
If you only have a few hours to dedicate to inbound marketing per week, how should you allocate your time?
Spend 40% on Blogging / Content Creation
Content creation is the biggest factor in the Inbound Marketing Equation. Each time you publish a blog post you are increasing the indexed page volume of your site and the ability to rank for important keywords. You are also creating great link bait and engaging with your subscribers, customers, potential leads, industry professionals, etc.
Helpful Links:
Learn more about why every business should blog and learn a few Business Blogging Lessons From Google's Chief Blogger.
Spend 30% on Calls-to-Action and Landing Pages
Encourage your visitors to take the next step, and turn your website into a lead generation machine with compelling offers! Make sure your calls-to-action are bold, direct, action oriented and clickable. Really make them pop, and include at least two calls-to-action on your most popular pages. The more offers you have, the more likely someone is to convert on one of them. And, don’t forget to add calls-to-actions to the end of each of your blog posts and in your email marketing to improve lead generation!
Helpful Link:
Want More Leads? Offer Downloadable Content.
Spend 20% on Link Building
High quality inbound links not only drive traffic to your website, but they also help search engines understand how authoritative and important your website is which results in higher rankings.
Here are a few ways you can build links:
- Get engaged. Find relevant conversations that are happening on blogs, in social media, etc. and add something to the conversation. Connect with people in your industry and build online relationships.
- Create good link bait. Use your blog to develop unique and insightful content that others will want to link to.
- Submit to directories. Submit your website to quality directories like Yahoo! Directory
- Use HubSpot’s Link Grader. See what domains are linking to your competitors and see if there’s any opportunity for your website.
Helpful Link:
Need more link building ideas? Check out Duct Tape Marketing’s 7 Ways to Acquire the Right Kinds of Links to Your Site.
Spend 10% on Social Media
Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube, Digg, Delicious, StumbleUpon…oh my! I know social media can seem a bit overwhelming, but it’s worth spending a small percentage of your inbound marketing time each week using social media to help you achieve your business and marketing goals. Use social media to build online relationships, create brand awareness, get valuable feedback, and drive more traffic to your website. Take a few small steps towards becoming more social, and you’ll be surprised at the results.
Helpful Link:
New to social media? Check out our Social Media Marketing Hub to get all the information you need to get started.
What inbound marketing mix is working best for your business?
Photo Credit: D'Arcy Norman
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