Don’t fly solo when a team can net you more success

Why a PR firm is a great inbound marketing partner

Traditionally, the sales, PR and marketing functions haven’t always gotten along. There are squabbles over budget dollars, arguments over territory and confusion about who can claim success for various initiatives. Now, with inbound marketing, all that can change.

Inbound marketing represents a new way of selling and conducting your business online. It involves engaging your target audiences, building relationships and making more conversions by using the right kind of value-added content. A PR firm can make this process much easier.

How a PR firm helps with inbound marketing

You can use tools such as email blasts, social media posts and blogs to connect with customers, but they’re all meaningless if you don’t really know what to say. A PR firm is made up of professional communicators who can create the kind of content and initiatives that get results.

Content quality is one of the most important factors for increasing conversion rates. A first-rate PR firm will be able to generate solution-based content at every stage of the buyer’s journey. This includes SEO, blogging, optimizing your website and developing customer-centric initiatives to attract and engage your key audiences.

For instance, a good PR team understands the importance of focusing on benefits (the wants and needs of your customers) over features (what the product does). Also, they know that you can never underestimate the power of a great call to action, a winning headline and a keyword-conscious social media post.

What exactly is inbound marketing?

Inbound marketing provides a different way of thinking about the buyer’s journey and what it takes to actually close a sale today. It’s no longer sufficient to just be the loudest kid on the block, expecting consumers to pay attention to your company because you make the flashiest presentation.

In order to attract, convert, close and delight customers in this new, open-24-hours world we now live in, you can’t talk at your customers, you must speak with them. They demand real dialogue, opportunities for input and demonstrations of your corporate social responsibility.

With inbound marketing, you can learn how to align these objectives with your company’s overall strategic goals and put more power behind your communication efforts. In addition, it helps with finding the best distribution method to reach each of your targeted audiences.

For example, your customers will respond differently to your messages and how you present them depending on where they are in the sales cycle funnel. When in the consideration stage, they may look more favorably on tools such as webinars, case studies and FAQ sheets. However, these factors might not be as important for a customer in the decision-making stage, where things like ROI reports and product demos may make more of an impact.

To build your customer base and drive sales, it is vital to utilize all the smart resources that are available to you. Inbound marketing can be helpful at every stage as a simple way to turn prospects into delighted ambassadors for your brand.

Axia PR and inbound marketing

At Axia, we are experts at content management and the social media tactics that will help your company increase visibility and sales. Contact us today or register for our 60-Second Impact to learn how we use inbound marketing to create content and campaigns with the purpose of making your business more successful.

Lisa Goldsberry is a writer for Axia Public Relations with more than 15 years of public relations experience. She specializes in business, higher education and technology PR. Connect with Axia Public Relations on Twitter @axiapr.