How to Learn from Your Inbound Marketing Mistakes

by aschmidt

Successfully launching an inbound marketing campaign can be a gold mine for your business, but unfortunately, the opposite is also true: A small oversight or mistake in your inbound marketing campaign can derail your business in short order. Inbound marketing mistakes can and do happen, and when they do, it’s important to take time to thoroughly evaluate the situation so you can make improvements for the next time. Below are some key questions to ask that will help you assess, correct and learn from your inbound marketing mistakes.

Did you begin your campaign without a solid marketing strategy?

Many times businesses become so focused on tactics and techniques that they actually lose sight of their overall marketing strategy. It’s critical for a business to take the time to develop and establish a rock-solid marketing strategy before engaging in any inbound marketing campaigns. Your marketing strategy should be the hub around which all of your inbound marketing tactics are organized. This will ultimately increase the effectiveness of your efforts.

Did you have a good idea of what type of customer you were trying to reach?

Developing what’s known as a “target persona”, or a profile of the type of customer you’re wanting to market to, is paramount when planning an inbound marketing campaign. Many companies commit the fatal flaw of distributing content without actually having their target audience in mind. You have to take the time to develop a complete persona, which means going beyond the demographic data points such as age, gender, income level, etc. Take the time to find out the more subjective factors of your customers’ personalities such as how they make decisions, what their pain points are, where they get their information, what their goals and objectives are, etc. Understanding what makes your ideal customers tick will play a big role in adequately customizing your inbound marketing campaigns.

Have you integrated your inbound marketing efforts with your outbound marketing efforts?

Unfortunately, many businesses suffer from a “Jekyll and Hyde” syndrome when it comes to their marketing campaigns – their branding efforts are not integrated across all marketing channels. While traditional outbound marketing (e.g., print ads, TV ads, banner advertising, etc.) is notorious for being largely untargeted, if you add in a simple call to action that directs potential customers to a dedicated landing page on your website, you then have a much more effective funnel for converting visitors into leads.

Have you developed a solid lead nurturing strategy?

There’s perhaps no greater tragedy than finally getting a customer through the door, but then having little to no idea of what to do next. If you don’t give equal attention to all aspects of your sales conversion funnel, you may find yourself forfeiting great leads due to an incomplete or inadequate lead nurturing strategy. Establish multiple touch points with your leads along every segment of their journey through your sales funnel, and once they’ve made a purchase, a solid follow-up strategy must be in place as well to keep them coming back.

Have you incorporated social media into your inbound marketing campaign?

Many businesses overlook this step, and they dilute the effectiveness of their marketing efforts in the process. By aligning your tweets, pins and Facebook posts with the overall goals of your inbound marketing campaign, you expand the reach of your message and demonstrate a strong brand persona that looks harmonious instead of fragmented.

Performing a sober and thorough evaluation of your efforts will definitely be your best friend in terms of perfecting your inbound marketing strategy. If you’ve made any of the above mistakes, this is not the time to lose heart! You can’t do anything about the past except gain insight from it, and then use that insight to do better next time. Remember that failure is not final; failure is simply feedback, and you can use that feedback to your advantage by starting your next inbound marketing campaign with a much more effective and well-informed strategy.

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