5 Reasons Why Our Company Went All-In on Inbound Marketing (And Yours Should Too)

Truth be told, we never really fit the mold of a traditional “PR agency,” and once we got our foot in the door we often convinced clients to let us help with their owned media channels as well.

We soon found that this was the work that we truly loved. We wrote blog posts and bylined articles, published white papers and research reports, produced infographics and podcast interviews. We used our passion for narrative and knack for brand journalism to help clients develop their voice and speak directly, sometimes frankly, to their partners and prospects. 

At one point, we started doing as much if not more content marketing than PR, and we became more methodical in our approach. We put greater purpose into the type of content we created and who we created it for. We created a framework that consistently produced results by tying brand strategy, content marketing, and design into every stage of the customer journey. 

Today, we are “all-in” as an inbound marketing agency.

Last year we became a Gold-tier HubSpot Agency Partner, meaning we’re officially licensed to implement and manage marketing automation campaigns on their platform. We’ve amassed a talented team of writers, including former reporters, editors, and copywriters, while investing in their training so that now all of them are certified inbound marketing experts. We brought on a lead designer to help clients establish a brand and build beautiful-yet-functional websites and design assets that convert effectively. And we’ve renamed the company Fluid Group to align better with our current offering. 

Sure, PR is still a big part of what we do. In fact, the combination of PR and inbound is part of what makes us so unique. But we strongly believe that inbound marketing is the most important thing a B2B technology company can do in this day and age. 

Here are five reasons why we believe in it so completely, and we think you should too...

1. Inbound marketing puts the customer first

Inbound marketing is all about giving your prospects and customers helpful, informative content that makes their lives better, easier, or more productive. It’s not about forcing your product on people, but about making it easier for them to get information about your product or services when they’re ready for it. It’s about educating them and arming them with the right information to make better purchasing decisions — even if that means telling them when your product is not a great fit for their needs. It lets you speak directly to your audiences to guide them through every stage of the decision-making process. If you’ve done your job correctly, they’ll choose to work with you because you’ve gained their confidence and respect. 

2. It closes the loop between marketing and sales

Marketing campaigns focused on “generating buzz” or “raising awareness” are dangerously separated from the sales process. Even those that focus on lead generation tend to do so from a distance removed from the very sales team tasked with converting those leads into sales. On the other hand, inbound marketing is laser-focused on generating high-quality leads and nurturing those leads in lockstep with the sales process. Inbound marketing delivers content and CTAs for prospects at every stage of the marketing funnel — from interest and intent to evaluation and conversion — making your sales team more effective, efficient, and successful. 

3. Its value can be proven 

Marketers have a fraught history of trying to prove their value with hard metrics. Public Relations and other top-of-funnel marketing strategies are particularly hard to quantify. But everything about inbound marketing is tangible and measurable: leads for your sales team, traffic to your website, subscriptions for your blog or email, and so on. In this way, inbound marketing is predictable, and its ROI is calculable. 

4. It is evergreen

Unlike paid advertising, which provides a steady drip of inbound leads only as long as the budget remains open, organic leads from inbound marketing will continue to come in long after the content has been published. In most cases, the pain points that it addresses and the value that it provides will be timeless. And a great piece of content will drive search rankings and web traffic for months or years to come.  

5. Breaking the status quo builds trust

Inbound asks us to get to the heart of the story and share the insights we uncover. It requires us to question the status quo and to unpack things that others might take for granted. Only by asking insightful and sometimes difficult questions can we find the answers that we seek, and the marketers who can do this on behalf of their prospects are the ones who earn their trust. 

Inbound marketing is not easy. It requires careful planning, research, and execution. Most of all, it requires a certain level of intellectual curiosity that will enable you to put yourself in your customers’ shoes and answer the questions that are on the top of their minds. It is, however, effective — both at establishing authentic connections with your top prospects and customers and at enabling your company to grow. 

To get a free inbound marketing audit of your business, contact us.