Grow!™ with Inbound Marketing Blog

If you have a business website and you are searching for way to get traffic, you may have heard the term "Inbound Marketing" over recent months.  It's a term which is intended to categorize a style of marketing that's basically intended to create "pull"  versus "push" marketing.  The opposite of "inbound marketing" would be - take a guess... right - "outbound marketing".

Both terms end in the word "marketing" which might lead you to believe there have to be some similarities.  Again, you would be right.  Both are intended to get you more customers. Some techniques are similar.  The big differences are in the overall philosophy and the tools used to execute a marketing campaign.  We explain the differences in our short PDF:


In simple terms, "outbound marketing" is about going wide and using broadcast type methods like direct mail, radio & TV spots, billboards, banners, and similar and hope that someone who might be a customer or client sees one and is motivated on the spot to contact you.   It's the old fashioned way of doing things.  Not that it can't work - there are still plenty of commercials on TV.  The question is will it work for your business and can you afford it?  Or if you've used it in the past, is it as effective as it used to be?

"Inbound marketing" is take a different approach to start. There are 3 major elements to the inbound marketing approach.  We'll talk about the first one here and other in future posts.

At it's heart, the inbound approach which is almost exclusively web/internet based, relies on the only reasons in the world people even use the internet.

There are really only two reasons to use the internet, the only 2 real "needs" being met:

1) solve a problem / get an answer

or

2) to be entertained / find entertainment  ("finding" is also solving a problem)

That's it. Think about it. Everything you do on the web can be be clumped into one (or both of those broad reasons for using the web.    Inbound marketing leverages that concept by assuming if a person is trying to do either they will search for things that help solve a problem or be entertained.

The first goal of inbound marketing is quite simple to "Get Found".  It's to create a magnet using content that draws potential customers to you at the time they are searching for something.  This is the right time to have them find you.  When your product or service is needed.  Once you've been found, then you can engage and hopefully begin to start talking with or even begin to build a relationship (acquaintance?) with the potential customers.

More in the next post - or get the details here right now:


Let's Grow!

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Excerpt from Chapter 1 of Grow! - The eCourse...

"There is a secret to addressing growth. One which, if you know it and use it, will keep you focused on the right activities. It will lead to thinking that drives the results you want. The secret is actually pretty simple. But first another question...who drives the results you want for any given metric? They do. Who are they? “They” - your audience - are Customers. Constituents. Community. Students. Vendors. Owners. Employees. Faculty. Board. Shareholders. Or someone else.

One thing is certain.

They are someone. People.

So here is the secret: To grow, you have to build relationships with people.

You probably knew that. You may have been doing it for years and may be very good at it. However, have you noticed something? The times are changing. Always have been, yet the rate of change is increasing. You will be glad to know, there are really only 3 things between you and all the growth you can handle."

In Grow - the eCourse, we'll walk through the tools to address the things in your way and fuel a growth engine. It's free. So check it out.

If you step back and view your local school district or local school as a business which faces many of the same challenges as a business, then you can

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easily apply some the internet's hottest tools toward the benefit of that "business". It can be a win-win for you and all the those who benefit from better schools and schooling. Obviously, the kids should and will receive the biggest benefit. Equally obvious, I hope, is that in the end, that benefits society as a whole.

Here is one area the tools discussed in Grow! - The eCourse can help. In the previous post, I noted how tax dollars were capped and test scores drove ratings. So, if your revenue is capped, you want to improve your music program, but your math scores aren't where you want them - do you spend more money on improving math scores or invest in fine arts?

First, the district needs to communicate there is a question to answer - in this example: math vs. fine arts. A blog by a district authorized person, is a great forum for this. The blog's existence would of course be communicated to the parents and tax base. At least then the constituents will know about the topic. It would be highly beneficial if such a blog where regularly updated with all manner of topics as part of a holistic communications plan.

Second, what might be a creative way to offset the need for tax dollars to fully fund two things when there are only tax dollars for partial or base level funding? Thinking like a business still, this where a school / district can do a little creative marketing. A booster club run by volunteers (parents usually, students sometimes) AND endorsed / relied on by the administration can create a more enriching experience for the students without a budget increase.

Typically, a booster club will help with fund raising and organizing the boosters. Less often do you find a) alignment with the school on a messaging program about the organization being boosted b) coordinated communication of that message and c) use of modern tools to do the communication or other booster activities. If a booster club operated more as an adjunct of the school, in terms of alignment and direction and communicated to their audience in several ways, their opportunity to grow the organization and increase the value of that activity in the eyes of the community would rise substantially.

So, let's take a school marching band as an example. Let's assume the band director and the administration are aligned on the value of band as an important program. If not, that may be first task. It works best as part of a broader plan started at the top. The administration should occasionally blog about the band. The band director (or designee) should regularly be blogging about the activities and goings on with the band: contests, awards, concerts, new half time shows, scholarships, etc. These posts should be connected to outbound RSS feeds, sent as email broadcasts, twitter feeds and so on. All parents, local tax base, school boards, students, teachers and admin should be made aware of the multiple ways to connect and receive these updates.

Now layer on the boosters. To whom the school refers in their communications.

Twitter accounts for the band could be set up. By band director and boosters. Real time updates from contests, football games, reminders of concerts, and so on could be made to constituents unable to attend. A facebook "page" could be owned by the band or band boosters, even the student members (officers or those who understand the marketing purpose) who can and will agree to make periodic updates, post photos (don't forget waivers may be needed) as well as links to the blog feeds mentioned above.

With the increased visibility and transparency at the school level, the job of the boosters adding to the overall marketing of the band becomes easier. They can feed off the support from the school itself and work on further share of mind and participation within the community. Fund raising becomes less an uphill battle as the benefits and value are communicated consistently. More non-tax funds lead to more enriching experiences. Tax dollars go further.

If the administration takes such an example to heart and applies it broadly in a suggested holistic communications plan, well, an old saying applies, "a rising tide lifts all boats."

To Growth!