by Nina Joubert
Inbound marketing tracks the consumer through three phases: to find your target, to ensure that they convert (or take an action on your message) and then finally to analyse the success of your message or campaign. This is ultimately the journey of a campaign message.
Firstly, identify and build your audience. Find out who they are by conducting opt-in campaigns to your database. Secondly understand how your audience has responded to your message and what actions they have taken as a result of the campaign.
The final stage, analysis, involves understanding the data gathered during the second stage and using this insight to assess the relevance of your campaign. This will help you become more insight driven and insight led to ensure you continuously move towards serving relevant content to the relevant audience.
Using email, mobile and social to get found
If you take a look around, you’re likely to notice a sea of faces staring down at their mobile phones. Facebook newsfeeds move at the same pace as the stock exchange and a good 60% of email users are constantly monitoring their inbox. Because of the personalised and addictive nature of these channels, they provide a space for marketers to speak directly to an individual in their personal environment. If you want your target audience to find you, and for your message to find its way into “hands”, the right hands, then consider adopting email, SMS and social media as part of your inbound marketing strategy.
Tracking conversion
The most valuable asset to email, mobile and social is that all three are easy to track provided you have the right tools. Email service providers often provide tools to track opens, clicks, list interaction, device reporting and more. Software is also available to track performance on social media including the “sharing” of your content, while bulk SMS services can go as far as tracking bounces, unsubscribes, complaints and opens.
This information will be able to reveal the level of engagement of your message, which ultimately will give you insight into the relevancy of your campaigns.
Analysing metrics
Analysing the data you receive as a result of the tracking of key conversion points, allows the marketer to make vital decisions on the success of their campaigns and influence future campaign decisions going forward. Data analysis leads to crucial insight that will help you better your next campaign message, helping insight driven marketers become insight led marketers.
