earned media Archives

Multi-Touch Attribution Models Explained – A PR-Centric Approach

June 26, 2025 By Jeff Collard 1 Comment

In today’s digital age, understanding customer behavior is crucial for business success. Multi-touch attribution offers a way to evaluate each interaction in a customer’s journey. This method helps businesses identify which marketing efforts drive conversions. If you would like to master multi-touch attribution for PR success, this blog article is for you.

For business owners and marketing teams, this can be a game changer. It allows for smarter marketing investments and improved customer engagements. But, what exactly is multi-touch attribution, and how can it be leveraged effectively?

This guide will explore these questions and more. We’ll delve into the various models of multi-touch attribution. Each model offers unique insights into customer interactions.

Moreover, we’ll discuss how a public relations-centric approach can enhance these efforts.

Media relations, for one, plays a vital role in shaping customer perceptions. By integrating PR strategies, businesses can boost their Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and digital presences.

Join us as we unravel the complexities of multi-touch attribution, and discover how it can transform your marketing strategy.

What is Multi-Touch Attribution?

Multi-touch attribution is a method used in marketing analytics. It measures the impact of each interaction a customer has before making a purchase. This approach recognizes that most customer journeys are not linear. Each touchpoint can influence the decision-making process in unique ways.

Consider a customer who discovers a business through a blog post. Later, they might see an ad, read a review, and finally make a purchase. Multi-touch attribution assigns value to each of these interactions. This provides a more accurate picture of what drives sales conversions.

Here are a select, core aspects of multi-touch attribution:

– Recognition of multiple channels: Unlike single-touch models, multi-touch considers all customer interactions.

– Attribution weighting: Different marketing models assign value in varied ways, reflecting diverse strategies.

The importance of this method cannot be overstated. It enables businesses to optimize their marketing spend efficiently. By understanding which channels contribute most to sales, businesses can prioritize those investments.

Moreover, multi-touch attribution sheds light on underperforming channels. By identifying these, businesses can refine strategies for better results. This adaptability is crucial in today’s fast-paced digital landscape.

In summary, multi-touch attribution provides detailed insights into understanding customer behavior. This enables marketing directors and C-suite leaders working with PR firms and marketing agencies to tailor their marketing efforts effectively. Realizing these dynamics is essential for businesses of all sizes and types aiming to enhance their digital footprints.

For most or all businesses, every marketing dollar counts. Multi-touch attribution offers a way to maximize the effectiveness of each expenditure. Unlike traditional models, this provides a nuanced view of the customer journey.

This approach reveals which channels are performing well. Knowing this helps businesses allocate resources more efficiently. In turn, this can lead to increased sales and better return on investment (ROI).

Here’s why multi-touch attribution in marketing is essential:

– Improved Budget Allocation: Insights into channel performance optimize marketing spend.

– Better Customer Insights: Understand how customers engage across various platforms.

– Enhanced Strategy Formulation: Informed decisions lead to more effective marketing tactics.

Multi-touch attribution also highlights areas needing improvement. This permits quicker adjustments and reduced wasted efforts. It is a vital part of the feedback loop in marketing strategy development.

Additionally, businesses and brands can use it to personalize marketing efforts. By recognizing different customer interactions, marketers can learn how to tailor marketing messages that resonate with targets. This personalized approach often leads to more clicks, website events and higher conversion rates.

In essence, adopting multi-touch attribution can transform how businesses approach marketing. Simply put, it offers clarity and strategic insight crucial for thriving in competitive markets.

The Customer Journey: Mapping Every Touchpoint

Mapping the customer journey is about understanding every interaction. Each touchpoint plays a role in moving a customer closer to a purchasing decision. For a marketing team or manager, recognizing these points is crucial.

The journey begins when a potential customer first becomes aware of your brand. This could happen via an online search, a social media post, a published article, or an ad. As customers engage, their interactions provide valuable data points.

These touchpoints are diverse and could include:

– Initial Awareness: Ads, PR-focused articles or social media posts.

– Consideration Phase: Website visits, newsletter sign-ups or product comparisons.

– Decision-Making: Contacting sales, reading reviews or engaging with customer support or a sales director.

Each step needs evaluation to grasp its impact. By grasping these points, businesses can focus efforts on high-yield marketing activities. This not only enhances marketing and reach impact but also improves customer or client engagements.

Visualizing the customer journey can be illuminating. Doing so allows company leadership teams to identify gaps and opportunities for improvement. With these insights, they can craft more informed, targeted outreach and message strategies. The ultimate goal is a seamless, engaging customer experience.

Incorporating insights from these mappings into your strategies ensures a customer-focused approach. The more you know about their path, the better you can guide them toward a purchase decision. For our clients, Eberly & Collard Public Relations offers this type of strategic mapping, annual marketing plans and creative tactics to attain slated objectives.

Overview of Multi-Touch Attribution Models

Multi-touch attribution (MTA) involves distributing credit among various forms of marketing and customer interactions. Each model approaches this differently, providing unique insights. Choosing the right one depends on your business goals and customer or client behaviors.

Models range from simple to complex, each with distinct advantages. Linear models offer balance, while time decay emphasizes timeliness. Other models attribute more weight to specific touchpoints with your audiences. Mastering each model helps achieve tailored marketing strategy execution, aligning the model choice with their objectives is crucial.

Aligning each effective attribution model maximizes ROI by clarifying the value of each customer interaction and unifying them collectively.

Linear Attribution Model

In the linear attribution model, every interaction gets equal credit. This model balances the value distribution across all reach touchpoints.

It is suitable for businesses seeking simplicity. Each channel or interaction step in the customer journey holds equal weight. This method ensures every part of the customer pathway is acknowledged.

Key aspects of the linear model include:

– Equal Weight: Every touchpoint is equally valued.

– Simple Analysis: Easier to interpret and implement.

– Balanced Insight: No bias toward any specific interaction.

This model is beneficial for businesses with uniform channel performance. It is ideal when each step contributes similarly to customer conversions or sales. However, it may not fully highlight which parts are most effective.

Time Decay Attribution Model

The time decay model places more weight on recent interactions. The idea is that touchpoints closer to conversion have greater influence.

This model works well for businesses with longer sales cycles. It acknowledges that more recent engagements may impact final decisions in a more emphatic way. The model also specifies that targets can sometimes forget channels where they learned about a business or brand in between touchpoints; though, they do recall the business, brand or the products it sells during the process.

Characteristics of the time decay model include:

– Increasing Influence: Proximity to conversion boosts credit.

– Dynamic Understanding: Captures changing customer priorities.

– Focus on Closure: Highlights pivotal, later-stage interactions.

This approach favors time-sensitive marketing efforts. It’s ideal for businesses aiming to emphasize later touchpoints, understanding the lasting influence of recent or ongoing interactions.

Position-Based (U-Shaped) Attribution Model

The position-based model, known as “U-shaped,: values the first and last interactions most. It gives significant weight to these pivotal steps.

This model is apt for recognizing crucial start and finish touchpoints. It balances recognizing initial brand engagement and final purchase decisiveness.

Key features include:

– Pivotal Moments: First and last get most credit.

– Balanced Middle: Intermediate interactions receive some value.

– Holistic Impact: Captures full journey from awareness to action.

For businesses emphasizing introduction and conversion points, this model fits. It helps in understanding pathways from initial interest to purchase completion.

W-Shaped Attribution Model

In the W-shaped model, major points – first, lead creation and conversion – are highlighted. This approach provides depth by assigning significant value to these steps.

This benefits businesses by distributing credit to these three pivotal interactions. Following the model, it helps highlight crucial progress points in the customer journey.

Main attributes of the W-shaped model include:

– Three Key Events: First touch, lead gen, and conversion.

– Depth and Detail: Recognizes complexity with multiple focal points.

– Comprehensive: Provides full journey context.

Ideal for businesses with distinct milestones, it aligns marketing efforts across these vital interactions. The model emphasizes touchpoints leading up to critical actions.

Full Path and Custom Attribution Models

Full path models expand the W-shape to cover every step in the sales cycle and knowing how to track sales. Custom models, on the other hand, tailor attribution to specific business needs.

These models offer flexibility and depth. Full path attribution accounts for all stages, adding insight into prolonged customer journeys.

Unique facets include:

– Complete View: Considers early, mid, and late stages.

– Custom Fit: Aligns with organizational strategy.

– Detailed Analysis: Allows for nuanced customer pathway understanding.

For businesses with unique sales cycles, custom models provide the adaptability needed. These models encourage a data-centric approach, offering insights into every interaction’s contribution. Adapting these models ensures that marketing strategy aligns closely with business objectives and customer engagement paths.

Single-Touch vs. Multi-Touch Attribution: Key Differences

Single-touch attribution assigns all credit to one interaction in the customer journey. This usually means crediting the first or last touchpoint. It simplifies tracking but may overlook many customer interactions leading to conversion.

In contrast, multi-touch attribution acknowledges the complexity of the customer journey. It credits multiple interactions throughout the sales funnel. This provides a more complete picture of how each touchpoint contributes to messaging and sales conversions.

The main differences include:

– Credit Assignment: Single-touch vs. multi-interaction credit.

– Journey Insight: Simple linear view vs. comprehensive path recognition.

– Data Depth: Limited insight vs. robust analysis of conversion paths.

Choosing the right touchpoint attribution method depends on marketing objectives and complexity. Multi-touch approaches often offer better alignment with modern marketing’s nuanced realities. For businesses seeking strategic insight, multi-touch attribution provides depth and context that single-touch methods cannot.

How PR and Media Relations Influence Multi-Touch Attribution

Public relations (PR) and media relations play pivotal roles in multi-touch attribution. They enhance brand visibility and engagement, influencing many touchpoints. Understanding their impact helps optimize your attribution model.

PR strategies can boost your brand’s online presence. They result in earned media coverage or physical and virtual interactions that serve as credible touchpoints. This increases brand awareness and trust among potential customers or clientele.

Media relations and sponsored content contributes to SEO efforts. They generate authoritative backlinks, which improve search rankings and visibility. These indirect touchpoints support conversion by creating a strong brand narrative and third-party media outlet endorsements.

Key influences of PR and media relations on attribution include:

– Brand Visibility: Increases reach across various platforms.

– Credibility: Enhances trust through earned media.

– SEO Impact: Strengthens backlink profile and website domain authority.

Effective PR strategies require regular media and audience interactions. Engage with journalists and influencers to improve coverage. Serve on panels and webinars to connect directly with leads. This involvement can significantly enhance your multi-touch attribution efforts, painting a more complete picture of customer interactions. It supports data-driven decision-making in annual marketing strategy.

Integrating Multi-Touch Attribution with SEO Strategies

Combining multi-touch attribution with SEO strategies can amplify marketing efforts. This integration provides a holistic view of how various touchpoints contribute to conversions. By aligning these strategies, you enhance overall visibility and effectiveness.

SEO and multi-touch attribution work together to reveal valuable insights. SEO improves organic reach, while attribution tracks which interactions lead to conversions. This data reveals the most influential paths in a customer’s journey.

When SEO efforts focus on specific keywords, attribution can show their real impact. This identifies which keywords result in significant touchpoints. The resulting alignment gives rise to resources that are successfully allocated for maximum returns on investment.

Key steps for integration include:

– Identify Keywords: Assess, add and track keywords that yield conversions.

– Analyze Data: Assess which data-based touchpoints are most effective.

– Optimize Content: Focus on high-impact keywords and message-rife channels.

Implement changes based on gained insights. Regularly update your SEO and attribution models to align with changing consumer or customer behaviors, helping your business remain competitive and responsive in the digital marketplace. By integrating these strategies, you can create a powerful framework for sustained growth and improved digital existence.

Choosing the Right Multi-Touch Attribution Model for Your Business

Selecting the appropriate multi-touch attribution model is crucial for effective marketing strategies. Your business goals and customer behavior are essential in this decision. Different models offer varied insights, making the choice quite involved.

Consider the nature of your sales cycle when evaluating models. Linear models work well for straightforward, long journeys. Meanwhile, position-based models can highlight significant milestones in complex processes.

Each attribution model has its own strengths. For you and your marketing team and leadership, aligning with a model that reflects your marketing objectives and customer engagement patterns is key. A mismatch could lead to misaligned resources.

When choosing a model, consider:

– Sales Cycle Length: Complex or simple processes.

– Marketing Goals: Awareness vs. conversion focus.

– Customer Behavior: Regular vs. irregular interaction patterns.

Choosing wisely bui8lds upon comprehensive insights regarding customer or new client interactions. With the right model, you gain clearer visibility of each channel’s performance, guiding data-driven decisions and effective budget allocations.

Essential Multi-Touch Attribution Tools for Businesses

Navigating the world of multi-touch attribution tools can be daunting for any company and its personnel. However, leveraging the right tools is key to unlocking valuable insights. These tools help track, analyze and optimize customer touchpoints.

A good attribution tool will provide a clear view of your marketing performance. It should integrate well with existing systems. Ease of use is also crucial, so you and your team can make the most of it.

Let’s review some popular options:

– Google Analytics 360: Offers robust attribution modeling features and integrates smoothly with other Google products.

– HubSpot: Combines CRM capabilities with comprehensive attribution reporting for inbound marketing.

– Ruler Analytics: Focuses on linking online and offline conversions, helping track the complete customer journey.

– Kissmetrics: Delivers deep insights into customer behavior, ideal for SaaS and e-commerce businesses.

These tools vary in features and pricing but share a common goal. They aim to help businesses understand where their marketing dollars are best spent.

Customization and scalability matter for growing businesses. The right tool can adapt as your needs evolve, offering more refined insights.

Step-by-Step Guide: Implementing Multi-Touch Attribution in Your Marketing

Implementing multi-touch attribution requires a structured approach. Start by clearly defining your marketing objectives. This clarity will guide your attribution strategy and ensure it aligns with your business goals.

Next, map out your customer journey. Identify key touchpoints where customers interact with your brand. Knowing these touchpoints is essential for accurate attribution.

Choose the right attribution model based on your objectives. Consider factors like sales cycle length, industry changes and customer behavior. This decision influences the insights you gain.

With your model in place, integrate your chosen multi-touch attribution tools. Ensure they sync with your current tech stack. This integration is crucial for collecting comprehensive data.

Train your team on how to use these tools effectively. They’ll need to interpret data and make informed decisions.

Regularly analyze the data your tools provide. Look for trends and anomalies. Use these insights to refine your strategy.

This step-by-step guide serves as a foundation. Remember, multi-touch attribution is an ongoing process. Constant analysis and adjustments are key to success.

Common Challenges and How to Overcome Them

Implementing multi-touch attribution can present several challenges for small businesses. A common issue is dealing with data silos. Disconnected data sources can lead to incomplete analytics. Solve this by centralizing your data collection processes. This will guide you to master multi-touch attribution for PR success.

Another challenge is the complexity of attribution models. Multi-touch models can be daunting for newcomers. Simplify the process by starting with a basic model and gradually incorporating more complexity as you gain confidence.

Resource constraints can also pose a problem. Small businesses often lack the budget for sophisticated tools. Consider using free or low-cost attribution tools that still provide valuable insights.

Here’s a list of common challenges along with solutions:

– Data Silos: Integrate data platforms to form a unified view.

– Model Complexity: Begin with simpler models.

– Budget Restrictions: Explore cost-effective tools.

– Lack of Expertise: Invest in training sessions.

Ultimately, staying informed and adaptable will help you overcome these hurdles. Regular updates to your strategy can also mitigate potential challenges.

Measuring Success: Analyzing and Optimizing Your Attribution Model

Success measurement in multi-touch attribution involves tracking the right metrics. Begin with defining clear objectives. Knowing what success looks like helps in choosing relevant KPIs.

Regularly analyze your attribution model’s performance. Pay attention to conversion rates, customer acquisition costs, and customer lifetime value. These indicators offer insights into campaign effectiveness.

Optimizing your attribution model requires ongoing adjustments. Test different models to find what best fits your business needs. This process may reveal unexpected strengths or weaknesses in your strategy.

Here’s a focused checklist for evaluating and optimizing your marketing attribution model:

– Define Clear Objectives: Establish what success means for your business.

– Track KPIs: Use metrics like conversion rates.

– Regular Analysis: Evaluate performance continuously.

– Model Testing: Experiment with different attribution models.

By continuously refining your approach, you ensure your marketing efforts are strategically aligned with your business goals.

Key Takeaways and Next Steps

Multi-touch attribution is a must for feeding customer interactions. Integrating it with SEO and PR enhances online visibility.

To leverage these insights effectively:

– Evaluate Models: Choose the one that aligns with your goals.

– Incorporate Tools: Utilize attribution tools for comprehensive analytics.

– Adapt Strategies: Stay flexible to changing market dynamics.

Embrace a data-driven approach for sustained growth and improved customer reach.

Finally, you might ask if multi-touch attribution marketing really matters. We say (resoundingly), yes, it most clearly does matter and is often the cornerstone for integrated marketing success. And, while it may not always be possible to track each and every sale to a specific marketing touchpoint (or vice versa), multi-touch marketing across the available spectrum is perhaps one of the most significant strategies to safeguard comprehensive messaging reach and ROI.

Are you now ready to master multi-touch attribution for PR success? We can simplify the process for you, increasing touchpoints, growing impressions, generating interactions, and boosting engagements for you, ultimately, evoking a bevy of sales conversations for your business and brands.

At Eberly & Collard Public Relations, we specialize in implementing advanced multi-touch attribution strategies to help our clients identify high-performing channels, improve customer engagement options, and maximize marketing investments. Contact us today for personalized consultation.

Starting from the Ground Up: PR’s Pivotal Role in Building a New Business

December 4, 2020 By ECPR Team Leave a Comment

So, you launched a new company. Now what? The obvious answer to this question is “sign a client,” or, “build a strong customer base.” But, getting to that point involves a framework of smart choices made within budget. And, if you ask us, one of the smartest and most cost-efficient decisions a start-up can make is adopting a public relations (PR) strategy at the onset of the company’s conception.

To clarify, we are not recommending a fully-integrated, multi-level marketing plan for a start-up or newly launched company as the very first step. Though we’ve been outspoken on the fruitful benefits a fully-integrated marketing plan offers, we understand there is a time and place for everything. And, right now, you are simply trying to launch a company without exhausting your existing, and sometimes limited, resources.

When pathways to funds are narrow, every dollar dedicated to marketing is precious and must be part of an overall plan to achieve brand awareness. Starting with a strong PR plan can be immensely valuable when limited budget is available, but it is important to note that the time to dedicate a budget towards PR for a new company is at the onset. Once a budget is determined, the steps taken to strategically position your new company using PR can be relatively simple. As you kick-off your PR strategy and baseline budget, part of your future roadmap should be preplanning to supplement campaigns and equipping your branding with an enduring budget, both of which can keep your PR efforts on track after you lay the groundwork.

What is public relations, and what makes it so valuable?

Public relations is a strategic communication process that builds mutually beneficial relationships between organizations and their publics. For businesses with strategic and well-managed PR plans, ROI includes developing reliable trust and authentic engagement with customers, clients, sales leads, buyers, decision-makers, industry leaders, influencers, the media, and other integral contacts, connections and constituencies.

One of the most rewarding and value-driven benefits a new company can achieve from PR is the early development of trust amongst its target audiences. Earned, unpaid publicity as a result of sound PR activations, such as influencer marketing, thought-leadership events, customer and client retention programs, and more, can act as a conduit of trust in a respective industry. All of this typically more cost-effective than other methods of marketing, such as advertising.

When put head-to head with other marketing options, and judged strictly on their individual merits from the perspective of a start-up looking for the value proposition in marketing, PR emerges as the smart and strategic choice.

According to Nielsen, a global marketing research firm, PR is nearly 90% more effective than advertising. It was found that expert content marketing, which is earned, unpaid publicity achieved through PR, lifted familiarity 88 percent more than branded content, such as traditional advertisements or advertorials.

This data may have one asking why PR yields higher trust and more credibility than paid media. When publicity is secured with a print or online news source as a result of PR, it means an independent party has vetted and verified the information they have received through your PR efforts about your company. It also signifies that they have deemed it valuable information for their readers. With advertising alone, a company’s message is not necessarily vetted or verified through sometimes stringent editorial standards, but rather purchased.

That said, we are not against paid media by any stretch of the imagination. As a matter of fact, uniting traditional PR with advertising can be incredibly valuable. However, in order for advertising to work, there must be an engaging, memorable and repetitious strategy in place. Combining advertising with other marketing components, such as PR, can help when building brand equity; this is because implementing unified marketing disciplines has a record of producing growth and value for companies.

If a start-up company has the available budget at the onset to fund an integrated marketing plan that encapsulates both PR and advertising, we would say such a strategy is more than advisable. But, if a company finds itself with a tighter, more restrictive marketing budget and has to pick between PR and advertising based on ROI alone, we recommend the former.

In practice, how will PR help build brand awareness and establish my company’s identity in its respective industry?

PR allows a company to communicate with its desired audiences in a way that creates value and triggers engagement. If done successfully, PR can help create buzz about your company, which will, in turn, translate to new customers and clients, and build fresh relationships in a respective industry. PR can also help bring in liquidity from new investors and create interest from prospective employees.

A start-up’s first goal should be introducing its product or service to the marketplace. When using traditional methods of PR, one of the most reliable platforms to make this introduction to target audiences is earned media.

When using PR strategy to produce unpaid, earned media, a start-up needs to look inward and answer a key question: What is your company doing better or differently than your competitors that uniquely positions itself in the eyes of potential clients or customers? Once this is determined, companies can leverage this information using a consistent PR program.

If you are a business-to-consumer (B2C) or direct-to-consumer (D2C) start-up, it might be wise to consider launching influencer marketing programs, in which influencers are given complimentary product in exchange for the potential of publicity of your company. In this unpaid influencer agreement, your company could send an influencer the traditional “PR Pack,” which is essentially a sampling of your own product, in addition to some marketing materials explaining who your company is, and what it is you do.

If strategized correctly, the influencer would then post about your product or service on their social media channels; blog about your company; name-drop your product, service or company in a podcast; or simply mention your product or service to another tastemaker in your respective industry. Though the latter is more difficult to track, and you may not see the benefits of such an interaction right away, this word of mouth marketing can be highly beneficial for your start-up in the long term.

The value of reaching your publics through their preferred influencers cannot be stressed enough. Your start-up and brand is completely new to your desired target audiences; it is not uncommon for someone to react with initial skepticism when they are introduced to a brand-new product or service about which they have never heard.

Leveraging the voice of influencers not only puts your new product or service in front of your target audiences, but it allows said audiences to trust that it has been vetted by the influencer. In this scenario, PR can also be aligned with media relations, should any news source pick up a story about an influencer posting, writing or speaking about your product, service or company. These two elements (public relations and media relations) in tandem with each other can be extremely valuable for your start-up, given the double-layer of trust through earned media and influencer relations.

Like any facet of marketing, with PR, it is important to create long-term strategies. Make sure to facilitate dialogues and relationships with various influencers within your industry on more than one occasion, and throughout the duration of a year. This will build lasting trust and consistency with influencers and in turn, your target audiences.

Implementing a strong PR strategy can propel the standing of your start-up in more ways than one; positioning your company in the right place and time through PR can attract investors and talented employees.

Through consistent publicity secured through PR, potential investors can vet the viability of your company. Perhaps one of the most advantageous effects PR has on a new company is making it seem even more established in a given industry. It also enhances its trajectory in becoming a “staple” brand. After all, most investors do not like taking risks with new companies that appear volatile or ones they have never heard of. On the investment front, a solid PR game plan can potentially make a company that has existed only for a few months seem as if they have existed for a few years.

PR is also a great way to attract talent and grow a start-up’s team. Positive publicity as a result of PR strategy can be a huge boost for hiring and getting the right people to seek employment with your company. Similar to investors, the majority of prime job candidates stray away from companies that appear unestablished or are unheard of.

Getting started: Implementing public relations strategy as a new company.

It is no secret that starting up a new business venture is tough, and only the top five percent of all new companies last more than 12 months. However, start-ups with PR programs at the onset have a creative and strategic advantage to companies without the strategy and service support from PR agencies to improve their odds.

As is mentioned in places throughout this blog, we would also find it a wise decision to consider implementing a PR program aligned with other facets of marketing, such as media relations, social media or advertising, that comprise a robust strategy and that is vigorously executed through outreach, campaigns and more. But, of course, this is dictated by the budget allocated towards marketing.

The importance of beginning with a PR agency that offers Strength, Weakness, Opportunity, Threat (SWOT) Analysis and strategic planning cannot be understated. These processes help clearly define goals and evaluate opportunities for success within given market(s). Learn more about our public relations services here, and contact us to get started on your plan today.

Why Inbound Marketing Will Be More Important Than Ever In 2021

October 15, 2020 By ECPR Team Leave a Comment

2020 has been filled with disruption, to say the least. In recent years, disruption in business has typically been considered a good thing. Companies, people and ideas ushering in “disruptive innovation” have been generally defined as positive conductors of growth with the potential to shake up an entire industry.

However, in the last six months alone, people have experienced enough disruption in their personal lives through the various economic, cultural and social issues at-hand. As a result, companies are rethinking the ways in which they make their initial connection with target audiences, but in ways that are not as disruptive or invasive to their daily lives.

At this moment, it is predicted people will leave 2020 feeling over-stimulated and fatigued. So, what does this mean for your 2021 content marketing plan? Tread lightly, and consider growing your organization’s inbound marketing program.

What is inbound marketing?

Inbound marketing is the practice of growing your company’s prospects, clients and customers by forming organic and lasting relationships through non-interruptive inbound content marketing. While outbound marketing involves an organization reaching target demographics through e-blasts, cold-calls and other marketing techniques that are active attempts at direct communication, inbound marketing allows potential clients or customers to find your company on their own through your company’s web-based content.

The nucleus of inbound marketing is assisting potential customers or clients find your product or service, even before they realize the need for it in some cases. Inbound marketing tools work especially well during disruptive times in business and society; this is because it allows potential clients or customers to make organic initial connections with your organization on their own terms through passive searching.

Before implementing or refreshing your inbound marketing strategy for 2021, you must first understand the three core components of inbound marketing. Understanding and executing these components are essential for connecting with your audiences in ways that bridge strong relationships and solve their problems.

1. Entice and invite the right people to your web-based content through blogs, social media, podcasts, press releases, and more.

The first and possibly most important factor of any inbound marketing is program attracting the right people, i.e. your target audience, to your organization’s website. How do you get them there? You create meaningful conversations and interest through valuable, solution-based content.

This content can come in many shapes and sizes, so to speak. If you are a financial planning firm, you could write a blog or record a podcast that includes helpful insight into how a portfolio should be successfully managed. While this solves half the equation of inbound marketing, you must also be able to strategically position this content so it can be found by the right people.

One of the best ways to position this content with effective, maximum reach is through SEO optimization. This is accomplished by creating web-based, owned content with specific keywords and phrases that are associated with your company, product, service, and industry. These keywords and phrases should be solution-based and written with your target audience in mind. Building on the previous example, if you are a financial planning firm, your target audiences will be searching for businesses like yours to solve specific issues, using keywords and phrases such as, “how to make a comprehensive financial plan,” or, “financial plan for startup example.” In application, it is recommended to build a much deeper SEO strategy than two simple search phrases, but the idea of inbound marketing is to draw in potential clients and customers with a specific problem they are hoping to have solved via search engine.

With a solution-based strategy, your organization’s content-driven SEO will position your company to organically appear in search engine results for the people searching for and in need of this information.

An overlooked device for the first component of inbound marketing is the humble, handy press release. Typically viewed as a traditional method of providing the media with important news or company updates, the press release has found itself in an interesting position during the digital age. When used as native content, and posted to your organization’s website, it can be as practical as a blog or article to build solution-driven SEO keywords and phrases that attract key demographics to your website.

Earned media placements of an SEO-based press release on publications’ websites or digital issues can also be used as a tool to passively draw desired audiences to your organization’s website. Earned media placements typically garner more trust from its readers than owned media, so make sure the press release also contains backlinks to take the reader back to your website.

A prime way to implement the first component of this strategy, using our examples, would be to start out of the gates in 2021 with a well-written, solution-driven and SEO-based press release campaign. Make sure the basis of the press release is rooted in some sort of solution your company offers.

If you are an in-house marketing director at a software company specializing in cybersecurity, for example, kick off 2021 with a press release about enhanced-security updates your company has made to the product that further solves the problems of its current and future users. Place keywords and phrases that are based on search terms your target audience would be using if they were to find your organization via search engine. Then, post the press release to your website and distribute it to various media outlets your target audience would be reading.

When a potential client or customer is served the press release on your or a publication’s website via search engine, they are met with a much more organic, valuable initial connection with your organization, rather than being inundated by your cold-calls or e-blasts. By using this less-interruptive method, prospects feel they have discovered your organization’s solutions on their own terms.

2. How to engage with an audience acquired through SEO-based content

“I’ve attracted the right people to my organization’s website using tools such as SEO-driven, published content on my website. What now?”

Once potential new clients or customers find your organization by way of non-interruptive means, it is essential to engage with this newly acquired audience in ways that encourage long-term relationships. In keeping with our prediction for 2021, it is important to consider less-disruptive methods of introducing solutions and insights that are adjacent to prospects’ goals. This not only motivates them to become a client or customer with your company, but it helps establish yourself as a trusted consultant with whom they can engage.

There are various ways to engage your audience using inbound marketing strategies. Whichever direction you decide to take, it is important that you lead with solution-based selling rather than product-based selling. If you truly want to capitalize on the non-invasive nature of inbound marketing, you should not direct-sell yourself as a product or service, but rather a stream of valuable information and insight geared to offer solutions for a unique set of problems.

In order to sell your solution, you must first understand the “pain points” of a potential client or customer. Regardless the channel of communication, start off the dialogue asking important questions of the prospect’s business or service, and not direct selling in the first interaction.

To apply this to your 2021 marketing strategy, think about how your organization sells itself on social media channels. When someone follows your company on one or more of the social channels on which you are active, they decide that following your company provides them with some kind of value. They likely found your company’s channels on their own, and it is even possible they were served your content from Facebook or Instagram’s “Explore” algorithm; this algorithm, created by Facebook, performs in a similar manner to that of Google’s search engine algorithm.

Regardless of how they found you, a key demographic is now following your company on social media, making your organization visible to them on a daily basis. Once you are aware of this notion, it is important to understand their needs, and work solution-based selling – not product-based selling – into your daily, weekly or monthly social media content. Though the act of posting social media content lies within the “active” marketing arena, it is typically not considered to be disruptive to your followers. After all, they made the conscious decision to follow your organization.

However, in accordance with our 2021 inbound marketing outlook, you will not want to over-stimulate your followers with frequent, aggressive, hard-sell posting, in the same way you would not want to over-communicate with a lead or attracted party you’ve acquired through SEO-based content on your website.

3. Servicing new business generated through inbound marketing strategies

So, you’ve signed a new client through your inbound marketing efforts – congratulations!

Now the real work begins. In order to complete the triad that is inbound marketing, it is vitally important to continue satisfying new clients or customers through consistent non-interruptive marketing strategies. Nothing turns off a new client or customer more than realizing the company in which they have been interfacing acts in a completely different manner once a contract is signed, or a purchase is made.

Consider incorporating automated support mechanisms into your inbound marketing strategy to assist and request feedback from clients and customers. Surveys, in particular, are a great tactic to install in your company’s customer journey. By asking for feedback from your customers or clients using some kind of automated platform, you are continuing to passively sell your company’s ability to understand the needs of its customers, and react and adapt to new ideas for improvement. If, as a company, you can constantly improve your service through mechanisms such as this, you are proving your long-term value, which will in turn lead to renewed contracts or purchases in the future.

Another non-invasive way of servicing your existing clients or customers is through social media listening. Your organization’s social media followers, some of which are not even clients or customers, serve as an effective tool in feeling the pulse of your target audiences. Become familiar with your follower base, especially the followers who are clients or customers, and provide solutions via social media that demonstrate continued support for your patrons.

That said, make sure the solutions you offer directly to your social media followers are warranted; you do not want to appear “needy” or high maintenance.

As you implement these inbound marketing strategies into your marketing plan for 2021, it is important to keep in mind that the most important aspect of inbound marketing is delivering repeated value to new, existing or potential clients, even if the value is not reciprocated in some cases.

With 2020 drawing to a close, and a promising 2021 on the horizon, many in business are more fatigued than ever with tone-deaf and aggressive marketing tactics. Eberly & Collard Public Relations is a HubSpot Certified Inbound Marketing Agency, which means we guide clients in various industries through the steps outlined in this blog. Whether you decide to implement this strategy on your own or with the guidance of an agency, we hope this information acts as a valuable resource for your 2021 marketing planning.

Multi-Touch Attribution Models Explained – A PR-Centric Approach

Why Inbound Marketing Will Be More Important Than Ever In 2021

Expertise

About

Industries