Inbound Marketing For Technology Integrators Explained
Inbound marketing is the process of helping potential customers find your company – often before they are even looking to make a purchase – and then turning that early awareness into brand preference and, ultimately, into leads and revenue.*
To put that into perspective for the home technology and commercial integrated systems industries, let’s take a look at an example:
SEE ALSO: Can Content Marketing Be a More Powerful Tool than PPC Ads?
A leading New York architect firm, Rockwell Group, is approached by a client requesting info about IMAX Private Theater, which the client read about in Jetset Magazine. The architect googles “IMAX private theater design New York” so that they are informed the next time they meet the client and can be seen as a valuable resource. What do they find? ACS shows up as the first four organic results on page one of Google. The architect reviews the content on the ACS website, begins to follow their Blog, and engages ACS on social media. Due to the commitment ACS has made as a thought leader on the subject (offering specialized insight about IMAX Private Theatres), the architect views them as an authority. When the client says he’s ready to go, who do you think the architect contacts?
You attract clients when you approach your content strategy with empathy. The focus should be on educating and advising your visitors, as opposed to promoting your business or products. Your content should not be promotional in nature. Instead, it should educate and inspire. This is a powerful and effective method to guide potential customers down the path of making an easy decision: choosing you when they are ready to purchase. By informing and keeping them engaged throughout their journey as a prospect, they lower their guard about being “marketed” to. Ultimately, they feel you will provide value to enhance their lives at home or increase productivity for their business by using the technology solutions in which you specialize.
*Source: Marketo, a leading marketing automation software company.
Author: Ron Callis
Title: CEO
About: Ron Callis, Jr., the founder of One Firefly, is an engineer with tremendous people skills, unbridled energy, and a passion for excellence. With a Mechanical Engineering degree from Virginia Tech under his hood and successful sales career tracks at two innovative, leading technology manufacturers, Lutron and Crestron, the spark was ignited for Ron to build and drive his own high performance business. After helping hundreds of technology service professionals expand their companies with smart home technology, the wheels began turning for Ron to leverage his engineering know-how, assertive sales ingenuity, and industry experience. In 2007 he founded Firefly Design Group (now One Firefly) which has become the leading marketing firm specializing within the integrated technology and security space.