A Quick Guide to Inbound Marketing Methodology
I reviewed 3 companies (and all 3 happened to be in the technology vertical), HubSpot Academy, Australian Academy of Digital Marketing, and LinkedIn for understanding their inbound marketing practices. Out of the 3, I chose the Australian Academy of Digital Marketing & LinkedIn for my assignment study.
Each Organisation’s Approach to Inbound Marketing
The premise of inbound marketing is to convert strangers into visitors, visitors into leads, and leads closing into customers who if kept delighted, often become brand promoters.
1)HubSpot Academy had detailed information on Inbound Marketing methodology and useful resources which I referred continually to check on my understanding while attempting this assignment. With the option of some free (and paid) courses, I went on to complete the Inbound Marketing certification after clearing the online exam.
The ‘chatbot’ feature at the website was helpful to check on any query while I was on their website.
2) Australian Academy of Digital Marketing (AADM) has an overall good website, smart content with easy to find the information relevant to the digital marketing course. It has a contact-us tab, blog post, social media tabs, including the FAQ section to answer the popular questions. I found its website clean, uncluttered, and easy to navigate.
3)LinkedIn & LinkedIn Learning is a professional networking platform I visit regularly to gain business insights. Their platform is easy to navigate, read corporate news, with share buttons to post an article or an update. I follow the LinkedIn Editors’ group to stay informed with global business insights regularly.
Strength & Weakness of their Inbound Marketing Approach
In the case of the Australian Academy of Digital Marketing, I first visited the website after searching for information on the internet for classroom-based digital marketing lessons.
I went through the FAQ section and to some extent, it helped in quelling my anxiety as regards classes, assignments, etc. Later I spoke over the phone with the customer coordinator at the institute who helped me with the information I needed, and soon afterward I joined their classroom-based course.
I would rate their inbound marketing to be effective as it helped me with my queries and turned my casual website visit into a lead and later their customer.
As regards weakness, I find that AADM blogs are not updated frequently with digital marketing news updates. Also, having a chatbot might help to take queries with a timely response.
Which Organisation Was the Best in the Inbound Marketing Approach?
LinkedIn is a technology platform that enables professionals to connect. Along with that elementary feature, it is a value-added platform to help its members to connect, learn, co-relate, stay aware of the latest insights in the professional fields of their network.
The way LinkedIn approaches inbound marketing is interesting and relevant to me. The professional groups I am part of like digital marketing, TED ideas, Branding, etc, I get regular notifications on the discussions through email which I read frequently.
Another feature that I feel they put inbound marketing to effective use is by sharing information from the LinkedIn Learning platform about the upskill courses available either free (for a limited time) about joining the ‘premium’ feature (paid subscription) which offers bonuses value-additions to their exclusive members.
I find the LinkedIn platform is covering the 3 different stages of the buyer’s journey which is ‘Aware, Engage, and Delight’ effectively.
How They Can Improve Their Inbound Marketing
Australian Academy of Digital Marketing — By adding regular blog updates at the website, publishing more information on digital marketing at popular social media like Twitter, LinkedIn, and Facebook so more people can engage and know about the academy’s offering.
LinkedIn — I find is ahead of the curve in their inbound marketing techniques, by following the attract, engage, and delight methodology and continually analysing their data to improve the user experience.
