Reading Time: 10 minutes

8 Easy Shortcuts To Hire An Inbound Marketing Firm In Record Time

Inbound marketing firms have exploded in popularity over the past few years. There are many reasons for this, but the main one is that inbound marketing works. Inbound marketing is all about creating content that attracts people to your B2B SaaS business and helps you convert these leads into customers. 

It’s a more sustainable, effective, and affordable way to market your business than outbound methods like cold calling and advertising. But as inbound marketing has become more popular, so too have the number of firms offering these services. This can make it difficult to know which firm is right for you. 

And it can be even harder to know what you should be looking for when choosing an inbound marketing firm. So we’ve decided to unravel all the top secrets inbound marketing companies are not sharing with their B2B SaaS clients, letting you wander in the dark when you’re on your own.

Here are 8 things nobody will talk to you about when hiring an inbound marketing firm and starting to work with them on your digital marketing campaigns!

Inbound marketing is all about creating a relationship with your customers.

In any business, but especially in B2B SaaS, the customer is always king. That’s why inbound marketing is such an important part of developing a long-term, trusting partnership with your customers and improving customer success. Inbound marketing is all about creating relationships, not just transactions. It’s about understanding what your customers need and want, and then working with them to provide solutions that meet those needs. 

It’s about building trust and showing customers that you’re invested in their success. Inbound marketing is the foundation of a strong, long-term relationship with your customers. With inbound marketing, you’re not just selling to customers, you’re partnering with them for the long haul by constantly improving their customer experience. 

1. Creating valuable content for your buyer persona

Any business owner who has attempted to tackle marketing knows that it’s not easy. There are a lot of moving parts, and it takes time and effort to develop a marketing strategy that works. This is where inbound marketing comes in. Inbound marketing is a strategy that focuses on creating valuable content and experiences that attract customers and convert them into leads and customers.  

It’s a long-term investment, but it can be incredibly effective if done correctly. The first step is to develop objectives and create content that aligns with those objectives. Once you have a solid strategy in place, you can begin to invest in tools and tactics to help you execute it. But remember, success takes time, so don’t give up if you don’t see results overnight.

2. Creating a multi-faceted strategy to attract your potential customer

Any good marketing strategy should be multi-faceted, utilizing a variety of online marketing tactics to reach potential customers. In recent years, inbound marketing has become an increasingly popular approach, and for good reason. Inbound marketing focuses on creating and distributing valuable content, making it easy for customers to find your product or service when they are already interested in what you have to offer. 

However, inbound marketing should not be the only marketing tool in your toolbox. Outbound marketing techniques, such as advertising and direct mail, can also be effective in reaching new customers. Additionally, a mix of both inbound and outbound marketing can help create a well-rounded approach that will ultimately lead to more sales. Thus, while inbound marketing is certainly a lucrative approach for B2B SaaS companies, ignoring outbound techniques will surely slow your business growth and impact the results of your sales teams.

3. Hire an inbound marketing company

There are a lot of inbound marketing companies out there, and it can be tough to know which one is right for your business. After all, not all inbound marketing companies are created equal. Some specialize in certain industries, while others take a more general approach. And then some focus solely on generating leads, while others take a more holistic view of the customer journey. So how do you know which inbound marketing agency is right for you? Here are a few things to keep in mind. First, consider your business goals.

• What are you looking to achieve with your inbound marketing efforts?

• Do you need help generating qualified leads, or are you looking for someone to provide a complete solution that includes everything from content creation to conversion optimization?
• Second, consider your niche. An agency working with clients from the pharmaceutical industry will not have the best insights for a B2B SaaS company. 

Lastly, consider their achievements. A marketing firm can have years of experience working with companies in your industry but without relevant results. That is why it’s always a good idea to ask for their case studies, track record, portfolio, or any other proof of their achieved results in previous campaigns. 

4. Using an inbound marketing service to save time and write engaging content

Any B2B SaaS business owner who wants to succeed online knows that content is important. After all, without content, your website would be nothing more than a collection of blank pages. However, simply creating and publishing content is not enough to guarantee success. To boost your organic traffic and convert them into customers, you need to make sure that your content is well-written, informative, and engaging. 

That means taking the time to craft thoughtful articles, blog posts, and product descriptions. It also means ensuring that your content is keyword-rich and optimized for search engines. In short, success online requires more than just a few pieces of content. It requires a well-crafted content strategy instead of publishing a large volume of content without any direction.

5. Using SEO services to boost your content to the top of search engines

When it comes to marketing a business online, SEO is an essential piece of the puzzle. Also known as search engine optimization, SEO is the process of optimizing a website for Google’s search algorithm. This includes things like choosing the right keywords, creating high-quality content, and building backlinks. While many factors go into ranking in Google’s search results, SEO strategy is still one of the most important.  

That’s because it can be the difference between appearing on the first page of results or being buried on page 100. For businesses that want to attract attention from their target customers, investing in SEO is a must. Not only will it help you to rank higher in Google’s search results, but it will also give you a better chance of growing your business, expanding it to new markets, launching new products, and improving your online presence. 

 

 

6. Using social media marketing as a part of your inbound marketing campaign

The growing popularity of social media has had a profound impact on the field of marketing. In the past, marketing efforts were focused on interrupting potential customers with marketing messages about their product or service. However, today’s consumers are more savvy and selective about the information they consume. As a result, traditional marketing techniques are becoming less effective. Instead, companies are turning to inbound marketing, and using companies like Hubspot, which relies on creating relevant content that is interesting and valuable to potential customers. 

And one of the most important channels for distributing this content is social media. Through platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, companies can reach a vast audience with relative ease. What’s more, social media provides an opportunity for two-way communication, which is essential for building relationships with potential customers.

7. Using marketing automation to reach your ICP (ideal customer profile)

In the age of social media, some businesses have written off email marketing as old-fashioned and ineffective. However, this could not be further from the truth. Email marketing is still one of the most powerful tools available for reaching and converting customers. Unlike social media, which is often overrun by clutter and noise, email offers businesses a direct line of communication with their target audience. 

If you go ahead and ask your customers if they feel motivated to purchase after receiving a promotional email from a business, you might be surprised when you hear their responses. An email marketing campaign is still an essential tool for businesses that want to reach their ideal customers and drive sales.

8. Create targeted marketing content for your ICP (ideal customer profile)

When working on your campaigns, whether it’s on social media or email, your inbound agency might suggest using more general content to communicate with your audience. As much as they will tell you all the reasons why this is a good idea, advise them to use a more personalized approach. 

Many agencies don’t have the needed knowledge about your business, so they will opt for a general message, often using a template for all their clients. Not to say this approach cannot produce results, but as a B2B SaaS business, you need to address specific pain points your customers have and specific solutions to them. 

It is a common approach to inbound marketing to create general content that appeals to a wide audience. However, this can be an ineffective digital strategy, as it can be difficult to generate enough interest and engagement from such a large group of people. A more effective approach is to create targeted marketing content that is specifically designed to appeal to your target audience. This allows you to focus your digital marketing efforts on the people who are most likely to be interested in your products or services, which can lead to more sales and better relationships with your customers. 

What is a Good Inbound Marketing Strategy for B2B SaaS Businesses?

Now that you’ve read all the things your agency doesn’t want you to know about, it is time to learn what makes a good inbound marketing strategy for your B2B SaaS business. After all, you are the one who is paying for the results, and you should know what it takes to be great in this form of marketing. In other words, learning the inbound methodology is helpful, but it will not bring you the results you need.

Many effective inbound strategies can be used by B2B SaaS businesses. One effective strategy is content marketing. This involves creating informative blog posts, white papers, eBooks, and other forms of content that can be used to generate leads and increase brand awareness.

Another effective strategy is search engine optimization (SEO). This helps to ensure that your website and content are ranking high in search engine results pages (SERPs), making it more likely that potential buyers will find your business in the right phase of their buyer journey.

Paid search or social media marketing is also an effective way to reach potential customers and generate leads. By creating engaging social media posts and promoting your content through social media channels, you can reach a larger audience and increase the chances of making a sale. A good inbound strategy for B2B SaaS businesses should focus on creating quality content that meets the needs of your target audience. 

In addition to blog posts and articles, this can include ebooks, infographics, webinars, and other types of content. It’s also important to promote your content through social media marketing, email marketing, and any other digital marketing channel. Once you’ve built up a solid base of followers, you can then start to generate leads by offering free trials or demos of your product. By following these steps, you’ll be able to create a strong digital marketing strategy that will help you attract new customers and grow your business.

 

 

Signs the Inbound Marketing Firm You Chose Is Not for You

As a B2B SaaS business, you probably already have an inbound agency or an independent inbound marketer helping you with inbound approach. You have probably even spent thousands of dollars on their digital marketing services, but are a bit skeptical about their performance. Because most agencies have more clients than they can handle, the quality of their services drops and affects clients like you. 

For those businesses who are not quite certain whether their hired digital marketers are doing their job well or not, here is a list of signs you should keep an eye on. If your full-service digital marketing agency is guilty of doing more than one thing on this list, you should consider hiring another one before the damage is so huge it will be impossible to recover your business reputation and the relationship you were building with your customers. 

1. Consistent Reporting on OKRs and KPIs to measure performance

Some agencies will send weekly reports, while others might send monthly. Many marketing firms send reports after each campaign to present the results to their client and agree on the following steps. Each of these options is fine, but not sending reports to clients is a mistake that will cost your B2B SaaS money in the long run.

There are two main reasons why a marketing firm is not sending reports to their clients, and both of them imply a bad service and poor results. The first reason refers to the agency being aware of the poor performance of all your campaigns and trying to save the day. They will implement quick inbound marketing techniques to try to improve the results while trying to figure out what is not working within their strategy.

The other reason is that they are so overwhelmed with their workload and a wide range of clients they have. Many marketing firms have too many clients and not enough staff so sending reports to clients always gets pushed to the bottom of their to-do list.  

Regardless of which of these reasons is true for your digital marketing company, none of them are acceptable and can cause great harm to your campaigns and business in general.  

2. Regular meetings to discuss effectiveness of marketing campaigns

As a B2B SaaS owner, you understand how one can easily be too busy to attend meetings. However, not having meetings with you could lead to spending money on inefficient methods. During meetings, you can go over the campaigns, achieved results, and planned actions for the upcoming quarter, share your ideas and tell the marketing firm how you feel about their suggestions.

Without meetings, you are limited to email communication, which is limiting for complex topics like marketing strategies. Not to mention that email communication often gets misinterpreted, so having the time to explain everything in detail is crucial. 

3. Trusting the agency expertise and following their B2B marketing strategy

Many agencies will just follow the suggestions of their clients. Of course, the client’s input is valuable, but you are paying someone to bring their expertise to the table. If you know more and better than the marketing team you are paying for that job, you are losing money. An agency with quality inbound marketing services will come to you with their suggestions and try to convince you into giving a chance something you haven’t even thought about before the meeting.

Some agencies are also becoming reluctant to share their ideas because their clients are very particular in things they want to see in their digital marketing strategy. That is why you should always point out that you would appreciate hearing their ideas instead of doing the same thing over and over again. 

4. Unique content marketing strategy

Have you noticed that your social media accounts look exactly like your competitors? Or maybe your email sequences have the same tone as that one B2B SaaS company you are competing against for years? Changes are that marketers who are managing your account are getting inspired by checking what your competition does. 

As much as there is no harm in at looking what your competitors do, your marketing advisors should come up with a fresh, unique perspective that will make you stand out among so many companies. If they are not sharing new ideas with you that would engage your audience, you should consider replacing the team managing your inbound marketing.

Finding the Right Inbound Marketing Firm

Various companies will promise you excellent service and even better results. For someone who doesn’t have the time to research all your options before hiring, you might feel overwhelmed and simply choose one agency name to get it done. However, rushing into choosing the best inbound marketing agency, who will not be the right fit for your B2B SaaS company goals, might bring you back to zero when you’re looking for a replacement agency.

Choose wisely, have an interview with a few firms, ask around for recommendations, and follow your gut. As a digital consultancy, Algocentric Digital understands the challenges and pain points B2B SaaS companies face in today’s environment. We have a limited list of clients to ensure each of them has the best service quality we can provide. If you’re interested to hear our ideas, send us a message!