The Circle of Marketing

As with most other things, it doesn’t take very long for inbound marketing to come full circle. Let's explore how your content strategy is affecting you today.

Previously (in the perfect virtual world it once was), you'd put up a site, add a few articles, and bingo; you're ranking on search engines, selling products and/or services (or promoting those of others), and, to put it bluntly, making money. Things are different now. But are they returning to how they once were? It seems so.

Search

Search giants, thankfully, have finally realized that they're limited in their abilities to influence user-mindset. People get pissed off when looking for information that's flooded with irrelevant, deceiving, or simply pushy sales pitches they didn't ask for. So, they're somewhat retracting ads, yet again putting editorial (i.e. organic) listings in the spotlight. It's a win for agency's like ours (along with our customers), but more importantly, a win for the population in general.

For those not well-versed in passive inbound marketing, the more pro-active paid advertising is essential for many companies and organizations to thrive. With that said, there will be other ways to go about the displaying of text, graphic, or video promotions at websites driving search traffic... particularly, in the B2B (business-to-business) market. With changes comes innovations, but we're content (no pun intended) to see that the elements that worked will remain the same (or will go back to how they were originally, rather).

Social

Social networking has changed the way all businesses - well, do business. Brands utilizing social media marketing no longer have to wait months for implementation, approval, views, and, of course, conversions - nor do they have to pay for them. But modifications are on the horizon. If you're innactive on profile pages, soon you'll be cut off. If you fall off of the scope of what's acceptable (or are reported for no apparent reason), you can potentially be cut off {This isn't new, actually (but it is happening at a much higher rate)}. And if you're not willing to dish out cash upfront, it's increasingly difficult to get any visibility (let alone add third-party features to do so). So, while we were all used to an open Web, this aspect of our marketing efforts is beginning to get closed off... much like social networking sites of the past (before they were referred to as social networking sites).

As a side-note, security issues on major social media outlets have risen to a point where Internet publishers (i.e. solopreneurs, large brands, and any entity in between [including brick & mortar companies looking to pull in more business through digital means]) are transitioning back their own platforms (i.e. their independent websites) in very, very large numbers. One social giant recently announced that it'll be closing its doors indefinitely following a breach in user data, and another is under fire for similar allegations. Not to undermine the potential of social media marketing, but it does beg the question... Is it right for us?

So, Now What?

Stick with your gut instincts. At Veb, while we use social media, we love inbound marketing, and for us, it's primarily represented by a powerful website that attracts targeted visitors (the majority of which are strong leads), and keeps users there whenever possible. Search, therefore, is instrumental in what we do. We combine white-hat SEO with the technicalities of search engine optimization to form our traffic-generation foundation. In other words, we know how to please humans and robots alike #lol.

With all of that said, your path might be one where social media marketing resonates with you more, and/or is required for your plan of action to work effectively (contrary to what we and other digital marketing experts might think). And it's been proven by reliable sources that feelings (as mysterious of a role as they play in our lives) more often than not predict outcomes. So, do what you do best... Make the maximum contribution in your abilities using whatever format and platform speaks to you.

In sum, write blog posts (on your site or those of others), upload your MP4s to video-sharing and/or podcasting sites, or launch a small online empire... because traffic ultimately follows proficiency, and everyone is a genius at something.