Research | Report | Analysis
Inbound marketing is a popular approach of using relevant content, search engines, and social media to ‘attract, convert, close and delight’ customers. Unlike traditional marketing approaches, it is less intrusive and more valuable to audiences. It has spawned an entire industry of inbound marketing experts, content creators, SEO consultants and social media gurus.
Let’s take a brief assessment of several organizations and how the inbound marketing methods have been put into use.
• GROWTH ROCKS (Growth Hacking Agency)
• CANVA
• HUBSPOT
Let’s discuss the above listed company’s websites in details;
GROWTHROCKS APPROACH TO INBOUND MARKETING
(Growth Hacking Agency | Growth Marketing Agency | GrowthRocks )
GrowthRocks is an international growth hacking agency. It is a team of web developers, business consultants, marketers and designers that design and implement growth plans. In 3 years, growth rocks have expanded its market cover to 16 countries with offices in Athens, London, and affiliates in 10 more countries.
According to their website, GrowthRocks follows a process to implement an inbound marketing strategy, which involves the following steps:
• Figuring out the existing user flows
• Creating a marketing funnel (from unknown user to MQL to SQL)
• Designing the different customer paths that support the marketing funnel
• Putting together a list of necessary tools to support the inbound process
Setting up the user flows on the tools and implementing the inbound strategy
Integrating the inbound tools on all available online properties
GrowthRocks also provides various types of content marketing to attract and engage their audience, such as;
• Blog posts
• Articles
• Infographics
• Videos
• eBooks
• case studies
• white papers
• webinars
• interactive tools.
After review, here are some of the strengths and weaknesses of the GrowthRocks inbound marketing strategy observed;
Other strengths and weakness of GrowthRocks inbound marketing include;
STRENGTHS
i. They us analytics and actionable reporting to measure and optimize their inbound marketing performance.
ii. They leverage referral and viral marketing to amplify their reach and generate word-of-mouth.
iii. They have a clear and transparent pricing model, which allows their client to choose the best plan for their needs and budget.
WEAKNESSES
i. They may have a limited geographic reach, as they mainly operate in the Europe and US and may not have enough local knowledge or connections in other markets.
ii. They may have difficulty in scaling their services, as inbound marketing is a customized and personalized approach that may not be easily replicated or automated.
Canva is an online graphic design platform that is used to create social media graphics and presentations. The company has announced it intends to compete with Google and Microsoft in the office Software category with website and whiteboard products.
Canva has used inbound marketing to grow its brand and reach over 300 million monthly visitors and 75 million active users across 190 countries. Below are some of the key Elements of Canva’s inbound marketing Strategy;
i. Create and template landing pages – Canva uses two types of landing pages based on the search intent of its potential customers: create landing pages for those who want to design something, and template landing pages for those who are looking for templates. These landing pages are optimized for SEO and offer relevant and useful content that matches the user’s needs and expectations.
ii. Canva Learn and Design school – Canva provides educational content and resources to help users learn and improve their design skills. Canva Learn is a blog that covers topics such as design trends, tips, tutorials, and inspiration.
iii. Freemium Model – Canva offers a freemium model that allows users to access most of its features and resources for free, while also providing premium options for those who want more advanced functionality and customization.
iv. Canva Creators And Affiliate Programs – Canva also has a program for content creators and affiliates, who can earn commissions by promoting Canva to their audiences. Canva Creators are influencers, bloggers, podcasters, and educators who create and share content about Canva on their platforms. These programs help Canva expand its reach and awareness, as well as generate more referrals and sales.
HUBSPOT APPROACH TO INBOUND MARKETING https://www.hubspot.com/
Hubspot is an American developer and marketer of software products for sales and customer service. Its product and services aim to provide tools customer relationship management, social media marketing, content management amongst others.
HubSpot’s website uses various inbound marketing strategies to generate leads, nurture prospects, and delight customers. Below are some of the key elements of HubSpot’s inbound marketing strategy:
STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF HUBSPOT INBOUND MARKETING
This is a rather difficult question to answer if we are to put into considering that each of these businesses have different approaches and goals for their inbound marketing strategy depending on their Industry, Products and customer needs.
As shown above, you can see that each of these Businesses has a strong Inbound Marketing Strategy that suits their specific needs and goals. However, if I had to choose one that stands out, I would say that HubSpot has the best inbound marketing strategy, because they have the most comprehensive, consistent, and influential approach to inbound marketing.
They have built a loyal community of customers and advocates around their brand, they have established themselves as the authority and go- to source for inbound Marketing.
Here are some ways I think each of these organizations could improve its inbound marketing;
❖ Canva needs to improve its customer retention strategy by creating more personalized and relevant contents, offering more incentives and rewards. It also needs to expand its reach and visibility to potential customers by using more diverse and targeted marketing channels such as offline events, partnerships, sponsorships and PR.
❖ Growth Rocks should exercise testing and experimenting with different elements of their inbound marketing strategy, such as headlines, CTAs, and landing pages. Also create more relevant and engaging content for their target audience, such as blog posts, eBooks, webinars, info graphics and videos
Hubspot should try a conversion-focused blogging strategy and use HubSpot’s SEO and social media tools to optimize and promote its blog posts. They could also design its lead nurturing process and use HubSpot’s marketing automation and email tools to send personalized and timely messages to its leads and customers.
Bills Walls “ How the Hubspot inbound marketing Methodology Boosts Sales”(2021) Retrieved from (How The Hubspot Inbound Marketing Methodology Boosts Sales (intouch-marketing.com)
Akshita posted in “ Content creation , Content Marketing” (2023) https://narrato.io/blog/content-marketing-case-study-canva-marketing-strategy-decoded/
Elena Cucu “ Brand Analysis” (2022) https://www.socialinsider.io/blog/canva-social-media-strategy
Alisha Rechberg “ A Beginner’s Guide to HubSpot for Inbound Marketing Success < Digital Marketing Agency Orange County CA | Your
Marketing People