How are your resolutions going? Are you still in the gym three times a week or is the pub beginning to look more appealing? The trouble with taking up a new regime is that it is really hard work to begin with, and it takes a long time for it to become a habit and even longer to start seeing results.
Exactly the same is true of inbound marketing. You create a fabulous new website and start a blog. You have an initial burst of enthusiasm and you’re blogging three times a week. However, after a couple of weeks your inspiration runs low and the pub begins to look more appealing! Your blogging fizzles out and you decide that it didn’t work and give up.
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Or you stick with it, check your analytics to see which blog posts are getting visits, figure out what sort of information people are searching for, and put together a content plan to help you not only keep writing but also keep writing blog posts that people want to read, that they find useful and that will make them do something else afterwards. Whether that something else is sharing your content with their friends because they found it helpful or getting in touch with you because they want to learn more, it’s going to help your business. With a decent plan and the right attitude you can turn content creation into a habit and maybe even start enjoying it. Just like that training plan you got at the gym…
We reckon that getting results from inbound marketing takes at least 6 months, maybe even a year or more. It’s hard to keep motivated when you can’t see much progress, but the great thing about adding content to your website is that it is there forever and once it starts bringing in visitors it doesn’t stop.
And just like the feeling you get when your hard work in the gym starts paying off and you see your six pack emerging, it’s very exciting when the enquiries start arriving and you have a steady stream of potential customers to talk to.
So make your new year’s resolution to start creating great content and keep doing it. The results will be worth the effort.
Julie Mitchell-Mehta is a Chartered Marketer at Red Evolution, an Aberdeen based Inbound Marketing Agency that uses marketing, design, development, content and SEO skills to help businesses thrive online.
