Top 5 Inbound Marketing Articles to Start the Week: The Myth of Marketing Magic

Post date: 2022-05-07 Category: Marketing

Our top choice of articles to put you in the inbound marketing mindset for the week reminds us all of a simple truth: there is no magic marketing formula that will work for you every time.

1. There is No Magic Marketing Formula

Author: Jay Ehret on The Marketing Spot

By focusing on the simple, yet important point that there is no single tactic that will garner marketing success every time, Jay's short article emphasizes that effective marketing takes work.

Jay specifically gears his article toward entrepreneurs, who he believes share a common misconception that there exists a magical marketing formula that will attract customers no matter what your business is, what you have to offer or how much effort you exert. Instead, marketers should keep in mind that there are no one-size-fits-all marketing programs, and that initiatives need to be individualized and targeted depending on a number of factors.

Marketing Takeaway: You can't put your marketing on autopilot and expect results. Effective marketing requires hard work.

2. 3 Ways to Kill and Reinvent Your About Page

Author: Rohit Bhargava of Influential Marketing Blog

Rohit's article focuses on one of the more neglected, yet valuable metrics he believes small businesses shouldn't forget about: how many website visitors end up your "About Us" page. While the "About Us" page is often overlooked by marketers (though not by your site visitors), he thinks it offers an important opportunity to share your company's backstory.

He also offers a few tips for improving and reinventing your company's "About Us" page, by creating better and more human writing, using video to share your personality and leveraging slide presentations.

Marketing Takeaway: Don't overlook low-hanging fruit to improve your site visitors' experience.

3. What's Your Referability Factor?

Author: John Jantsch on ChrisBrogan.com

John's guest article, an excerpt from his new book, The Referal Engine , recognizes that the businesses that get the most out of referals possess certain, similar qualities. It's not that they've implemented a better process for getting clients/partners to refer them, it's just that they're more referable.

John also identifies and describes the qualities that make companies more referable, which include building trust, treating staff as customers, hiring ideal employees, emphasizing a word-of-mouth culture , etc.

Marketing Takeaway: Consider the qualities that make companies referable. Can you instill any of them in your company to attract new business from referals?

4. Social Media Best Practices for Business

Author: Brian Solis on OPEN Forum

Brian's article identifies some best practices businesses should be aware of when undertaking social media participation. He recognizes the benefits of engagement, which include expanding market opportunities, building brand awareness, stimulating demand, and engendering loyalty and advocacy.

His 5 best practices are:

Dedicate the time.
Conquer your fears.
Listen and research to learn and contribute.
Establish an attractive and expansive presence.
Use engagement as the new customer service and marketing.

Marketing Takeaway: Understand general best practices before you dive headfirst into social media marketing .

5. Small Changes That Lead to Big Results

Author: James Dunworth on ProBlogger

Sometimes a small change can make a big difference. James' article expands upon this concept, pointing out three changes he implemented on his own site, each in under an hour, that made a big impact on profits and revenue.

While James recognizes these changes may not work for everyone, he encourages readers to test and track new, small changes to their sites to see how they perform. Can you do something minor that might have the potential for major results?

Marketing Takeaway: Before you decide to makeover your entire website , think about testing smaller, cost-effective changes. You may be surprised at the results.

Photo by Kevin O'Mara