Education based marketing isn’t new to the advertising industry; many businesses have always used education as a method of letting customers know about their services.
According to HubSpot’s State of Inbound report who surveyed over 6200 businesses, 79% of North American businesses are now focusing on inbound marketing. They also found that 53% of businesses believe inbound marketing gives the highest ROI for their business versus 16% who believe traditional methods have a higher ROI.
So why is it that educating customers has become such a hot trend recently? If we take a look at how consumers were made aware of products in the past, we can see a trend of single directional marketing. The advertising channels which were readily available to businesses allowed them to send out short bursts of information to large audiences. Targeting capabilities were limited, and businesses didn’t have a way to have more meaningful conversations with their customers without incurring huge costs.
This quickly changed with the widespread adoption of the internet, and its ability to provide access to information everywhere. The free flow of information that the internet provides started to shift consumer behaviour. A marketplace once driven by businesses reaching out to customers is shifting rapidly to one where customers are reaching out to businesses.
This change in consumer behaviour gives new opportunities to interact with customers, however it also creates new hurdles for businesses. Consumers are beginning to look into and learn about businesses before handing over their loyalty. This means that businesses now have the opportunity to position themselves as the experts, or the leaders in an industry. In order to be considered, businesses now need to make an effort to create a deeper connection with their customer base; businesses need to give their customers the means to educate themselves on various topics surrounding their industry.
Since customers are looking for educational material, what type of content should you be creating? While developing your strategy, you should ask yourself the question: “What is your business’s story, and how can you use that story to share your knowledge with customers?” Next time you are preparing a sales pitch, or are thinking about your sales process, take a step back and think about creating a core set of information your customers would benefit from. Prioritize topics that will save your customers time, money, or keep them from making costly mistakes. You should also consider creating educational material about the buying criteria in your industry.
Using these tactics not only helps to build trust but also helps customers understand the value of your product or service, instead of focusing on the price point. Are you considering the use of education as a marketing tool?
TL;DR;
- 79% of North American businesses are now focusing on inbound marketing
- 53% of businesses believe inbound marketing is most effective for ROI versus 16% who believe ROI is higher using traditional methods
- Customers are now reaching out to businesses instead of businesses reaching out to customers
- Businesses now have the opportunity to position themselves as the experts
Last modified: December 31, 2019
