Most people would rather control their content rather than have someone force it on them. They would rather you didn’t call them, email them, or invade their favorite TV show. They’ll just throw away your glossy pamphlets and your fancy postcards.

They will, however, visit your site if there’s something there worth reading. They’ll click on your video if it’s about something they want to know.

That’s the basic concept of inbound marketing. Give the people what they want. Simple, right?

Not so fast. A lot goes into figuring out what they want. And then there’s the work of creating what they want. There’s no genie in a bottle waiting for you to wish away the hard work of inbound marketing. But there are plenty of us out here who will tell you that your leads will increase by 72% and your conversions by 55% if you use inbound marketing tactics.

Ready to learn what more money is made of? Keep scrolling to find out.

1. Content Marketing

Whether you’re creating inbound marketing for software VARS or using inbound for affiliate marketing, you need to show people that you’re knowledgeable. You’re the expert in whatever niche your business deals with.

The best way to show that you’re an expert is by creating content about your expertise. This could mean how-to articles if you’re a plumber or tech news articles if you are a VR headset startup. You want people to start looking to you for useful content.

This content serves as a way to introduce possible leads to what your business does. At the end of each piece of content, you need to include a CTA or call to action. This CTA will help remind people that you’re offering quality products and services. You can use the CTA in any part of your marketing funnel.

2. SEO

You might not be able to control how search engines rank your site. But you can control what a search engine sees when it visits your site.

This is the art and science of SEO. Optimizing you website to the best of your knowledge to rank well on any search engine. And without ranking on the first or second page of a Google search, your content marketing is going to be useless. This is why every pillar of inbound marketing is important to keep your house standing.

There are plenty of free resources out there for SEO mastery. Among them are Moz and Neil Patel.

3. PPC

Alright, this doesn’t include all PPC. It’s only the PPC ads found at the top of a search engine string like those searched on Google. Why? Because these ads appear when someone searches for something specifically.

Again, this works hand-in-hand with both SEO and content. You’re optimizing both your ads and your content to rank for certain keywords. They should rank for the same keywords.

It’s kind of like a safety net for when your SEO fails.

4. Social Media

Instagram hashtags are free advertising if you use the right ones. Facebook is a lot of work, but you can use their groups feature to bolster your page activity for free. Be aware, however, that you’ll have to moderate and actively participate in a group to grow it.

Social media is where your audience is. You just need to get them to follow your brand so that they see your content. You know they want what you’re creating because they’ve decided to follow you. You didn’t have to coerce them into doing so.

5. Landing Pages

This is where you CTA should lead. It’s where you’ll make the sale or secure the lead. You’ll want them to give you information or sign up for a free trial. You can offer them discounts or a free ebook or product to entice them onward through your funnel.