Jun 25, 2021
Inbound Marketing Is Investing — For Brand-Builders
When you think about, developing inbound collateral and investing in financial vehicles have a lot in common
I’ve discussed before how I believe that inbound marketing requires its own mindset shift in order for those creating it to reach that vaunted territory known as “success” — the stage at which MQLs start trickling in the door and the sales people stop giving out about marketing taking up so much budget.
I’ve also talked about how I think that in many cases the greatest impediment to the success of a content marketing effort isn’t the execution — the content itself — but rather humans’ tendency to be impatient animals.
We want results — now. And so too often we give up on content marketing before it’s had a chance to really succeed.
Now I’d like to offer another perspective for those mentally committed to content marketing … but who are also impatient to see it actually start yielding tangible results.
And that’s this.
Inbound Marketing Is Like Investing In A Financial Fund
Yes, you read that right.
Being a content creator is a little like having a mutual fund into which you make monthly deposits.
I’m no financial expert, but I hope the metaphor is about right.
Let’s drill down into the similarities:
a) When you’re depositing into a long term financial vehicle, you do so without the expectation of immediate return. And this is precisely the attitude which those creating blogs, podcasts, and videos need to not only take but also embrace.
b) Investing is typically done regularly. Typically, those who deposit into savings vehicles, or pensions, contribute money regularly. The vehicle compounds. So it makes more sense to contribute at reasonably regular intervals rather than to move in money in lump sums. It’s the same thing with content. Not only do audiences appreciate consistency. But dripping our content slowly allows audiences to build up. So that the next post gets seen by more eyes.
Create Content For Lead Generation In A Year’s Time
While I’ve been creating a lot of content recently in the form of Medium posts, YouTube videos, and podcasts, three years ago, if you Googled me, there was virtually nothing to find online.
I ghostwrite for clients. I changed surname from the one I used to write articles under. I was an online non-entity.
For the past couple of years, I’ve been working on changing that. And as I’ve done so I’ve begun receiving “leads.” Both for my business — I now get a few people asking me about my services per month — but also on a personal level. Most of my writing is a hobby — I post thoughts like these for fun — so the personal connections I make are often more valuable to me than the possible clients I land.
Readers reach out to me because they read something I wrote. It creates connections. Which was precisely what I was setting out to do.
And here’s another thing.
When it comes to creating content and depositing to my own fund of inbound marketing collateral, I feel like I’m just getting started. I’ve only scratched the surface.
And I also know that building up a personal brand — or a business brand — is a long term gambit.
I don’t create posts like this expecting that somebody is going to read it tomorrow and get in touch with me. I create them because I know that three years down the line this post might spark a connection with some reader in a distant part of the world and a new connection will be born.
Content is a long term game. It’s an investment approach in brand building. Your fund is the totality of your content. The ROI is your reputation and the inbound leads that that stock of content will generate.
