When it comes time to sign off on big decisions for a company, it’s usually always up to the CEO. Marketing strategy is no exception. Whether your company is in the middle of an inbound marketing campaign or just starting to think about crossing over, it is important for the CEO not to be in the dark. Even though the marketing managers are the ones overseeing every day practices, the CEO should be aware how inbound marketing is overall helping business. Here are the basics.
1) You need a specialized team. Its not just one person sitting behind a computer updating a website. Inbound marketing for a brewery involves different areas that all work together to uniquely help your company. What works for one company may not work for another so it is important that all members of the inbound marketing team work together to figure out what works best.
Usually, the main positions involve a web designer, graphic designer, SEO specialist, and content specialist. Each of these positions contributes something different and it is difficult to implement a successful inbound marketing campaign without one. In addition to this, some of these positions have overlap. For example, the graphic designer can work with the web designer on creating the website and the SEO and content specialists can work together to create content that is both relevant and ranks well in searches. These positions can vary depending on your industry. For the craft beer industry, you may have a person specifically in charge of social media on your inbound team due to the fact that social media is a major tool for marketing breweries.
2) It takes more planning than outbound marketing. Outbound marketing essentially is pushing out marketing campaigns with no real idea of how people will respond. It’s basically the same as casting a wide net hoping someone will bite. Because craft breweries usually dont have excessive funds to spend on marketing, this is a waste. Inbound, on the other hand, targets specific audiences. In this case, the target audience would be dedicated craft beer drinkers. Targeting these people specifically takes more planning, but it will pay off in the end.
Finding out who exactly you are trying to reach out starts with outlining the company’s goals, current measures being taken, and creating buyer personas. These personas should include goals, background, etc. of the people you are going after. Once you have a clear idea of these potential “buyers”, the rest of the marketing strategy will come that much easier.
3) The strategy will take adjusting. The overall marketing strategy will rarely be right on the first try. You will need to adjust different pieces of the puzzle to see what works and what doesn’t depending on your overall goals. For example, if your goal is to excel in thought leadership in the beer world, you may need to focus more on generating content on a regular basis. If your goals are more awareness and brand loyalty, you should work on engaging with people via social media. It all depends on what you ultimately want to accomplish.
This isn’t to say that some positions of the team become less important depending on your strategy. All the people on the team are still working together, they are just working towards a different goal. The balance comes from trial and error.
4) Results won't happen overnight. This goes hand in hand with adjusting the strategy. To see if something is working or not working will take a couple of months each time, minimum. Every time the marketing strategy is adjusted, the trial period starts again. Because of this, it is unreasonable to expect to see results immediately.
In the long run, it is better to take the time to prepare and adjust marketing efforts. Compared to outbound marketing, you actually know what is working and what isn’t, and this alone should be enough to work towards your final goal. It will be worth the wait.
5) The payoffs will give credit where credit is due. Once inbound marketing works, there is no question as to where the success came from. Through constant preparation and trial and error, credit should be given to the marketing team. Some success metrics include increased SEO ranking through relevant content, increased brand awareness through greater social media presence, increased ROI, and more leads/conversions. All of this information can be available through your inbound marketing platform.
The CEO doesn’t need to know every detail of what goes into inbound marketing, but these general guidelines should give them a good idea. To learn more about inbound marketing methodologies, check out our Resources page and download the free Ebook below.
