The principles to be implemented are the following:

Ensure consistency of communication – if a potential customer or client asks three different team members within your company the same question, they should get the same answer each time. Consistent communication builds trust.

Contextualize interactions to remain relevant – contextualization means using information from previous interactions in order to offer potential customers of clients the most quick and relevant information. Contextualization helps you avoid repetitive interactions and wasted time solving repeat issues.

Optimize communication for the sake of clarity – be aware of the advantages and disadvantages of each communication channel – determine which communication channel suits your business best.

Personalize communication to make a stronger impression – by using shared knowledge from your contact database, conform each interaction to the individual you are speaking with. Instead of using generic responses, adapt your messages so they speak directly to the person you are targeting.

Base your perspective on empathy – the Inbound approach stands by its basic values of humaneness and empathy; always be mindful that your potential customers or clients have emotions of their own. Therefore, ensure you use the right atmosphere and tone during your interaction, depending on their emotional state.

THE THREE STAGES OF INBOUND MARKETING

Inbound Marketing follows the three stages (Attract—Engage—Delight) of the Inbound methodology. By creating relevant content which speaks directly to your audience, without pretense or hidden agenda, you will build trust and attract customers.

When a customer is engaged and starts interacting with this content, it is important to continue to build trust. Two guiding questions help you offer the customer an excellent experience:

1) What basic challenge caused the setback in their business plan, and why did they decide to reach out to your company?
2) How can we help them resolve this challenge?

In this stage, you continue to build trust by working with the customer or client; providing them with relevant, useful information directly related to their challenge; and finally identifying and resolving this challenge.

When you reach the Delight stage, you have already provided enough value and removed the barriers they faced; you have now strengthened the one‑on‑one relationship with the customer. The goal of this stage is to educate and delight the customer so they can learn to solve certain challenges themselves and continue prospering alongside your company. When you have become a source of support and expertise in the eyes of your customers, they will not think twice before recommending you to others.

Topic Clusters is a collective name for converged, relevant and informative collections of content which you provide to your users via your blog, website or social media.

Topic Clusters are collections of separate topics covered and framed within a greater topic in the format of pillar content and cluster content.

Content Pillar (or Pillar Page) may be defined as the webpage which thoroughly examines a broad subject and is connected (with hyperlinks) to form a cluster of related content.

A Pillar Page has two variants:

1) Resource Pillar Page – a page focused on internal and/or external links. It is a useful resource when connecting your customer to the most relevant source of information on a given topic.

2) 10x Content Pillar Page – a page on which most of the content is already the content of your owned media. The format is similar to an ungated e‑book or a guide.

WHAT IS A PILLAR PAGE AND WHY IT IS IMPORTANT?

We have already pointed out the importance of the way people browse and the speed at which browsing is constantly changing. In line with this, the algorithms of web browsers change, as well as the SEO itself (Search Engine Optimization).

But how do Pillar Pages and Topic Clusters fit into this?

Search engines have become more relevant for the search query. Relevant and related content is the bridge that connects the SEO and the Pillar Page. If you want to contribute to the traffic on your website, or you wish that potential buyers execute certain actions of conversion, you need to pay attention to the SEO and the Pillar Page connection.

Likewise, if you want to create content which turns visitors into potential buyers, you have to offer them a useful and positive customer experience. It must suit both the person who is doing the search and the search engine.

For your content to keep pace with these challenges, create targeted amounts of relevant content (a Topic Cluster) that thoroughly cover a basic topic. These targeted clusters then need to lead to a centralized location called the Pillar Page.

The Pillar Page is the foundation or the basis for building Topic Clusters. It covers all aspects of a given topic on one page. It is a webpage that dives deep into a broad topic and is connected to an entire group of related content, so‑called Topic Clusters. The Pillar Page has links to your blog posts, other content on the website, but also to other interconnected Topic Clusters. All links need to lead back to the Pillar Page. A Topic Cluster allows you to categorize, by topic, the content you share and to interconnect it to other content. This usually applies to blogposts.

Always keep in mind that Google and other search engines require as strong a link as possible between related content and the content on your website, meaning more links both to your own internal but also external content.

For example, if the topic you wish to write about on the Pillar Page is ‘Tourism in Croatia,’ in that case a Topic Cluster can be ‘Tourism on the Croatian coast’ and ‘Tourism in continental Croatia,’ etc.

A Pillar Page should be able to answer any query asked by the user utilizing the search engine. The page helps organize the architecture of your website and blog according to the way people search for information; a Pillar Page also allows the user to find answers more swiftly and simply, and ultimately to connect them to related content.

If your goal is to create content which attracts, engages and delights your ideal buyers, bring your team together so to discuss and create some quality content for your Pillar Page.

Since the Inbound methodology is oriented toward your customers and potential buyers, it is important to know who this audience should be. You do not want your audience to complete your goals exclusively on your website; instead, you need people with the best chance to become leads, and ultimately, your satisfied customers. The “right” people are your ideal customers, the right person is your Buyer Persona.

Creating the Buyer Persona helps you better understand your customers. It makes it easier to target your content, product or service. Depending on the nature of your business or the size of your company, you can create multiple Buyer Personas. To create a Buyer Persona, all your teams need to work together to obtain as much specific data as possible.

For your business to grow, the key idea behind the Inbound approach needs to be adopted. This means it is not enough to attract visitors to your website. Quite the contrary, you need to continually offer them assistance, support and encourage continued interaction even after they’ve completed their purchase or desired action. To achieve this, it is pertinent that every department in your company works together and is focused on existing as well as potential customers. The Inbound methodology is based on attracting, engaging and delighting your audience.

This entire process may be conceptualized as the so‑called Flywheel Model, which consists of three phases: Attract, Engage, Delight.

The Inbound methodology proposes the three phases each department in your company (for instance, marketing, sales or customer support) should go through to achieve the desired communication and relationship with customers.

Employees and the team members should be aware that the Attract phase is not only related to your marketing team; that the Engage phase does not only relate to your sales team, nor does the Delight phase relate only to your customer service. On the contrary, for the Inbound methodology to function properly and create the desired, sustainable customer relationship, every department needs to cooperate during each phase of the methodology.

ATTRACT

The Attract phase focuses on attracting potential buyers and customers through relevant, useful and instructive content, displaying your value to the customer at the very start of their journey. Write and publish blogs and video content on social media, but also create ads to raise awareness about your brand. By creating relevant content, you attract the precise customers you would want, as close to the so‑called Buyer Persona. as possible.

ENGAGE

In the second phase, you face the moment when potential buyers and customers complete their desired actions, i.e. reading your blog, downloading instructive materials, filling out a contact sheet or questionnaire, or communicating with customer service through the chatbot. During the Engage phase, a relationship is formed where it is crucial that you become the customer’s trusted source of information. This way you create long‑lasting relationships with your audience. The most important, valuable aspect of this phase is your customer’s data, which they are willing to trade in exchange for relevant content. Using this data, you build and expand your base, while converting potential customers into leads. Moreover, the collected data allows you to contextualize, personalize and categorize their experience with your company into segments.

DELIGHT

The last phase is focused on providing an exceptional experience for a potential customer each time they interact with your company. The goal of this phase is to empower your buyers, motivating them to choose you and overcome their reluctancy. When you become their trusted adviser and support system, you also become their source of knowledge and information. As a trusted source, they will be ready to recommend you to their friends, parents and acquaintances.

During each phase, collect data and write reports so your team members can stay informed or identify which part of the process needs improvement.

THE FLYWHEEL MODEL

The Inbound methodology is based on attracting, engaging and delighting the audience, while the entire process Attract—Engage—Delight comprises the Flywheel Model. If you want your company, your products and services to have a continuous, uninterrupted course of attracting, engaging and delighting your target audience, imagine your company as a flywheel.

If we take the Flywheel Model as a conceptual metaphor, the rotation of the flywheel would represent the growth of your business. Satisfied customers represent the energy which fuels that growth, be it because they shop with you repeatedly or because they bring in new customers by spreading word of mouth.

Even when dealing with dissatisfied customers, try everything in your power to ensure these customers the best experience communicating and interacting with your company. Never forget, dissatisfied customers who you want to delight also fuel your business growth!

The Inbound methodology is conceived as a circle, precisely because the process of attracting, engaging and delighting endlessly repeats itself. This way you can attract your audience with a particular problem and encourage them to solve it during your interaction, while delighting them throughout their entire customer journey.

What is Inbound?

To remain successful and competitive, any company or organization – regardless of whether it is B2B– or B2C‑oriented – needs its buyers, customers and target audiences. As a result of technological development, the internet especially, the needs of the consumer have grown larger, more demanding and information‑oriented. Competitiveness on the market has increased, and word‑of‑mouth among consumers is crucial. If you want to attract your target audience, you need to take the Inbound approach.