Inbound Digital Marketing & Media Placement: How They Work Together

In a rapidly evolving digital landscape, especially considering digital marketing and media placement, much has changed since the inception of this article. The world of marketing has witnessed a seismic shift, with new technologies, platforms, and consumer behaviors transforming the way businesses connect with their audiences. Yet, at Synapse Marketing, we recognize that evolution is the hallmark of success, and we’ve diligently evolved our proven digital marketing strategies to stay ahead of the curve. As we continue to adapt and innovate, our commitment to providing cutting-edge solutions remains unwavering, especially for our B2B partners in the advanced manufacturing sector.

Our journey in the world of digital marketing has been one of constant adaptation and refinement. We understand that B2B marketing in advanced manufacturing demands a unique approach, where precision, expertise, and innovation are paramount. Over the years, we’ve honed our strategies to not only keep pace with the changes in the digital realm but also to anticipate and leverage these changes to your advantage.

Our Integrated Approach: Digital Marketing and Media Placement Strategies

For companies that rely on online leads and sales, few marketing strategies work better than a strong mix of inbound digital marketing and media placement tactics paired with carefully placed online and offline advertising designed to drive your best prospects to a conversion-focused website. When managed properly, these tactics work together to guide the consumer through the pre-purchase – or consideration – phase of the buying cycle.

Marketing through the pre-purchase phase is important.

What We Have Learned: digital marketing and media placement (2023)

One of the pivotal transformations in the digital landscape is the growing importance of data-driven decision-making. Today, data is not just a buzzword; it’s the driving force behind effective marketing strategies. Our commitment to leveraging data analytics has only grown stronger, enabling us to provide our advanced manufacturing clients with insights that go beyond surface-level metrics. We delve deep into the data, analyzing consumer behavior, industry trends, and competitor landscapes to formulate strategies that are not just up-to-date but also forward-looking.

In the world of B2B marketing, content remains king.

However, the type and format of content that resonates with your audience have evolved significantly. Our content strategies have evolved alongside these changes, incorporating a multimedia approach that includes written content and video, infographics, webinars, and more. We understand your audience craves informative, engaging, and easily digestible content, and we’re here to deliver just that.

Without a proper strategy, acquiring new customers and generating new revenue is extremely difficult.

Here’s how the tactics work together

1. Inbound digital marketing tactics engage customers with interesting content and targeted messaging. These tactics include search engine optimization (SEO), pay-per-click (PPC) ads, blogging, social media marketing, and email marketing.
2. Multi-channel advertising strategies build awareness and attract customers. Advertising mediums like online banners and video ads, TV and radio spots, billboards, print ads, signage, displays, and out-of-home experiences are a few examples of advertising tactics that work.
3. We build trust and interest by engaging and attracting our target audience to well-designed websites and landing pages.
4. When our target audience is interested and trusts us, we use techniques to convert them into customers. Subsequently, leads and sales increase.

In a perfect situation, all of these marketing activities are unified and guided by a clear vision. Since that vision guides all messaging, your customer’s journey is consistent.

When consistently delivering the same messages about your brand, you’re shaping the customer’s impression of your product. If they find interest in that product and what it can do for them, their curiosity will lead them to learn more about your product.

When properly planned and executed, a combined digital inbound and advertising strategy offers the best changes of success. Yet, despite the desire to maximize marketing ROI, few organizations properly leverage the combined strengths of these two unique marketing approaches.

If it Works, Why Isn’t Everyone Doing It?

Here’s why. Small businesses believe (often incorrectly) they can’t afford both strategies. Growing companies may have goals set, but they don’t understand the importance of rolling out these steps at their stage of growth.

Growing companies often change direction quickly and may find it challenging to manage sophisticated strategies without taking resources away from important projects and core business functions.

Large corporations have money and resources, yet their strategies may still fall short when relying on multiple agencies, vendors, and media companies, each focused on niche responsibilities instead of holding overall accountability for campaign performance.

Here’s Why That Thinking Is Wrong

There are solutions to each of these organizational challenges if you’re open-minded. And why wouldn’t you be? The stakes are high. We already know that a tightly integrated digital inbound and placed media strategy is critical if you want to get the most out of your marketing budget. So what holds companies back, and what can be done?

The first step is recognizing your choices. Luckily, at a high level, those choices are relatively simple.

Choices:

Companies have four choices when implementing a coordinated digital marketing and media placement strategy, especially in the Advanced Manufacturing space.

1. Manage digital inbound & media in-house.

2. Manage multiple partners and vendors.

3. Partner with a full-service Digital/Media Agency.

4. Do nothing.

Considerations

What’s the Best Solution for Your Company?

What are the Right Tactics?

What ROI can I Expect, and What Should I Invest to Get it?

Consider these questions when deciding if your overall marketing strategy should be audited:

Understanding the correlation between traditional advertising and digital marketing investments is especially important. For example:

SEO/PPC/Website/Traditional Advertising: What’s the correlation?

• Traditional advertising, branding, and direct response campaigns generate increased direct website traffic and branded search activity (i.e., when a user searches using a phrase like “Joe’s Shoes Harrisburg PA”). Your digital marketing provides a way to show up well in the competitive online environment. As a complementary strategy, your traditional advertising supplements those efforts by eliminating the clutter, making sure you are also sought out directly.
• When well-tailored messaging drives consumers to a website optimized for conversion, each message optimized for the medium and targeted consumer but tied together by the brand’s vision, your advertising and digital marketing will create an accelerated journey from initial contact to point-of-purchase (and beyond with remarketing efforts)

“One delivers ROI, the other not so much.”

• False! All marketing investments should be governed by the same metrics to understand how the various “moving parts” generate bottom line costs. For certain companies, this metric may be “What does it cost to get a lead?” Other companies may seek to understand “What does a new customer REALLY cost?” Large consumer brands tend to look more generally, “What does a pair of eyeballs cost?”
• When you tie everything together strategically and run it through holistic analysis, you gain a true understanding of customer acquisition. This becomes critical as you make decisions to grow… now you have the tools to establish goals and plan your brand’s path forward with incredible accuracy.

What to Do if You’re Unsure

The rise of social media as a B2B marketing powerhouse has also been a game-changer. Platforms like LinkedIn have become invaluable tools for connecting with decision-makers and industry professionals. At Synapse Marketing, we’ve fine-tuned our social media strategies to fully tap into these platforms’ potential.

We develop tailored content and engagement strategies that position you as a thought leader in advanced manufacturing, fostering trust and credibility within your target audience.

Moreover, the integration of marketing automation has brought unprecedented efficiency to B2B marketing efforts. Our experts have mastered the art of marketing automation in digital marketing and media placement, streamlining lead nurturing, segmentation, and personalized messaging. We ensure that your advanced manufacturing business maximizes its marketing potential by automating repetitive tasks and delivering tailored content at precisely the right moment in the buyer’s journey.

Synapse Marketing: We’re here to help.

In conclusion, while the digital marketing landscape has evolved, Synapse Marketing’s commitment to innovation and excellence in serving our B2B clients in advanced manufacturing has only grown stronger. As the industry continues to change, we remain your dedicated partner in navigating these transformations, crafting strategies that drive growth, and helping you stay ahead in the ever-competitive advanced manufacturing sector. Whether it’s leveraging data, creating engaging content, harnessing the power of social media, or implementing automation, Synapse Marketing is your trusted ally on the journey to digital marketing success.

In a marketing environment that offers hundreds of ways to bombard consumers with messaging, it’s of great importance for your marketing team to lead a unified charge when taking your brand to market.

When “Big Data” and “Big Picture” perspectives align, synergies emerge, creating heightened marketing ROI.

This is only achieved when one over-arching strategy governs the execution of both. Much like your corporate culture and day-to-day operations, your marketing requires a reliable team capable of executing your vision through collaboration and specialized knowledge. Are there inefficiencies in your current approach? Contact us to receive an assessment at no charge.