How to Create Your 2011 Inbound Marketing Blueprint

If you don’t already have your Inbound Marketing Blueprint written down, it’s time to get a move on! The last thing you want to do is “wing it”. Here is a step by step how-to. Don’t skip ahead; each step depends on the one before it.

Step 1

Create Your Underlying Marketing Message

This is the “why” you do what you do, and it’s what you’re actually selling. Think benefits, what do your buyers need and how do you give it to them?

When someone thinks of your company, what should be the first thing that comes to mind? When you can answer this question, you will be on your way to crafting your underlying inbound marketing message.

The underlying part is the “feeling” your buyer gets from your product or service. It is the unspoken (or spoken) warm and fuzzies that accompany doing business with you. The warm and fuzzy feeling is what makes people spend money. Understand that people are emotional creatures and appeal to those emotions with your underlying marketing message. This is optimal for inbound marketing success.

Once you have created your message, brainstorm a list of words or phrases that communicate what it is you’re selling.  The more words the better.  Also think of words that are closely related, but convey the same thing.

Stay tuned for Step 2 where we will discuss how to “Design a keyword and content strategy.”