How To Build Your Inbound Marketing GamePlan
It’s time to change the game.
You have a choice. Stick to the traditional, safe marketing strategies that you have always known, or employ the inbound marketing tools and strategies that are giving organizations the power and agility to overtake the competition.
If you’d like to go the conservative route, you can stop reading now. For the underdogs and innovators, now is your time. Introducing the Inbound Marketing GamePlan (click here to download the free PDF eBook).
Click here to download the free eBook (no registration).
In early 2007, Brian Halligan and Dharmesh Shah, co-founders of HubSpot and authors of Inbound Marketing, set out to level the playing field. Their vision and business model have given organizations of all sizes the ability to grow smarter and faster by outthinking, not outspending, the competition.
Around that same time, David Meerman Scott published The New Rules of Marketing & PR, which remains highly relevant today as a revolutionary book for organizations stuck in traditional, outbound marketing activities. (EDITOR NOTE: The second edition of "New Rules" was released in paperback Jan. 12, 2010)
The work of Halligan, Shah and Meerman Scott, along with the collective knowledge of the social Web, have inspired us to build and publish the Inbound Marketing GamePlan.
The GamePlan follows a standard marketing-strategy methodology, but concentrates on shifting budgets and resources to more effective and measurable inbound marketing strategies.
Our hope is that this eBook serves as a resource for organizations of all sizes to take a more strategic approach to marketing, and tap into the full potential of inbound marketing to connect with all relevant audiences, generate leads and build loyalty.
The GamePlan in Action
- STEP 1: Clearly define and differentiate your brand.
- STEP 2: Design and deploy a content-driven Website.
- STEP 3: Go beyond prospects, and consider the impact of your inbound marketing efforts on all audiences.
- STEP 4: Establish measurable and meaningful campaign objectives designed to achieve the primary goals of leads and loyalty.
- STEP 5: Build an integrated campaign fueled by the four core inbound marketing strategies: Search Marketing, Social Media, Content Marketing and Public Relations. The success of each strategy creates momentum that drives your organization forward.
- STEP 6: Establish dynamic budgets that can be easily shifted based on campaign performance and analytics.
- STEP 7: Define campaign timelines with milestones, tasks and responsibilities.
- STEP 8: Measure everything, and be willing to adapt and evolve.
It’s Time . . .
The social Web and inbound marketing have leveled the playing field. Underdogs and innovators now have the power to grow faster and smarter than their competitors. They have the ability to control their destiny.
Don't be afraid to completely evolve what you have spent years building. Listen to the markets, adapt to demand and move where others aren't willing or able to go.
- It’s time to differentiate your brand and build a powerful, lead-generating Website.
- It’s time to consider the needs and goals of all audiences and connect with them in more meaningful and personal ways.
- It’s time to stop hiding behind arbitrary measurements, and start building integrated marketing campaigns around metrics that directly affect the bottom line.
- It’s time to stop paying for placement and start publishing relevant, link-worthy content.
- It’s time to participate and bring real value to online communities.
- It’s time to set dynamic, performance-based budgets that constantly shift and adapt based on analytics, consumer behavior and market forces.
- It’s time to tap into the endless resources of the social Web.
- It’s time to “get found” when audiences are searching for knowledge, products and services.
- It’s time to generate leads and build loyalty.
- It’s time to look beyond traditional wisdom and conventional solutions.
- It’s time to innovate and lead.
- It’s time to build and activate your Inbound Marketing GamePlan (click here to download the free PDF eBook).
Inbound Marketing GamePlan eBook Table of Contents
- Chapter 1> Intro: The Shift to Inbound Marketing
- Chapter 2> Discovery: Define, Differentiate & Design
- Chapter 3> Audiences: Segment & Prioritize
- Chapter 4> Objectives: Set Your Success Factors
- Chapter 5> Strategies & Tactics: Take an Integrated Approach
- Chapter 6> Budgets: Calculate Time & Money Investments
- Chapter 7> Timeline: Track Activities & Milestones
- Chapter 8> Measure & Evolve: Use Analytics to Adapt
- Chapter 9> Resource Center: Tap into the Social Web
- Chapter 10> The Beginning: Look Beyond
Click here to download the free eBook (no registration).
Your Feedback
We welcome your feedback, and encourage you to share this eBook with any professionals and communities that you believe may benefit from its content and resources.
Thank You!
Paul Roetzer is founder and president of PR 20/20, a Cleveland-based inbound marketing agency and PR firm. He can be found on Twitter @PaulRoetzer
Reader Comments
Joe Pulizzi - Junta42
January 20, 2010 8:27 AM | Permalink
Paul...this is an excellent resource you've put together. What I really love is that, the glue that makes this whole thing work, is quality, relevant and compelling content.The inbound marketing (content marketing) plan simply does not work with have a consistent story to tell. Happy to see you've made that clear in your gameplan.
Looking forward to really digging into this.
Best
Joe
Paul Roetzer
January 20, 2010 9:12 AM | Permalink
Joe,Thanks for leading the content marketing movement. It has made a huge impact on our thinking as an agency, and is creating tremendous opportunities for organizations that commit to publishing and social media participation.
Paul
Justin McCullough
January 20, 2010 11:49 AM | Permalink
Great content here. Love the concept of the "game plan" and the illustration. Also, thanks for giving access to the ebook without any fuss. I look forward to reading it.Well done!
Justin
twitter.com/leader4hire
Paul Roetzer
January 20, 2010 11:55 AM | Permalink
Thanks, Justin. I hope you find it useful, and certainly welcome your thoughts and feedback.Paul
Brian Halligan
January 20, 2010 11:59 AM | Permalink
Great work on the eBook, Paul.I like the way you are pulling the "flattening the playing field" string on this stuff. I think you are exactly right about it. It is a great time to be an entrepreneur or a small business owner today!
Bh.
Arthur Charles Van Wyk
January 20, 2010 3:01 PM | Permalink
The link to the ebook in your email feed is broken.. or is that the idea?Paul Roetzer
January 20, 2010 3:30 PM | Permalink
Arthur,Thanks for pointing that out. Not sure why the links aren't active in the Feedburner email. We're checking it out.
Paul
Bernie Borges
January 20, 2010 4:03 PM | Permalink
Paul,Dude - this e-book is awesome! But, I'm going to offer a slight contrarian viewpoint. I'm not a total believer in giving away this much valuable content without a form. Sure, you may get more downloads. But, you are in business to make money. Not only would I have filled out a form for this e-book, I would also whip out my credit card and pay for it. My point is twofold: 1) you hit a home run with this e-book, 2) why not produce bonafide sales leads from it? Or why not sell it? After all you're advising marketers to build metrics that affect the bottom line.
If I had paid for this e-book I would make a point of reading it cover to cover and I'll remember your brand. You win twice that way.
I'm 100% aligned with everything in your e-book. I just think valuable content is worth paying for, even if the "price" is just a form for lead capture.
My 2 cents.
Bernie
Paul Roetzer
January 20, 2010 4:11 PM | Permalink
Bernie,You bring up some excellent points, and believe me, these are things we discussed internally at length.
Next time we get together I'll fill you in over a beer why we chose to: 1) release such a comprehensive resource, and 2) do so without requiring any contact information.
Thanks again!
Paul
Tom Humbarger
January 20, 2010 6:51 PM | Permalink
Paul - thanks for this great resource. I just finished reading Inbound Marketing this week and even wrote a blog post saying that it's the only book on social media you need to read this year (http://tomhumbarger.wordpress.com/2010/01/19/inbound-marketing-the-only-social-media-book-you-need-to-read-this-year/).I'm going to have to amend that statement to say that people should read Inbound Marketing AND your e-book.
Tom
(I also agree with Bernie about capturing leads - especially when that's the subtitle of the e-book)
Tom Humbarger
January 20, 2010 7:03 PM | Permalink
Paul - one question. Do you plan to upload the ebook to Slideshare? Just wondering...Tom
Paul Roetzer
January 20, 2010 9:31 PM | Permalink
Thanks, Tom. Enjoyed your review of the Inbound Marketing book (it is a fantastic resource), and I'm glad you found the eBook to be so valuable!Regarding the registration, lead generation was not the primary objective for this content piece, so we wanted to make it as simple as possible for people to download and share it.
Oh, and Slideshare is a possibility (per your 2nd comment).
Paul
Dave Morse
January 28, 2010 9:10 AM | Permalink
Paul,I realize I've already publicly confessed my love for PR 20/20, but I need to do it again: your Inbound Marketing GamePlan is the tightest, most comprehensive inbound approach I've seen yet. Extremely well done ... and extra kudos for making it publicly available (which is what it's all about, right?) Also, compliments on the fact that Joe Pulizzi and Brian Halligan were of the first comment! That says a lot. I love those guys, too! :)
Great work - keep it up.
Dave Morse
Paul Roetzer
January 28, 2010 9:27 AM | Permalink
Thanks, Dave! It's always great to hear the feedback. There's much more to come this year, so stay tuned. The GamePlan was just the beginning . . .Paul
Tracy Belling
April 14, 2010 10:04 AM | Permalink
I am really impressed by your company's intelligence and energy, I would love to work for you, it looks like you are really game-changers!Thank you for letting me read your ebook, I am printing it out now to read tonight.
Regards
Tracy
Dave Kinkade
January 12, 2011 11:36 PM | Permalink
I realize I'm very late to the party but I just read this post and have to say I am deeply impressed by the boldness and clarity of your message. I half-expected you to jump on the (figurative) desk and yell 'Oh Captain! My Captain!' In all seriousness, thank you for this excellent and thought-provoking piece.Paul Roetzer
January 13, 2011 10:14 PM | Permalink
Thanks, Dave. Appreciate the kind words.Leave a Comment