Effective Inbound Marketing Tips

Realizing that you’ve wasting money on something that was supposed to make you money instead is a very unwelcome thought for business owners everywhere. The truth of the matter is that if you are not using HubSpot properly, then you probably won’t see results, and you’re wasting your money. And unfortunately this causes businesses to give up before they’ve even given inbound a real chance to work.

The real question is WHY aren’t these businesses getting results? What are they doing wrong and how can they fix it? Here are some common reasons why many businesses never see results with HubSpot and end up throwing in the towel too early:

1. Underestimating the Learning Curve Involved

HubSpot offers so many training opportunities for a reason. Because you will need it in order to properly use the software and make money through your efforts. In the first part of this eBook, we touched on the essential HubSpot tools that every user must be acquainted with. That overview was the tip of a gigantic iceberg. Sadly, when it comes to learning HubSpot, most DIY users tend to stop there and this is one major cause of wasting money.

For example, every new, 98ToGo hire has to undergo training to become HubSpot and inbound marketing certified. This involves a time commitment of about 2 hours everyday for about 6 weeks. Is this time investment appropriate for you or would your time be better spent somewhere else in your business?

There’s nothing wrong with doing things yourself. It’s a global trend that is very useful for many business owners looking to save money wherever they can. However, as with anything, there is a tipping point. Some business owners try to do everything themselves, which is damn near impossible to do unless you work 18-hour days. Of course, it’s not biologically impossible, so you will probably test your strength and give it a go on a month-to-month basis. Soon you’ll have erased what little personal life you did have, wasted hundreds (if not thousands) of hard earned dollars, and lost valuable time learning this lesson the hard way. And who wants to do that when you can get someone to separately manage your HubSpot software and inbound marketing campaigns with more accuracy and efficiency.

The unfortunate thing about opportunities is that they don’t always come around a second time. Missing opportunities equals lost revenue. Another effect of not utilizing all the tools effectively is that businesses tend to miss opportunities by only targeting one part of your sales funnel.

For example, only focusing on generating leads at the top of the funnel and ignoring the middle and bottom part of the sales funnel. Doing so, means you’re missing opportunities to nurture, warm up, and qualify leads, and you’ll never really be able to grow a business using that singular top of the funnel strategy. You need to have each part of the funnel in place working together like a well-oiled machine. HubSpot helps you do that, as well as see where the weak points may be in the funnel, so you can improve them.

4. Pure Impatience

We’re all guilty of being impatient once in a while, but being impatient with inbound marketing can cause businesses to quit too early. HubSpot is great, but it’s not exactly cheap. If you took the time to purchase HubSpot, you made a wise and considerable investment in your business’ future. But be advised that inbound marketing is NOT an overnight strategy. It typically takes 6-8 months to start seeing any real movement, and sometimes even longer to really get your inbound marketing machine humming; especially if you’re a newer business or one with a smaller online presence.

Many business owners, although they talk a good game, are not willing to give inbound marketing the full time needed to develop and demonstrate ROI. Businesses say they want a medium to long-term strategy, but move onto other more instantly gratifying yet more expensive marketing avenues, like paid advertising.

A strategy is not an illusive concept; it’s a real thing that you must have in order to not fail at inbound marketing. Whether you’re using HubSpot, or one of their competitors, you need a strategy. Call it a playbook if sports terminology makes you feel more at ease. Just as understanding the mechanics of the game won’t make you a star player, knowing how to merely operate HubSpot won’t make you successful at inbound marketing.

Without a book of well thought out plays (your content strategy), you risk wasting time and money at shooting in the dark and hoping something works. Think about what you intend to achieve by using HubSpot. Of course you want more customers, to make more money, defeat your competitors online, etc. But exactly how do you plan to make it happen? Do you know who your ideal customers are? Do you have a content strategy?

No one likes to waste money. It’s never something you intend to do, but it happens nonetheless. Now that you understand how you’re possibly wasting money on HubSpot, you should consider the pros and cons of time and money invested versus earnings and explore your alternatives accordingly.