Most of us know what marketing is, but we aren’t all aware of the strategies that companies use. Marketing is the promotion of businesses and there are endless marketing strategies to do so. Companies use different marketing strategies depending on what type of business they are and what message they are trying to send out. Many businesses use social media to market, depending on who their target market is. For example, Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter may be used differently, depending on target personas. Here at Mariposa, we use inbound marketing, and like I was, you may be wondering what exactly this is.

I’m an intern at Mariposa Interactive, learning the fascinating ropes of an inbound marketing agency. If you’re like me, then you aren’t quite sure what the definition of inbound marketing is, even though it’s thrown around a lot in the business. To get the hang of inbound marketing, I (and you) must first learn how it works. One of the main tools that we use here at Mariposa is Hubspot. Here is a look at things from their perspective. “Inbound marketing is about using marketing to bring potential customers to you, rather than having your marketing efforts fight for their attention. Sharing is caring and inbound marketing is about creating and sharing content with the world”. When I first used Hubspot, I was so amazed at the things that it could do. It was unbelievable to me that I could analyze posts, learn about Search Engine Optimization, and observe how the other side of social media and blog posts works.

In order to achieve inbound marketing, we must know a company’s goal, the target market (or persona) of their business, and the needs of their customers. Before we are able to start work for a client, we need to find a way to tailor to their needs. This is done by determining strategy, personas, and a voice for them. A strategy for a company is how a client wants to market their product/service to a customer. Many factors are taken into consideration for this. One factor is the different potential personas that a company could have. For example, for a fencing company, you may have one persona of a group of people aged 35-45 with homes or farms. Another persona may be a group of adults from ages 25-35 that need a fence around a smaller area or certain section of land. Each company has more than one persona, because there will be more than one kind of potential customer engaging in business with them. In order for the fencing company to be successful, they need a strategy to market to their personas. When developing a strategy, this company needs to consider their voice, how they will be perceived by potential clients, their tone. They may want to be seen as an organized professional company looking for their clients best interests or an authority on the business. Marketing in this way does just that, makes sure that they are attracting the customers they need.

One way we use this information at Mariposa is through social media. We develop creative posts for companies that catch the reader’s eye and draw them in, like funny Facebook posts and informative blog articles. These posts help bring in customers that will engage in a certain company and they don’t have to pertain solely to that company. Anyone interested in this company and its products can be exposed to a variety of different fields that eventually lead them back to the service they need, provided by that one original company. This keeps things exciting and interesting while still catering to the needs and interests of the company’s customer base.

Now you may find yourself more aware of companies marketing strategies when you see ads or social media posts. Knowing how the marketing system works and why your agency is doing what they do is a big part of having a successful marketing strategy.

Trust the professionals and discuss the possibility of inbound marketing today.