🧲 Inbound Marketing #4 · Coaching Resource Room

🔥

🧲 Inbound Marketing #4

Create Paths, Not Pitches

If inbound marketing is about attracting rather than chasing, being useful before being persuasive, and allowing trust to develop over time, an obvious question eventually appears: "When do we sell something?"

It is an important question. Because there is a peculiar mistake people sometimes make when they embrace value-first marketing. They become so determined not to be pushy that they become almost impossible to buy from.

They write useful articles. They answer questions. They publish videos. They participate in communities. They give away resources. They become known as generous and knowledgeable people. But they never clearly tell anyone: "I can help you with this."

Inbound marketing does not mean hiding your business. The objective is not to eliminate selling. It is to change the nature of the invitation. There Should Be a "Next Step".

Imagine walking into a museum. You enjoy the exhibits and eventually decide you would like to learn more about one particular subject. So you look for another room. There is no sign. No map. No doorway. No information desk. You wander around for a while and eventually leave.

That would be a strange way to operate a museum. Yet businesses do something similar all the time. Someone reads a useful article and reaches the end. Nothing. They watch a video. Nothing. They discover a helpful social media post. Nothing. They think: "I like the way this person explains things." But there is no obvious way to discover what else that person offers. The marketer was so concerned about appearing promotional that they forgot to provide a path.

A Path Is Different From a Push

Suppose you have just written an article about a problem your audience frequently encounters. At the end, you could say: "BOOK A CALL NOW! ONLY THREE SPOTS REMAIN!" That is certainly a call to action. Or you might say: "If this is something you are working through yourself, I have several other resources on the subject. You are welcome to explore them here." That is also a call to action.

Perhaps the next step is another article. Perhaps it is a free guide. Perhaps it is joining a community. Perhaps it is subscribing to a newsletter. Perhaps it is attending a workshop. Perhaps it really is booking a conversation. And sometimes it can simply be: "If you would like my help with this, here is how we can work together."

There is nothing inherently aggressive about telling people what is available. The difference lies in whether we are opening a door or pushing someone through it. Not Everyone Needs the Same Door

This is where inbound marketing becomes especially interesting. The person reading your content may be ready for very different levels of involvement. One reader wants another article. Another wants a book. Someone else wants a course. Another wants to join a community and observe quietly. Someone wants group guidance. Someone else has reached the point where they want individual help. Trying to send all of those people to the same destination makes little sense.

"Book a discovery call" has become almost a universal call to action in some corners of online business. But why? Someone who has encountered you for the first time may have absolutely no desire to spend thirty minutes on Zoom with you. They might happily read another article. Give them that option. A person who has been following your work for six months may not need another introductory PDF. They may be ready to talk. Give them that option too.

Inbound marketing works particularly well when people can choose a path appropriate to where they are.

Think in Terms of Depth

One useful way to think about this is not as a funnel but as increasing depth. Someone encounters a short post. They discover a longer article. The article leads to several related resources. Those resources lead to a book, newsletter, video series, or community. The community provides opportunities for conversations. Those conversations reveal that individual guidance is available.

Nothing necessarily disappears behind the person. They can move forward. They can move sideways. They can return to something they missed. They can stop for three months and come back. They are exploring an ecosystem rather than travelling through a pipe. That is much closer to how people actually use information.

Your Content Should Connect

This is also why inbound marketing works best when content is not created as a collection of isolated pieces. Imagine you are a coach who has written an excellent article about procrastination. Someone reads it and finds it useful. What happens next?

If you have also written about overwhelm, priorities, fear of failure, perfectionism, decision-making, and developing workable routines, there are natural connections everywhere.

The procrastination article can point toward the overwhelm article. The overwhelm article can point toward priorities. The priorities article might lead to a worksheet. The worksheet might introduce a workshop. The workshop might lead to a community. The community might eventually lead to coaching.

You are not constructing a trap. You are constructing pathways. Each step should make sense because of what came before it.

The Offer Can Be Useful Too

There is another idea worth considering. Sometimes making an offer is the helpful thing to do. Imagine someone has read several of your articles. They understand the problem. They have tried applying your suggestions. They are still stuck. At that point, another free article may not be what they need. They may need assistance.

If you provide that assistance professionally, failing to tell them about it does not make you virtuous. It makes you difficult to hire. There is nothing wrong with saying: "I work with people on exactly this problem." Then explain how.

What do you do? Who is it appropriate for? What happens when someone works with you? What does it cost? What is the next step? Clarity is not pressure. In fact, clear information often reduces pressure because people can make their own decisions without sitting through a sales conversation simply to discover the price.

Do Not Hide the Exit

A good path also allows people to leave. That may sound strange in a marketing article. But consider how you feel when you encounter a website designed to prevent you from escaping. Pop-ups. Countdown timers. Repeated offers. Exit-intent messages. Notifications. "Wait! Before you go..." Sometimes you begin to feel as though you have wandered into a furniture store where the salesperson has locked the front door.

Inbound marketing depends upon voluntary attention. That means respecting someone's decision to stop. If the material was useful, they may return. If they feel trapped, they probably will not.

Calls to Action Do Not Need to Shout

We have been trained to think calls to action must be commanding. BUY NOW. REGISTER TODAY. CLAIM YOUR SPOT. DO NOT MISS OUT. Sometimes urgency is legitimate. An event really does happen on a particular date. A class really may have limited seats. A discount really may expire. But much of inbound marketing does not require urgency. The content itself creates momentum.

Someone thinks: "That was useful. What else is here?" Your job is simply to answer the question. "Here is something else." That may be the gentlest call to action imaginable. It can also be remarkably effective.

Build a Place Worth Exploring

This is where inbound marketing becomes bigger than individual pieces of content. You are gradually building a body of work. Articles connect to other articles. Videos expand upon ideas. Books go deeper. Communities provide conversation. Courses provide structure. Services provide personal assistance. Products solve particular problems.

Each becomes an entry point. Someone may discover you through Google. Someone else through Facebook. Another person may hear your name on a podcast. Someone may receive an article from a friend. Another may encounter a book you wrote three years ago.

They arrive through different doors but discover the same underlying body of knowledge. That is no longer simply content marketing. It is an ecosystem.

Make the Next Step Obvious

There is a simple question worth asking whenever you create something: If this helps someone, what might they reasonably want next? Not: "What can I sell them?" Those are very different questions.

If they just learned the basics, perhaps they want something deeper. If they understand the problem, perhaps they need help implementing the solution. If they enjoyed the idea, perhaps they want more ideas like it. If they trust your thinking, perhaps they want access to you.

Provide the appropriate path. Then allow them to choose. That is the balance at the heart of inbound marketing. Do not chase people. Do not corner them. Do not hide what you sell either.

Be useful enough that people want to continue. Build enough that there is somewhere for them to go. And when they are ready for something more, make the next door easy to find. You do not need to push them through it. Just make sure it opens.

0 comments

🧲 Inbound Marketing #4