Today, the world of digital marketing focuses on inbound marketing strategies. As you build your digital marketing career, you need to know how to draw in leads and generate a lasting relationship with them through ongoing content, conversation, and nurturing. Get serious about your inbound marketing career when you pursue inbound certification.
Why Focus on Inbound Marketing?
Sales used to be all about the pitch. Get a customer in the room, and your job was to let that customer know why he should purchase your product. Today, sales is a much more subtle art, one that's focused on building ongoing relationships. Instead of being direct and in-your face, inbound marketing takes a subtle approach through valuable content creation, asking for customers' permission, and developing an ongoing relationship with an engaged audience. An inbound certification will teach you how to:
- Create websites that draw in your leads with SEO
- Move your leads down the sales pipeline with custom-created landing pages
- Use blogging and other lead nurturing strategies to create content that will draw in your leads and encourage them to share with others
With inbound marketing, you aim to build a consistent and trusting customer base, forgoing direct or invasive sales techniques in favor of relationship-building content and lead nurturing strategies.
Inbound marketing is all about drawing your customers in with content and branding that are aligned to their interests and values. Hubspot states that "Instead of the old outbound marketing methods of buying ads, buying email lists, and praying for leads, inbound marketing focuses on creating quality content that pulls people toward your company and product, where they naturally want to be." This is the marketing tool for today's digital consumers.
How Can Certification Help?
"In a crowded marketplace, fitting in is a failure. In a busy marketplace, not standing out is the same as being invisible." - Seth Godin
As you explore the world of inbound marketing, certification can help you ensure that you've covered all of your bases. You expand your marketing skill set, and the knowledge that you gain through certification is easily applicable to your current and future career. Whether you're an entrepreneur who's building a business, a student looking for a resume edge, or a marketer who's moving into the digital realm, certification will give you the basics that you need to further develop your inbound marketing strategies. It will also help you start a conversation with future employers, showing them that you're serious about digital marketing.
Get Certified
Even though it's an important process, getting inbound certified isn't onerous. The Inbound Certification course takes about 6 hours to complete. It's also free, and since it's online it is easy to take at a time that's convenient for you. Sign up for a free online HubSpot account, and you'll get access to a certification library, study guides, and other tools such as self-paced educational videos. When you feel like you're ready, register for your certification exam and track your grade from inside your account. Once you graduate, you'll receive a certification that you can add to your resume.
Wear Your Certification Proudly
"The easiest thing is to react. The second easiest is to respond. But the hardest thing is to initiate." - Seth Godin
Your inbound marketing certification is a valuable asset to your career and to the companies who may hire you. Wear it proudly. If you have a portfolio or website, highlight your certification on the site, along with examples of your inbound marketing projects. Add your badge to LinkedIn, and join inbound marketing groups online to discuss trends in the field. With your inbound certification, you show that your focus is on developing valuable content and creating a community to nurture your customer base.
Position yourself as a leader in the digital marketing field. As you work to break into digital marketing, get your inbound certification and show that you're committed to growing your inbound marketing methodology. Upgrade your skills with this free ebook to help you break into the field of digital marketing.
