Inbound & Digital Marketing Blog

Like any skill, inbound marketing takes practice.

Your skills get rusty, your knowledge gets outdated, and you start to fall behind on the times.

But just like taking a few months off a sport, it’s much easier to brush up on your skills than it is to learn them all over again.

That’s why I collected some of the top articles out there on digital marketing. These posts get down to the nitty gritty facets of inbound marketing that tend to get neglected over time.

Here are the facets these articles will help you brush up on:

• The types of content that drive traffic

• Well-oiled sales funnels

• Blog promotion

• Lead generation

• Conversion rate optimization

• And more

Without further ado, let’s take a look at 9 epic articles that will sharpen your inbound marketing skills:

1. 15 Types of Content That Will Drive You More Traffic -- Quick Sprout

Neil Patel has grown Quick Sprout, KISSmetrics, and Crazy Egg into some of the top marketing/business blogs around. He’s done it through consistentlyproducing in-depth and valuable content and with an uncanny ability for growing blogs.

In this article, he identifies 15 types of content that tend to drive traffic more than others. These types naturally get shared more often, rank better in search engines, and spark more conversations about you and your business.

Here are a few of those types:

• Infographics

• Guides

• Book reviews

• How-to's

• Lists

There are 10 more to check out in the full article, and Neil explains exactly how to create each one and what you need to keep in mind.

2. How Content Promotion Works: 11 Strategies to Try -- Buffer

The Buffer blog has done a great job of combining effective ideas with concrete data and results.

They regularly get hundreds (if not thousands) of social shares on their content (spearheaded by Kevan Lee). They know a thing or two about content promotion.

This article breaks down 11 of Buffer’s favorite content promotion strategies. Each one is packed with screenshots and insights to help you put them into action.

The article itself got more than a whopping 4,000 social shares. Check out the full article to snag a few of these shares yourself.

3. Customer Value Optimization: How to Build an Unstoppable Business -- Digital Marketer

Digital Marketer is one of the foremost experts in online business. They not only teach people digital marketing, they practice it with countless other businesses they own and operate themselves (in almost every niche under the sun).

In the process, they’ve developed a world-class sales funnel. They implement this funnel in almost every business they dip their feet into. The principle is called “Customer Value Optimization,” and it’s about understanding the buying cycle and how to get the most value out of each customer.

This is the same system that Starbucks and McDonald's use to dominate their industries, and your can read the full article here to learn how to do it yourself.

4. I Built A 6 Figure Blog In 12 Months - This Is How I Did It… -- Matthew Woodward

Matthew Woodward is a solo blogger who went from a lonely Wordpress site to a Technorati Top 100 Business Blog in one year.

He is one of the most transparent bloggers out there. Matthew puts all of his SEO, affiliate marketing, and content marketing secrets out on the table for others to learn from. He even divulges every detail of his revenue in monthly income reports.

This 14,000-word article chronicles Matthew’s 12-month journey to a 6-figure blog. Arguably, it’s one of the most epic case studies ever.

If you want to build a 6-figure blog, Matthew’s full article is your roadmap.

5. How I Grew My Email List From Zero To 1,634 Subscribers In 5 Months -- Robbie Richards

When it comes to actionable marketing advice, Robbie Richards gets it done. Almost every article is backed by his own experience and results.

From content promotion to link building, he covers the topics that so many businesses need help with -- including list building.

In this case study, Robbie shows you the step-by-step process he took to go from zero to 1,634 subscribers in just 5 months. He did it starting out with no traffic, no followers, and the only money he spent was on a $21 Facebook ad.

Email is still the number one marketing channel in terms of ROI. Read Robbie’s full article to learn how to tap into this resource.

6. The Psychology of Your Customers -- Derek Halpern

Derek Halpern is a legend in the marketing community. He’s largely credited with the “You should spend 20% of your time creating content and 80% of your time promoting it” philosophy.

He has also become a foremost expert in copywriting and selling online courses.

In this article, Derek breaks down a distinct “type” of visitor who comes to your site -- The Sideliner. The sideliner doesn’t buy your products/services right away, but they might buy them in the future.

Most of your visitors will be Sideliners. These are the people you need to convince to take action and become buyers.

Derek then breaks down Sideliners into four types:

1. The Indifferent

2. The Skeptic

3. The Worrier

4. The Procrastinator

Each one offers their own unique set of barriers to making the final purchase. Read the full article to learn how to break down these barriers and convert more of your visitors into raving customers.

7. 32 Clever Lead Generation Ideas For Your Next Marketing Campaign -- Unbounce

This article comes from Unbounce, one of the top pieces of landing page software out there. They not only produce a great product, but their blog is full of conversion-centered advice to help you take full advantage of it.

The author of this article, Josh Haynam, gives you 32 ways to improve your lead generation efforts. Each one is backed by either a case study or example (or both!) to help you see the idea in action.

Every business need to generate leads. Discover 32 ways to do just that by reading the full article right here.

8. 17 Content Marketing Tips for Any Size Budget -- The Content Marketing Institute

The Content Marketing Institute has established themselves as the authority in content marketing. They offer training, consulting, research studies, and, of course, lots of free content on their blog.

One of their most popular posts describes 17 subtle (yet effective) tips for taking full advantage of what content marketing has to offer. From repurposing your content to relating articles to your favorite TV shows, it’s hard to read this article and not have a few more ideas to add to your editorial calendar.

Struggling to keep your content fresh and lively? Check out the full article.

9. How We Made $1 Million for Moz -- Conversion Rate Experts

This is one of my favorite case studies of all time. Conversion Rate Experts live up to their name, as they break down exactly how they improved Moz’s conversion rate and increased annual revenue $1,000,000 in the first 4 months of work.

Wow.

So how did they do it? Conversion Rate Experts take a big picture approach to conversion optimization. It’s not about tweaking a headline here or a trust symbol there.

It’s about digging deep into the business, talking to customers, potential customers, uncovering pain points, and using that knowledge to break down objections on their landing pages.

Want to see how conversion rate optimization is done the right way? Grab a coffee and read the full case study here.

To Wrap It Up

Inbound marketing is a skill. Like any skill it needs to be practiced and brushed up on from time to time.

The information in these articles is not exhaustive. They don’t cover every facet of inbound marketing, but for the facets they do cover, these articles are some of the top resources on their respective topics.

I hope you enjoy reading them as much I did.

To learn more about Inbound Out Marketing Strategy, and to get a complete evaluation of your situation, schedule a Free Lead Boost Review.