Essential Tools for Your Inbound Marketing Team’s Toolbox

To run a successful inbound marketing campaign for your Registered Training Organisation (RTO), your marketing team needs to use an essential combination of tools to develop on-going relationships with your prospective students across multiple integrated channels. The aim of all these tools is to create and align your content with your students’ needs and interests so that you convert, close and delight them over time. This blog post explores the tools that make this a reality.

1.  Content Strategy: The first step

In order to effectively attract your prospective students’ attention and engage them in conversation, you need to provide them with valuable educational content – content they actually want to consume and absorb. Your content is the foundation of all your inbound marketing efforts and it needs to appeal to your prospective students and drive sharing.

     Reasons why content is such an essential tool:

• The right content attracts your target students to your site
• Engaging content persuades students to relinquish information about themselves in exchange for more content
• Once your prospects have become leads, you can keep them engaged through targeted lead nurturing emails until they eventually become paying customers
• You can use your content to generate social shares and inbound links to attract an even bigger audience
• The right content positions your brand as a thought leader or driver in its industry space and influences future purchases

2.  Digital Channels: Your tools for engagement

In order to attract your prospective students’ attention, your inbound marketing needs to be focused on channels where they are looking for information – and these days, this means being visible online. Millennials, the generation that falls directly into your target market (people between 18 and 34), spend an average of 25 hours per week online and they’re looking for content-driven media in all these places:

• Blogs: Blogging is a major way to attract this audience's’ attention. 33% of all Millennials rely mostly on information from blogs before they make a purchase and according to a leading study on Millennials, 73% say it’s important to read others’ opinions before making a purchase.
• Social Media: Social networks are an essential part of Millennials’ digital lives. But it’s not just favoured by Millennials, Pew Research reports that over 72% of adult Internet users use Facebook and that Facebook has the most engaged users – 70% log on daily and 43% log on several times a day! The social media channels are as diverse as LinkedIn and Snapchat and attract different demographics, so it’s important you understand where your prospective students spend their time and target them there.
• Ebooks: Ebooks are a great way to provide your prospective students with a substantial amount of engaging and relevant information. Ensure you get your leads to exchange their email addresses for the Ebook, so that you can continue to engage them with your inbound marketing.

3.  Your Website: Your tool for lead generation

Your website is a critical tool in your inbound marketing toolbox. But in order for it to be effective, the design, layout, usability and structure all need to be optimised for lead generation. There is no point having a site if your content is not easy to read. Make sure it is scannable with lots of headings and lists to ensure important content stands out. Fast engagement is a priority. According to KISSmetrics, you have less than eight seconds to persuade your audience not to leave your site, so it’s important your content and design holds their attention.

4.  Personalised, Automated Emails: Your tool for lead  nurturing

Email marketing plays a crucial role in lead generation and nurturing. According to MarketingSherpa, 79% of leads never convert into sales and the lack of lead nurturing is the common cause of this poor performance. To effectively nurture your leads, you need to segment your lists according to their different needs, interests and challenges. Then nurture them with a series of automated emails featuring subject and content they will find interesting. Automated lead nurturing is a great way to maintain engagement when a lead has already reached out to make contact with you. If that lead stops visiting your site, then your lead nurturing tips will help remind them of your business.

5.  Analytics and Reporting: Your tool for optimisation

Analysing your data to see how well your content strategy is working can help you perfect your value proposition and your performance. The State of Inbound 2015 reports that marketers that check their metrics three or more times a week are 20% more likely to see a positive return on the investment. If you see a certain type of content is working and generating leads, you can focus your content creation in that direction. Similarly, if certain types of content or distribution channels are not working for your business, you can abandon them.

Lupo Digital is an inbound marketing agency that specialises in putting all the tools ofinbound marketingto work for businesses in the RTO sector. We focus on creating quality content that attracts students towards your RTO with personalised lead nurturing campaigns appropriate to every student’s stage in the admission cycle.  

For more information about how inbound is working for RTOS, download our executive guide to inbound marketing for RTOs.