Marketing is changing to meet the wants of users just like you. Inbound marketing shifts the focus from talking at people to a point that they simply tune out, to providing people with something that they genuinely value and enjoy. It focuses on providing solutions to problems, saving time or money and causing them to have a positive emotional reaction. When done effectively it converts people to become loyal customers who see your brand as one that can help solve their problems.

As technology improves and we gain more options in what media we consume and how we consume it, the world around us changes. As we adapt to these changes, our expectations and demands change dramatically. We’re watching fewer television commercials and moving towards ad free on demand services, we’re opening less direct mail and instead looking to communicate directly with brands on the channels we choose and we’re blocking more ads than ever before as we browse our favourite websites. As this type of behavioural change increases, it has pushed the cost of traditional advertising even higher while making the benefits of inbound marketing, providing users with relevant and helpful information at the right time, even stronger.

Why is it important for me?

User behavioural changes are already well underway, we don’t consume data or use technology as we used to. The algorithms that control search ranking, social promotion or paid advertising are picking up on the changes there and actively promoting the content that’s providing the best user experience, or at least continually trying to. The question now is how long it will take businesses to catch up.

According to The Second UPC Report on Ireland’s Digital Future, Irish online consumer spending was estimated to be in the region of €5.9 billion. Of this, more than 60% (~€3.6 billion) is being spent abroad. The report alarmingly estimates that fewer than one in four small Irish businesses (24%) have the ability to conduct online sales, meaning there is no Irish competition for those billions leaving the country. With all estimates pointing to online spending more than doubling by 2020, the stakes are only going to get higher.

How can Learn Inbound help?

The main obstacle being faced by businesses is how to address the current problems. Many wish to sell online, many wish to export through their sites but they simply don’t know where to start or how to execute it. Others have started and are now looking to expand their reach and improve their performance. In either case, education is the vital first step.

Research carried out recently by HubSpot and Smart Insights collected data from over 700 content marketers across Europe. When asked to rate their content marketing capabilities, 68% rated themselves at basic or inconsistent. Over half of those surveyed (51%) said that they found the measurement of their effectiveness a real challenge and only 39% claimed they were able to measure return on investment from their work. In spite of these challenges, only 3% were sceptical of the value of their marketing efforts.

Learn Inbound brings together an active community of business owners and marketing professionals, all of whom tackle these issues on a daily basis just like you. Leading industry experts come in to outline tactics and strategies, with case studies and technical details on execution, to help improve efficiencies and performance. Providing detailed technical talks with the benefits of peer review and discussion with an active and engaged community helps improve information retention and ensures the events stay fun and relaxed. That’s also helped a little with a free bar and some snacks to help you keep up with the fast pace of the evenings.

If you’d like to learn more, do check out the free videos available from earlier events. There’s a wealth of digital marketing advice on the site and these topics will continue to grow and expand in the future.

When is the next Learn Inbound on?

The next event is on the 21st of October in The Academy, Dublin. We’re delighted to welcome to Ireland Rand Fishkin of Moz, Elizaveta Lavrienko of SEMrush, Wil Reynolds of SEER Interactive, Gianluca Fiorelli of ILoveSEO.net and Bas van den Beld of State of Digital. The demand for this event is already huge and we’re sure it’ll be a sell out well in advance. If you’re interested in joining the community for the night and spending time with some of the shining stars of inbound marketing just jump over to the Learn Inbound event page to save your seat.

These events really are all about the marketing community and all about you. If you’ve any thoughts, ideas or suggestions for the team here we’d love to hear from you and discuss them.

The post [Event] Learn Inbound – A Digital Marketing Event that delivers appeared first on Small Business Can.