What the Army Taught Me About Inbound Marketing

In the spirit of Memorial Day and all things patriotic, I figured I’d divulge a small bit of information about myself. I’m a soldier in the Army National Guard. I proudly serve my country at the same time as holding a career as a content writer at Stratus Interactive. It’s the best of both worlds for a creative yet intense person like me.

You might be thinking, “that’s nice, but what does that have to do with inbound marketing?” Well, my friend—a lot. In fact, much more than I originally thought (am I weird that I thought about it before?).

The Formula Behind Successful Infographics (And Real Examples to Get You Inspired)

In my humble opinion, few things are more fun to look at online than infographics. Sure, I get a kick out of memes and stalk delicious food or puppy accounts on Instagram, but nothing gets me quite as excited as some meaty data paired with beautiful design. Just me? Ok then.

You can’t deny the fact that infographics are a great way for consumers to digest valuable information. They’re easy to read, beautiful and packed with educational tidbits. In fact, visual content is 40 times more likely to get shared on social media than other types of content, and infographics are liked and shared 3 times more than any other type of content. That means there is a heck of a lot of people just like me out there jonesing for a juicy infographic.

How to Align Content Marketing to the Buyer's Journey

Once upon a time, businesses dwelled in the realm of company-centric marketing. In this fantastical and not-so-distant land, all advertising—from the tiniest ad in a magazine to a giant billboard on the side of a busy highway—revolved around the company, product features and everything but the customer.      

But then, one day a valiant, chivalrous and dragon-slaying (I read way too many fantasy novels) knight, named Inbound Marketing, galloped in on his noble steed and saved the day. He heralded a new era of customer-centricity—an era where companies improve engagement and grow revenue faster with valuable content that speaks to their customers’ interests.

Ok, I might have embellished the story a little. But, there is one grain of truth to be found in the above tale: inbound marketing is customer-focused.

The Art of the CTA

We know the artistic greats—Picasso, Van Gogh, Degas, and Pollock. But, a new artist rises to fame—the marketer. Carefully crafting creative and compelling calls-to-actions (say that 5-times fast) that convert prospects into qualified leads is no small task. Much like painting a masterpiece, the marketer does plenty of research on the subject, decides which medium to use, tests out different colors, experiments and attempts it more than once.

Artists and marketers both want to ooh and ahh their audience, convey a message and convert the viewer into a believer, fan or in the case of marketing, a prospect. The call-to-action (CTA) is the pièce de résistance—it’s your end-all, be-all. CTA’s are not an arbitrary part of your marketing strategy, either. Sure, they may be small in size, but a great CTA can pack a mean punch in your marketing plan.

There’s nothing worse than a boring, pointless CTA, so if you’re ready to take your CTAs from plain buttered toast boring to bomb diggity bacon, keep on reading. And, our sincerest apologies to toast.