Also known as attraction marketing, inbound marketing was born out of the evolution of the internet and its use as a channel for conversions and sales.

Conversion means any type of action stimulated by a communication. For example: downloading an ebook, accessing a webinar, etc.

Email is fundamental to Inbound, since in this customer acquisition model, content strategies are very robust.

With the best ROI in digital marketing – US$ 42 to US$ 1 – email turns into lists of contacts with a high chance of becoming buyers.

But it’s important to note that a mailing list only generates results if it’s valid.

Unverified databases contain large numbers of invalid emails, meaning that messages don’t reach the recipients’ inbox.

However, Inbound works with channels other than email. It’s all about content.

Let’s take a closer look at how this happens.

Inbound marketing: what is lead generation?

To attract and convert customers, Inbound marketing follows the following content pillars:

• Attracting potential customers: you need to attract the attention of people who could be buyers of the product or service of a particular company or brand. Blog posts, webinars, landing pages (for data collection), among others, are the most commonly used content for attraction.

• Conversion: creating actions that can connect with the needs of the public and thus turn into opportunities for a relationship with the brand/company. Emails, landing pages, ads, etc., all containing a call to action, are among the most commonly used content in this phase. It’s important to know: conversion is different from sales. The first can be summed up as an action, the second as a decision to buy.

• Relationship: strengthening ties with people who have converted, i.e. who have taken the action requested. Conversion signals involvement and, therefore, this audience is qualified for the sale. Here, email is one of the main content channels. Through it, you create connections and strengthen the relationship with those who are really interested. Newsletters and drip campaigns with message flowcharts are at this stage.

• Closing the sale: a crucial moment in fulfilling the objective of turning the visitor into a customer. Here, the sales team is in charge, and they can use emails as part of their closing strategies.

• Performance analysis: visualization of metrics, or KPIs – Key Performance Indicators – to see what can be improved in subsequent campaigns.

The Marketing Funnel

Based on the premises of attraction/conversion/relationship/closure and analysis, a pattern was created that represents the entire path a person takes to become a loyal customer.

And within this journey, which is called the marketing funnel, the lead is born, which is an opportunity.

Therefore, within Inbound marketing, a lead means an opportunity that can be converted into a sale.

And emails are used as sales strategies within the funnel.

The phases of the funnel

The marketing funnel, also called the sales funnel or buyer’s journey, is made up of the following stages:

Top of the funnel (ToFu) – at this stage, people are on the Internet looking for a solution to a problem.

For example: a marketing professional is having terrible results with his email marketing campaigns. Searching for the reason for this, he finds the SafetyMails website, explaining why email validation is fundamental to successful email communication.

The same goes for someone who wants to know how negotiations between Brazilian and European companies work within the good practices of the LGPD.

These are just a few examples of how content clarifies users’ doubts, so that people can find products and services on the internet that can become permanent solutions to their problems.

Middle of the funnel (MoFu) – the potential customer, when migrating from the top to the middle of the funnel, becomes a lead, and so, at this stage, the content strengthens the relationship with them. The aim is to nurture them and qualify them for the sale, in other words, to encourage them to go to the bottom of the funnel.

Bottom of the funnel (BoFu) – this is the time to validate a lead, in other words, to materialize the opportunity through sales proposals and more in-depth negotiations so that the objective can be achieved.

Inbound marketing: what it means to measure performance

The after-sales phase is as important as any stage of the marketing funnel.

And measuring the performance of a campaign plan that generated leads is fundamental to improving what worked and eliminating what didn’t have the desired effect.

It’s important to note that in order to have a complete view of the campaign’s performance, you need an automation tool capable of generating email flows, among other features.

Let’s take a look at the main metrics to be analyzed in all campaigns:

Deliverability rate: how many emails reached the recipients’ inbox? This number indicates the health of your lists. The higher the rate, the fewer invalid and risky emails your lists contain. This is fundamental to the sender’s reputation.

Open rate: are the email’s subject line and preheader getting the reader to open the email? A low open rate signals the need to change the arguments. Run A/B tests.

Click-through rate: indicates whether the audience is engaging with your communication. High click-through rates mean that the arguments are persuading well.

Bounce rate: unlike deliverability rates, bounce rates mean that your emails are not being delivered to the inbox. Lists containing 3% bounces are blocked by the recipients’ ISPs. Stay tuned! Frequent email verification avoids this problem.

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