Inbound User Growth is the Best Kind of Growth — Here’s How to Get It

I work at an accounting software startup, ZipBooks, and we have had a lot of success with acquiring new users through inbound marketing efforts. In the early days of any startup, there are a lot of questions that need to be answered and lots of bumps that will get ironed out along the way.

It is pretty great when user acquisition growth isn’t at the top of the list of problems that need to be solved. User growth can cover a multitude of sins at an early stage startup.

Inbound User Growth is the Best Kind of Growth

There are all kinds of ways to get new users, but the best kind of growth is where users proactively seek you out. Setting up inbound customer acquisition channels that build upon themselves can quickly add up over time. Here are the top four reasons I’m bullish on inbound marketing.

Inbound users are the cheapest kind of users

Inbound marketing means that you have channels in place where people come to you. You aren’t bidding on keywords against your competitor and you aren’t spending money on media buys. When people find you, acquisition costs get low — real low.

Spending less per user gives you greater flexibility to try new things, and it also means a longer runway to figure out how to make those users profitable.

Inbound users are the highest quality users

When people come to your site looking for a solution to a problem, they are much more likely to stick around long-term. It is common knowledge that organic users have a longer average lifetime value (LTV) than paid search users. Do you really want to build a growth strategy around what may amount to spurious clicks on banner ads that users run across?

Inbound marketing lets you target niche users

Identifying new, profitable niches is my favorite part of inbound marketing. Regardless of your industry, there are going to be low-volume, low-competition terms that you can start ranking for today that lead to highly profitable users. Over the long haul, long-tail keyword terms can really add up. Just ask Amazon.

Inbound marketing builds its own momentum

We have gotten some great news coverage in a short amount of time because we were able to leverage our inbound user growth to demonstrate relevance and staying power in a very competitive marketplace. How many companies can say that their seed funding was covered by the Wall Street Journal?

Inbound User Growth Starts Now

You know the benefits of inbound marketing, so why aren’t you doing more of it? Maybe it’s because the results are not as immediate as outbound marketing, but outbound fizzles as soon as your ad budget runs low.

Commit today to making inbound marketing a core part of your growth strategy with these four tactics.

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by Brad Hanks via SitePoint