We get it, you think social media doesn't work for your industry, your customers arent using it, your industry is different, special, social media just wont work.

There are plenty of similarities between inbound marketing and pay-per-click. For example, both approaches start with the customer in mind. Both use tools to connect everything. And both campaigns work in any situation. But can these two forces work together?

Having successfully combined inbound and PPC for our own clients, we know that it can. So in this article, we’re going to discuss how inbound marketing and PPC can work together successfully – and why it’s in your best interests to combine them.

One of the challenges facing most organisations today is making their presence felt in today’s hyper-competitive market.

Start-up companies, as well as established ones, are all tasked with capturing the interest of potential clients to generate a sales pipeline for their products and services and with the abundance of activity and options out there for companies, getting your message through is increasingly more difficult.

To effectively attract and retain customers to your business, the following are the most important things to understand for effective lead generation.

A primary job function for most content marketers is to consistently come up with quality content, which will result in high traffic engagement and conversion.

Fortunately, content marketing is dynamic and flexible enough to allow a marketer to try out different strategies.

The marketer nonetheless, still operates in a constrained environment characterized by stiff competition, as well as limited time and resources.

So how does a digital marketer ensure he or she ends up with content that best guarantees the success of their brand?

The answer lies in modeling.

Intuitive and easy to use, Instagram is in some ways the simplest of the social media platforms. But that doesn't mean that your marketing strategy gets simplified. Much like with Facebook or Twitter, Instagram marketing requires some thought and planning. If you do it right, Instagram can get you far-reaching exposure, a loyal following and a fresh new perspective on your brand. So dig in with these easy and efficient instagram marketing tips, you will be an Insta-expert in no time.

In today’s online–centric world, many businesses approach social media marketing as a ‘must have’ feather in their bow. The positives of social media are well documented and the benefits are there for marketers the world over. However social media marketing is a double edged knife, if a company gets it wrong the results can be catastrophic in terms of damage to the company’s brand. Here, inBASE looks at the 13 mistakes to avoid with social media marketing.

In recent years, a number of new tools that marketers can use in order to boost conversion rates have entered the fray. In the past, marketers, at the most, could make a couple of changes to their websites in order to squeeze a small % extra of conversions out of it. This was a lot of effort for very little gain.

As our daily use of social media continues to grow, marketers and global brands find a presence on Facebook, Twitter, or other networks to be increasingly crucial. Without it, you don't just risk falling behind your competitors but a viable and sustainable lead source is being neglected.

We get it, not everyone is as enamoured by marketing automation solutions as perhaps Inbound Marketing agencies such as Grow Inbound are.

Bad experiences, bad investments, complex solutions, poor ROI, the reasons for skepticism could go on and on, like any major shift from 'how we've always done it'.  

The truth is, for any organisation serious about growth at scale, techniques and technology to engage at a personal level en masse are critical as growth enablers and marketing automation is the way forward.

If you are not convinced then we have outlined 5 reasons below why you should reconsider and take a hard look again at the tools and techniques in your organisation that are going to get you where you want to be, short, medium and long term.

Customers are bombarded with hundreds of marketing messages every day.

This overload makes it hard for companies to have a genuine impact on their potential customers.

For this reason, tools for business owners to not only target their particular audience, but also drive their overall sales are essential in today's digital driven economy.

If you are still skeptical about integrating marketing automation into your business, consider these 5 ways it will generate more leads and increase sales. 

Inbound Marketing is an ever growing and changing space where the promise of attracting customers in an organic and strategic manner must be met in a well thought, planned and executed manner. Get it wrong and you will lose leads and customers. To that end, the Inbound Marketer is blessed with a multitude of apps, tools and solutions to help them attract, convert, close & delight their customers.

Here we look at our 20 Essential Apps for Inbound Marketing (in no particular order) and why they are worth considering in your inbound marketing arsenal: