They are the cultural and artistic representation of Russia par excellence since 1800. They call themselves mamushkas or matrioshkas and absolutely all of them respect the same pattern: an unstuffed doll figure that houses a smaller one and so on, depending on the number of times it has been replicated. 

At first glance, a Russian doll is nothing more than an attractive reminder, however, it has a lot to do with the conceptual idea contained in the practice of inbound marketing. As it is a methodology composed of several layers or phases of implementation, it seemed appropriate to bring into consideration a picturesque analogy, which also shows the infinity of existing techniques for its application.

Then we can start by commenting that inbound marketing is a methodology that is based on the attraction and loyalty of potential customers through the creation of value. From the moment they know the brand until the moment they become loyal customers, they are attracted naturally thanks to the communication of content that was strategically prepared to offer highly relevant information.  These actions are premeditated and put into practice through a process that consists of 4 stages, in which there are plenty of tools and resources ready to conquer hearts from minute one. 

Like any object that is under the magnifying glass of marketing, the central purpose of this procedure is to attract potential consumers, to then convert them into leads and thus finally reach the final stage, which is obtaining loyal customers who recommend the products or services that your company has to offer. This can be repeated as many times as necessary until the desired objective is achieved.

This is a process that also involves the use of various software programs and offline resources to monitor each level. Whether it is to attract customers through paid advertising, whether it is to convert leads into loyal customers with chatbots or to maintain a relationship with them through email marketing, it is all about knowing how to take advantage of existing technology to benefit the optimization of time and money.

In this sense, Isaac Newton, English physicist and mathematician, reflected more than 300 years ago on the idea that there was a universal force that caused the attraction between bodies in space and thus he chose to call it the "universal gravitational force" or "gravity." According to Newton, gravity would be an instantaneous force that would act at a distance, that is, the intensity of the force would depend on something that may be very far away, without there being contact between the bodies.

Here we find a point of convergence between physical discovery and the laws of inbound marketing: activating certain tactics at certain times, through certain channels, result in an irrefutable attraction between your brand and its consumers. Precisely this type of strategy is applied from a distance, just like Newton's theory, where the potential customer is accompanied from afar - naturally - within the process known as the customer journey.

Inbound imperatives

As we had mentioned, there are 4 imperative verbs in the cycle that comprises this methodology: 

1) Attract

The main goal of this stage is to get visits. The aim is for people to reach your brand's digital communication channels - website, blog, social networks - to make a first connection. In this way, the aim is to increase web traffic through the interest obtained in valuable content.

During the attraction phase, tools can be used to bring new and potential interested parties together, these are: 

• SEO: are essential to appear in the first search results. If SEO is not done, users are less likely to know about us.
• RR.SS: with the execution of a good strategy we can redirect part of our audience on networks to the company blog. 

2) Convert

In this second stage of inbound, we seek to obtain leads by getting website visitors to register, and thus use their data to create a large database of our own. 

To encourage this conversion, tools such as:

are essential

• CTA (Call To Action): calls to action to encourage the audience to respond to certain actions through links to landing pages, inviting them to “like” a post, inviting them to read an article, etc.
• Lead Magnets: are free valuable resources that the brand offers in exchange for contact information. E-books, infographics, webinars, freemium access, discounts and more.
• Forms: they are useful and concrete for collecting information.
• Chatbots: as virtual assistants they do a great job of providing customer service.

3) Sell

During the third phase, the ultimate goal is for people to buy our company's product or service. It is convenient to provide relevant information to position ourselves in the market and convince customers to choose a certain brand and not another. 

4) Build loyalty

In this last and fourth stage of the inbound methodology, the essential idea is that customers are ambassadors of the brand, because they are the best at recommending and speaking well of the virtues that we have to offer to the market. It is the ideal time to think about value strategies that ensure a successful after-sales service, through good customer service or through email marketing campaigns that continue to provide valuable content and extra meaning to our most loyal customers.

Thus, inbound marketing as a gravitational matrioshka stands as an infallible methodology to which hundreds of companies resort to streamline processes in a much more effective, assertive and potential way.