Sales teams often struggle to convert leads despite having quality products and strong marketing. Prospects lose interest, sales calls feel one-sided, and outreach efforts fall flat. It’s frustrating to spend time nurturing leads only to see them disengage before the deal closes.
Now picture this: A frustrated shopper, tired of their outdated project management tools, comes across a blog post discussing common challenges in managing remote teams. They subscribe to the blog and, shortly after, receive a personalized email from a sales rep offering a free trial of a tool that solves their exact problem.
Instead of a hard sell, that email invites the shopper to explore the tool and prompts them to ask questions. Feeling understood and valued, the shopper engages, turning the sales dynamic into a dialogue and setting the stage for a successful close.
This is the essence of inbound sales—a strategy that transforms the sales process into a conversation rather than another one-sided sales pitch.
Discover how to build your own inbound sales strategy with tactics to close deals faster and easier.
How to build out your inbound sales process
Your potential customers are searching for solutions to their problems, and they come across your website. Instead of feeling pressured by a sales pitch, they find valuable content that is genuinely helpful to them.
That’s the inbound sales process in a nutshell: You make the sale using personalized video messaging, informative content, and interactive social media posts. Not targeted outreach or relentless cold-calling.
How do you build out an inbound sales process? Here’s an overview:
- Identify your buyer personas. Determine your ideal customers by creating detailed profiles that include demographics, pain points, goals, and how they consume information. Knowing your audience will help you align your content and sales approach with their needs, preferences, and goals.
- Create relevant content. Based on your target audience, create content that educates and informs them. This could be blog posts, ebooks, webinars, or videos. The goal is to position your brand as a trusted resource.
- Use SEO and social media. Optimize your content for search engines and promote it through social media to improve visibility and drive organic traffic to your site. A well-structured SEO strategy involves creating high-quality content and using relevant keywords in your titles, headers, and throughout the text.
- Engage with leads. Once potential customers arrive at your site, use chatbots or live chats to engage with them in real time. Offering personalized demos, guides, and free trials will also help you convince them to move further down the sales funnel.
- Nurture leads through email marketing. Leverage email marketing to send personalized content that aligns with their interests, including customized recommendations, relevant articles, case studies, and updates reinforcing your value proposition.
Finally, use analytics tools to monitor which inbound sales methodology is working and which isn’t. Based on the data you uncover, adjust your marketing efforts accordingly.
Inbound sales vs. outbound sales
Inbound sales involve attracting potential customers through valuable content and engaging experiences. Instead of cold-calling or sending mass emails, inbound salespeople rely on nurturing leads who show interest in their products or services.
In contrast, outbound sales strategies involve directly reaching potential customers, often through phone calls, cold emails, or ads. This approach can sometimes feel invasive and doesn’t always consider the needs and interests of potential buyers and decision-makers.
6 inbound sales tactics for increasing closing rates
Inbound sales strategies help you transform casual interest into meaningful engagement and increased closing rates. Here are six effective strategies to make that happen:
1. Create dynamic, personalized landing pages for specific leads
A potential customer clicks on your ad for an upcoming sale, but when they arrive on your site, the page feels generic—like it could be for anyone. It’s a missed opportunity to engage them right off the bat.
Leverage dynamic landing pages so your prospects land on a page designed just for them, with personalized messaging that speaks directly to their preferences and shows precisely what they’re looking for.
Dynamic landing pages adjust content—like headlines, images, or calls to action—based on the visitor’s characteristics or behavior, whether they are first-timers or returning customers.
Here’s how Voyage, a travel site, personalized its landing pages based on visitor type:
The page showed deals and affordable getaways for travelers on a budget, while families with children saw family-friendly vacation spots and hotels with activities for kids.
You can use a tool like Unbounce to create landing pages that change dynamically based on user information. Its drag-and-drop builders allow you to tailor headlines, images, and calls to action to align with the prospect’s interests or past behaviors.
Pro tip: Take your landing page personalization one step further by embedding a personalized explainer video or a feature demo using a tool like Loom.
With Loom’s screen recorder, you can record a video that walks the visitor through exactly how your product or a specific feature can help them, addressing their unique pain points and adding a touch of authenticity.
Try Loom for Sales for Free2. Provide value through educational content
A customer lands on your website and is intrigued by your product but still needs to figure out how it will solve their problem. They’re interested but hesitant and want reassurance that they’re making the right decision. How do you convince them to move forward? By providing educational content that not only informs but also builds trust.
Educational content—blog posts, webinars, white papers, or videos—can bridge that gap, turning uncertainty into clarity.
According to new research, consumers are 131% more likely to buy from a brand immediately after consuming early-stage educational content. This makes content not just informative, but also a significant factor that drives conversion rates.
So, how do you provide value through educational content? Consider these content marketing tips:
- Tailor content to each stage of the funnel. Create different types of educational content based on where leads are in the sales pipeline or buyer’s journey. For top-of-funnel leads, use beginner guides or industry trend reports. For bottom-of-funnel leads, focus on case studies or comparison guides.
- Use interactive content to engage prospects. Incorporate interactive elements like quizzes, assessments, or live Q&A sessions to make your content more engaging. This helps prospects feel involved and more connected to your brand.
- Offer free tools or templates. Give away free tools, templates, or resources to help prospects solve immediate challenges. This builds trust and positions your brand as a valuable resource.
- Create evergreen content that continues to provide value. Develop educational content that remains relevant over time, like how-to guides or industry best practices. This ensures your content is always helpful to leads, no matter when they find it.
Pro tip: Record personalized video content to explain complex ideas, showcase product demos, or walk customers through everyday challenges.
Loom can be helpful here, allowing you to record both your screen and yourself while you answer specific questions or walk potential customers through your product. This makes your content more personalized by adding a human touch and building stronger connections.
3. Use social media listening for lead engagement
Potential customers are discussing the pain points your product addresses on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Twitter. They haven’t contacted you yet, but the conversation is already happening.
The question is: Are you listening?
Social media listening helps you track online conversations about your brand, product, or industry to identify what prospects are saying about you and their pain points so you can address their issues. This also helps you build trust with your target audience before they’ve considered your product.
You can use tools like Hootsuite, Brandwatch, or Sprout Social to set up keyword alerts related to your brand and product to monitor discussions. If a prospect has an issue, offer to resolve it.
Once you’ve engaged with a lead, offer to show them how your product can solve their issue through a personalized demo. This shifts the conversation from casual interaction to an actionable sales opportunity.
If someone is speaking positively about your brand, take the opportunity to engage with them, show appreciation, and repost their content to boost visibility and establish social proof.
For example, Loom saw a tweet in which someone mentioned their video messaging tool and its features in a positive light.
Loom’s sales team immediately quoted the tweet with a friendly comment, generating positive engagement and spreading word-of-mouth buzz.
Pro tip: Use social media listening to uncover common pain points and trends in your industry and create more relevant content.
For example, if multiple users talk about struggling with video communication in remote teams, you can create blog posts, tutorials, or Loom videos showing overcoming these challenges.
4. Offer free trials or demos
People want to be sure they’re making the right choice, especially when investing in a new product.
A free trial or demo breaks down this barrier, allowing new users to test the features, benefits, and functionality before committing.
When you offer a free trial, you show potential customers you have nothing to hide. They see how your product works, shifting the conversation from theoretical value to practical experience.
You can also use video sales tools like Loom to record demos.
Let’s say your sales team notices a lead struggling to understand your software’s analytics feature. Instead of sending a lengthy email explaining the feature, you can record a quick Loom video demo to walk them through the dashboard. They’ll have the video to refer back to if they need a refresher.
You can use Loom’s drawing tool to point out the metrics relevant to their business goals, providing better context and helping them visualize that value.
The demo is then automatically stored in a content library so you can share it with future leads who ask the same questions. This will help you save time and boost your sales productivity.
5. Implement lead scoring to prioritize high-value prospects
Lead scoring assigns a numerical value to each prospect based on their behavior, characteristics, and engagement with your brand.
This helps you focus on sales-ready, qualified leads rather than squandering your time and resources on unqualified prospects.
Combining lead scoring with an account-based sales strategy—where you tailor outreach to specific high-value accounts—can create a more targeted and effective sales approach.
Here are some actionable tips to help you implement lead scoring:
- Set clear criteria: Align with your marketing team to define which actions or characteristics, like job title or engagement level, are most indicative of sales readiness.
- Incorporate behavioral triggers: Track meaningful actions like email clicks, resource downloads, or webinar attendance.
- Use negative scoring: Subtract points for low-value actions or characteristics, like unsubscribing from emails or being in a non-target industry, to avoid wasting time with non-fit leads.
- Personalize follow-ups: Offer personalized Loom demos or videos to maintain engagement and build trust with high-scoring leads.
With lead scoring, you’ll see higher engagement rates, better client relationships, and ultimately, more closed deals.
6. Create urgency with limited-time offers
You’re in a store and see this sign: “50% off for the next hour only.” The adrenaline kicks in, doesn’t it? You feel compelled to make a decision quickly.
The same strategy can work wonders in your inbound sales strategy. But make sure your offer is clear and specific.
For example, don’t just say “limited-time offer.” Specify the details: “Get 20% off if you sign up by midnight on Sunday.” Clarity helps your audience understand what’s at stake.
Here are a few more tips to help you create urgency and invoke some healthy FOMO in your audience:
- Create a countdown. Use timers in your emails or website to visually represent the time left for shoppers to get a discount. According to a case study, countdown timers in emails can increase conversion rates by up to 40%.
- Make sure your offer provides real value. Whether it’s a discount, exclusive access, or bonus products, your prospects need to feel they’re getting something worthwhile. The urgency should be tied to the value you offer.
- Use social proof. Showcase how many others are taking advantage of the offer. For instance, “Join over 1,000 customers who’ve already signed up for our program.” This builds trust and encourages others to act quickly.
This urgency will help you tap into FOMO, making your prospects feel like they’re missing out on a great deal and compelling them to commit.
Turning conversations into conversions
The inbound sales process is all about creating value and building relationships. You’re not just pushing your products—you’re solving problems and addressing pain points.
With inbound sales strategies such as creating personalized landing pages, educational content, social media listening, and free trials, you turn the sales process into a natural conversation that flows with the customer’s journey.
Remember, the key is to engage your leads where they are—on your website, social media, or inbox—and provide them with the right content at the right time.
You can use Loom to create demos and explainer videos and offer a solution in a two-way conversation with your audience, not just sell something to them.
Ready to turn casual interactions into meaningful sales conversations? Elevate your inbound marketing strategy with Loom.
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