ISM 5750 / ISM 7505
When I enrolled in this course, at first, I was a bit confused about the title of the class which is “Inbound Information Technology”. I asked myself, what is inbound technology? I know what Information Technology is, which is a broad profession that includes the building of communications networks, safeguarding data and information, and troubleshooting computer problems, but I did not understand what the word “inbound" meant.
What is inbound technology?
When classes started, I read the syllabus and read the objectives and concepts of the course. What I understood from what I read, is that I need to think of myself as a content manager/creator of a company, in order to understand the use of social media, and tools needed to create content. I knew that creating content and using social media are one of the most used tools in companies (especially today, because almost everyone has phone and social media), in order to market themselves into being known and to become more competitive, but I still did not understand why we need to use “inbound information technology”. I was curious to know what it meant, because it seemed like a very important source of knowledge.
Why we need to use “inbound information technology”.
I decided to look it up and read about it, so I can have a better grasp of what it is about. After reading about it, I understood the importance of it. Inbound is a type of marketing that uses people who are within the company that enjoy selling, marketing and attracting customers to be able to get their products to be known.
There are important steps to accomplish inbound marketing. The first step is to attract customers or clients, which can be done by using social media to market and sell quality content so that people are interested in the company. Quality content can be done by including some keywords that are used by customers, so that when customers look up something about one of those keywords, the company would rank first, and before competitors. The second step is to convert. This step is very important, because this is when the company must convince people to identify themselves. It can be done by providing surveys, eBooks, or emails. The third stage is to “close”, as in to close on the purchase. Closing means helping a potential buyer make a purchase, even though not all customers are willing to make a purchase right away, but it is necessary to convince them by providing them with more details about the products that are being sold. Finally, the fourth stage after getting customers' attention and convincing them to make a purchase, the “delight” stage comes last. This means that a successful company should keep its customers happy, which could be done by providing very good customer service, providing them with the best quality, or even offering them free shipping and samples.
In conclusion, I have learned that Inbound marketing and Inbound technology, are very important for companies to have, because this step of marketing offers a big competitive advantage over other competitors. This way not only does the company rank higher in searches, but it also makes more profit and stays in business.