We also know that many of you use WordPress, that you are delighted but that you recognize the limitations that it has in the execution of some automated tasks of online marketing. Luckily, the Internet puts a range of tools in our hands that make our work easier. Therefore, we bring you the plugins you should use to Inbound Marketing.
Attraction
1. Web optimization.
SEO is the process of improving your web to attract more visitors from the search engines. Since today we access the Internet for everything, you need to define what your buyer personas (potential guests) are looking for to ensure that they find your hotel’s website.
WordPress is a CMS that integrates a lot of plugins, widgets and themes in order to structure a website that meets all the requirements to implement the Inbound marketing methodology. For example, Yoast SEO is a plugin that allows you to improve all technical aspects of SEO on Page and import functionalities of other plugins.
2. Content optimization.
One of the most important techniques in the Attraction phase is to thoroughly investigate the keywords that your buyer personas would look for according to the stage of the traveler's journey in which they are (Dreaming, Planning, Booking and Experiencing).
Once defined these buyer personas, in order to plan the appropriate content at each stage you can use SERPs, a quick keyword research tool that in its free version allows you to analyze their ranking in search engines.
To search for different alternatives and take into account the travel industry trends, plugins like SEO Squirrly also will allow you to evaluate whether the keyword is good enough, while optimizing the copy by tracking all the necessary aspects in the content marketing strategy.
3. Social Media.
Content is as important as its distribution. Therefore, you have to spend as much time promoting it as creating it. Social networks allow the transfer of appropriate content when users need it the most, maximizing its useful life and promoting your website.
For your website, plugins like Mash Sharer would allow the users to share the content that is important to them. You already know that social networks are fundamental as part of a hotel's customer service to solve their doubts and encourage them to share their experience with other users.
There is no doubt that Facebook, Twitter or Instagram (among other social networks) are the perfect way to reach your potential guests or to maintain contact and generate loyalty to your customers. So as they are essential, we have a blog post to talk about the appropriate tools for content automation on each platform.
Conversion
1. Call-to-acction.
A call-to-action is a striking button that offers a valuable content for your potential guest. The CTA is the first tool used in the Conversion stage, whose purpose is to turn visitors into leads, so it is essential that they are eye-catching and the Pro version of MaxButtons allows you to create and customize these buttons on the web.
These call-to-action can be found in any of your web pages, but they are fundamental in the blog entries offering guides, manuals and other downloadable of interest. In addition, call-to-action ideally redirects the user to a specific landing page with the proper information of this downloadable.
2. Landing pages and forms.
Getting information about visitors through the forms they fill allows building relationships with your leads. That way the sales team can focus on contacts that are more qualified and prone to the reservation.
Traditionally, we have found forms on unexpected web pages. But to avoid this intrusion, we can use specific landing pages, which are accessed voluntarily by clicking on the CTA. Inbound Now, among other applications, allows you to create such pages and it also works with third party integrations.
Closing
1. CRM.
It’s crucial to keep track of the activity of the leads you have achieved. Having a database of all your contacts will optimize future interactions more effectively. That way it would be possible to convert your potential guests into the stage of Booking.
So, the best tool that can be included right now is the CRM, a Relationship Management System, which will allow your hotel’s marketing and sales teams to manage the content and communication that converts your leads.
Not only Inbound Now, but WP-CRM also allows you to significantly improve user management, by easily creating contact forms and tracking incoming messages.
2. Email Marketing.
Email, whose versatility is its best attribute, allows you to personalize and create specific messages, for each segmented contact lists. One of the best-known plugins in this area for its applications is MailChimp that allows you to create email-marketing campaigns.
Within an Inbound Methodology, email marketing can be used to implement an automatad Lead Nurturing strategy, which aims to increase qualified leads, improve conversion and shorten the decision process before booking. But not only that, since email can be used to create loyalty campaigns. Remember that it is easier to get a customer to repeat than winning a new customer.
Analysis
Analysis is an intrinsic part in each stage of the Inbound Marketing methodology. For that reason it’s not a stage anymore, but one more step to do when implementing marketing actions based on the objectives to be achieved. In addition to Google Analytics, in order to maintain a healthy website, you can also use the Broken Link Checker plugin that allows you to identify broken links that could harm the your website SEO.
Finally, we wanted to talk about the WordPress Inbound Brew tool, whose paid version has a whole series of features to implement the Inbound methodology. You will think it is great for WordPress, but if it is a matter of price, you cannot forget HubSpot, which in this case would win the Oscar.
In one way or another, you must think that if these are tools recognized for their efficiency, even thought they would be useful in each of the stages of methodology, the work of automation is not everything. Before using the right tool you need to know why we are going to use it.
