Website marketing, search engine optimization and social media are...

Website marketing, search engine optimization and social media are the focus of a white paper titled Inbound Marketing that’s available to CEDIA members from the organization’s best practices team. The paper is part of a series of four white papers that will be available to CEDIA members in 2010 to support integrators in reversing the negative trends of the past few years and “help their businesses survive,” said Mark Komanecky, head of the CEDIA best practices team and president of simpleHome in Westborough, Mass. “The economy was certainly one of the drivers that led to the white paper,” Komanecky told Consumer Electronics Daily. “In 2009 and early 2010 a lot of companies saw decreased activity on referrals so they were looking for new ways to drive leads.” The team defines inbound marketing as “making information on companies, products, and services available and accessible to the interested and pursuant consumer with hope that they will become potential clients and/or share information with others.” The Internet is the backbone of inbound marketing strategies, which co-exist with outbound marketing strategies including media and print advertising and direct mail. The white paper covers four areas of inbound marketing including websites, blogs, social media and search engines. The second white paper in the series, Selling Strategies, is due in September. White papers are available for free to CEDIA members and for a nominal fee to non-members.