Developing an Inbound Marketing Model for Knowledge-Based Companies Providing Web-Based Services
Keywords:
Inbound Marketing, Knowledge-Based Companies, Web-Based ServicesAbstract
Inbound marketing in knowledge-based companies providing web-based services can be considered a contextual requirement and a prerequisite for conducting marketing activities and achieving marketing goals. Although this has been practically applied by professionals in the field of web-based services, it is appropriate that it be utilized and implemented in a scientific and well-studied manner. The research is qualitative in nature, and the research method is grounded theory. The data collection tool was interviews. The statistical population of the study included university professors and marketing experts active in the field of knowledge-based companies. Theoretical sampling was used until theoretical saturation was reached, and finally, 16 individuals were interviewed. Data analysis was conducted through coding in three stages. As a result of the data coding process, 62 concepts and 21 categories were identified. The research model was presented based on the dimensions of the grounded theory approach, including causal conditions (customer trust, business competition, application of modern technologies, and commercial information networks), central phenomenon (optimization and SEO, content creation, content marketing, customer interaction, and adoption of online services), contextual conditions (legal limitations and business environment), intervening conditions (market and customer sustainability and market digital orientation), strategies (customer acquisition, content knowledge management, business specialization, and inbound intelligence), and consequences (customer loyalty, business effectiveness, branding, and customer understanding). The inbound marketing model in knowledge-based companies providing web-based services indicates that a variety of organizational, market, customer, technological, and social factors are involved in relation to inbound marketing in knowledge-based companies providing web-based services.
Downloads
References
[1] Z. Bezhovski, "Inbound marketing - A new concept in digital business," Agora International Journal of Economical Sciences, vol. 8, no. 1, pp. 27-34, 2015.
[2] K. Heidarzadeh, R. Kookabi, and B. Khayri, "Presenting a model for inbound and outbound marketing in digital marketing," Management Foresight Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 129, pp. 24-42, 2022, doi: 10.30495/jmfr.2022.20719.
[3] K. Lehnert, S. Goupil, and P. Brand, "Content and the customer: Inbound ad strategies gain traction," Journal of Business Strategy, vol. 42, no. 1, pp. 3-12, 2021, doi: 10.1108/JBS-12-2019-0243.
[4] L. M. Saaverda-Azabache, G. J. Vilchez-Linares, and S. E. Cieza-Mostacero, "Inbound marketing and customer loyalty in the tourism sector," Innovative Marketing, vol. 20, no. 1, pp. 238-250, 2024, doi: 10.21511/im.20(1).2024.20.
[5] H. Z. Bavi, M. Aghaei, M. R. Esfidani, T. Hasangholipour, and M. Ansari, "Designing and explaining the digital marketing model with the approach of customer experience management (CEM)," Journal of System Management, vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 61-76, 2023, doi: 10.30495/jsm.2023.1973844.1721.
[6] G. Bleoju, A. Capatina, E. Rancati, and N. Lesca, "Exploring organizational propensity toward inbound-outbound marketing techniques adoption: The case of pure players and click and mortar companies," Journal of Business Research, vol. 69, no. 11, pp. 5524-5528, 2016, doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2016.04.165.
[7] E. S. Soegoto and T. Simbolon, "Inbound marketing as a strategy in digital advertising," in IOP Conference Series: Materials Science and Engineering, 2018, vol. 407, p. 012135, doi: 10.1088/1757-899x/407/1/012135.
[8] A. Monaghan, "Implementing inbound marketing for a coliving company: Allihoop," Laurea University of Applied Sciences, 2022.
[9] G. Norhayati, T. Hidayati, and H. Indriastuti, "The influence of inbound marketing and marketing content on company image and purchasing decisions at CV Rexindo Multikarya in Samarinda," Asian Journal of Social and Humanities, vol. 2, no. 11, pp. 2848-2861, 2024, doi: 10.59888/ajosh.v2i11.407.
[10] J. R. Saura, V. Skare, and D. O. Dosen, "Is AI-based digital marketing ethical? Assessing a new data privacy paradox," Journal of Innovation & Knowledge, vol. 9, no. 1, p. 100476, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.jik.2024.100597.
[11] S. Gensler and A. Rangaswamy, "An emerging future for digital marketing: From products and services to sequenced solutions," Journal of Business Research, vol. 190, p. 114916, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.jbusres.2025.115230.
[12] B. J. Vasques-Reyes and F. Cordova-Buiza, "Inbound social media marketing and increased sales in SMEs: A correlational study in the pet food industry," Innovative Marketing, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 132-143, 2024, doi: 10.21511/im.20(3).2024.11.
[13] J. Jabbouri and K. Idrissi, "The application of inbound marketing to improve business performance: Systematic literature review," International Journal of Accounting, Finance, Auditing, Management and Economics, vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 465-480, 2023.
[14] A. S. Assaad, A. Sanayei, and M. M. Shafiee, "The effect of inbound and relationship marketing strategy on brand loyalty with customer participation and brand trust," Strategic Management Studies, vol. 15, no. 59, pp. 193-209, 2024.
[15] B. Barbosa, J. R. Saura, and D. Bennett, "How do entrepreneurs perform digital marketing across the customer journey? A review and discussion of the main uses," The Journal of Technology Transfer, vol. 49, pp. 69-103, 2024, doi: 10.1007/s10961-022-09978-2.
[16] A. Salonen, J. Mero, J. Munnukka, M. Zimmer, and H. Karjaluoto, "Digital content marketing on social media along the B2B customer journey: The effect of timely content delivery on customer engagement," Industrial Marketing Management, vol. 118, pp. 12-26, 2024, doi: 10.1016/j.indmarman.2024.02.002.
[17] A. R. Lopez, I. Porto, and B. Casais, "Digital content marketing: Conceptual review and recommendations for practitioners," Academy of Strategic Management Journal, vol. 21, no. 2, pp. 1-17, 2022.
[18] N. J. H. Nair and V. K. Nair, "A hybrid digital marketing model based on content marketing and inbound marketing," Journal for Educators, Teachers and Trainers, vol. 13, no. 4, pp. 13-26, 2022, doi: 10.47750/jett.2022.13.04.003.
[19] Z. Amiri Sardari, N. Yaghoubi, and A. A. Tabavar, "The impact of content marketing on the demand for Iranian hand-woven carpets using the grounded theory technique," Consumer Behavior Studies, vol. 9, no. 1, pp. 158-181, 2022, doi: 10.34785/J018.2022.417.
[20] M. Holden, L. Salinas, and J. Zhang, "Influential article review - Objective or interrelated strategies: Inbound marketing vs. outbound marketing," Journal of Marketing Development and Competitiveness, vol. 15, no. 4, pp. 83-111, 2021, doi: 10.33423/jmdc.v15i4.4777.
[21] J. O. Sulaiman, "Impact of digital marketing on consumer buying behaviour in Ilorin Metropolis," Kwara State University, 2022.
[22] R. A. Mosa, "The effect of inbound marketing on online customer engagement: An empirical study in retail stores of Basrah," International Journal of Business, Economics & Management, vol. 5, no. 1, pp. 51-66, 2022, doi: 10.21744/ijbem.v5n1.1871.
[23] B. Rizvanovic, A. Zutshi, A. Grilo, and T. Nodehi, "Linking the potentials of extended digital marketing impact and start-up growth: Developing a macro-dynamic framework of start-up growth drivers supported by digital marketing," Technological Forecasting & Social Change, vol. 186, p. 122127, 2023, doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2022.122128.
[24] T. Pusriadi and Sudarmiatin, "Inbound marketing strategy: Marketing concept to increase sales of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) products in Indonesia," International Journal of Academic Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 11, no. 5, pp. 730-736, 2021, doi: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v11-i5/9888.
[25] A. Sultana, A. K. S. Al Wahaibi, N. A. L. Al Balushi, R. O. F. Al Jahdhami, and A. H. S. Aljahwari, "Effective inbound marketing strategies to spread brand awareness through social media in a competitive environment in Oman with reference to Ooredoo (Sultanate of Oman)," International Journal of Engineering Research and Development, vol. 20, no. 3, pp. 79-90, 2024.
[26] F. Y. Tam and J. Lung, "Digital marketing strategies for luxury fashion brands: A systematic literature review," International Journal of Information Management Data Insights, vol. 5, no. 1, p. 100254, 2025, doi: 10.1016/j.jjimei.2024.100309.
[27] B. D. A. Nusantara and M. D. Dellyana, "Evaluating implementation of success and finding competitive advantages, ideal goals of digital inbound marketing with measurement methods for Indonesian MSME business," Journal of Research in Administrative Sciences, vol. 11, no. 1, pp. 13-21, 2022.
[28] B. J. Vasques-Reyes, F. Bravo-Martinez, J. A. Coral-Morante, and F. Cordova-Buiza, "Inbound marketing strategy on social media and the generation of experiences in fast food consumers," Innovative Marketing, vol. 19, no. 2, pp. 143-154, 2023, doi: 10.21511/im.19(2).2023.12.
[29] M. Hanane and A. Ayoub, "Using calls to action as an inbound marketing conversion practice," Administrative and Financial Sciences Review, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 430-444, 2023, doi: 10.37644/1939-007-001-023.
[30] P. Silveira and J. Pinto, "Digital communication and inbound marketing: Strategies applied to the tourism sector in Portugal," Marketing & Tourism Review, vol. 7, no. 1, pp. 1-38, 2022.
[31] L. F. Casas, "Inbound marketing: The impact of visibility management, active listening and community building on purchase intention and word-of-mouth intention," Nova Southeastern University, 2015.
[32] S. Davidavicius and T. Limba, "Recognition of digital content needs for inbound marketing solutions," Social Sciences, vol. 11, no. 8, p. 351, 2022, doi: 10.3390/socsci11080351.
[33] A. Erdmann and J. M. Ponzoa, "Digital inbound marketing: Measuring the economic performance of grocery e-commerce in Europe and the USA," Technological Forecasting & Social Change, vol. 162, p. 120103, 2021, doi: 10.1016/j.techfore.2020.120373.
[34] E. M. Sanchez-Teba, J. Garcia-Mestanza, and M. Rodriguez-Fernandez, "The application of the inbound marketing strategy on Costa del Sol planning & tourism board: Lessons for post-COVID-19 revival," Sustainability, vol. 12, no. 12, p. 5100, 2020, doi: 10.3390/su12125100.
[35] C. P. Patel and P. K. Chugan, "Digital inbound marketing to drive the success of startups," International Journal of Family Business and Management, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 1-6, 2018, doi: 10.15226/2577-7815/2/1/00111.
[36] S. Jung and V. Shegai, "The impact of digital marketing innovation on firm performance: Mediation by marketing capability and moderation by firm size," Sustainability, vol. 15, no. 7, p. 5711, 2023, doi: 10.3390/su15075711.
[37] H. Aljohani, "A review of research on inbound marketing," Journal of Research in Business and Social Sciences, vol. 3, no. 4, p. 1, 2020.
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2026 Ali Noroozi Mobarake , Shayan Khodajoo, Ali Asghar Eyvazi Heshmat , Aliakbar Jowkar (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
