Inbound Marketing: The (Not So) Secret to Marketing Success
In my first round of findings from Hubspot’s annual The State of Inbound report, I discussed the power that email marketing continues to have. This blog post will focus on another angle of the report: inbound marketing. Specifically, I wanted to point out some key stats that might help you build your argument or justify the importance of an inbound marketing program with key audiences such as upper management and sales. Take these four key points (and the stats to back them up) to your sales and leadership team to get them on-board with the inbound marketing approach.
1. The impact and recognition of Inbound continue to grow. According to the report, 59% of marketing respondents say inbound is their top source of the highest quality leads to marketing vs 52% in 2015. Outbound continues to hold the least esteem with only 16% of respondents saying it was their highest quality lead source in the last 2 years. What do these numbers mean? People in the business trenches said inbound marketing is the best source of high quality leads four times more often than outbound – reason number one for you to consider an inbound marketing program for lead gen.
2. More companies are turning away from traditional paid advertising. Print, outdoor, and broadcast advertising is becoming a thing of the past, and it is easy to see why. Not only is traditional advertising expensive, a third of survey responses (32%) said it is the most overrated marketing tactic. While we agree that traditional paid advertising can be expensive, we still think it can be valuable when used strategically to target your audience at key points of their customer journey. Because of the expense, it is essential to set specific goals to make it easier to measure your return on investment.
3. With marketing budgets shifting away from outbound, inbound marketers must show the value of their efforts. 40% of marketers say that proving their ROI is their biggest challenge. Tracking is an essential part of determining ROI and being able to tell the story from your analytics can increase buy-in from other company leadership, your sales team, and other key audiences.
4. The tactics that inbound marketers use are versatile, agile, and complimentary. While there is not a secret marketing unicorn that will quickly and cheaply result in your company surpassing goals, testing (like this case study on A/B testing an eBook launch) allows companies to see what resonates with their audience and focus more dollars and resources on these efficient marketing efforts.
Come back to the SmartAcre® blog for my remaining State of Inbound findings over the coming weeks. In the meantime, you can download the free Hubspot report here. If you are interested in starting your own inbound marketing.
If you are interested in starting your own inbound marketing program or improving what you already have in place, let’s talk!