What is Inbound Marketing and Why Is It So Important to Your Business?
Inbound marketing is the process and strategies of Holistic Marketing which focus on bringing relevant customers and prospects to your website and business. People today use the internet to find information on the products and services they need, and inbound marketing has become very successful because it targets consumers the way they shop.
Inbound marketing is very different than the more traditional outbound marketing because outbound marketing pushes the message on consumers. Outbound marketing, which includes telemarketing, direct mail, Yellow Pages and print media, has become much less successful because consumers have become very good at blocking it.
On the other hand, inbound marketing provides consumers information and resources that attracts them to a company’s website where the business can then interact with their prospects. Inbound vs Outbound includes the utilization of blogs, content publishing, social media, social networks and search engine optimization.
Inbound Marketing Continues to Deliver Dramatically Lower Costs Per Lead Than Outbound Marketing Does.
Companies that increased their spending by 50% or more on their inbound marketing budget actually spent 60% less to acquire a new lead than companies that increased their outbound marketing budgets by the same 50%. These numbers have stayed consistent year over year and inbound marketing has clearly maintained its low-cost advantage.
Blogs and Social Media Are the Categories Who’s Budgets Are Expanding the Quickest.
Social media and company blogs have rapidly become the powerhouses of marketing. They are the fastest growing lead generating categories and they are the lowest cost per lead generator today. Additionally, social media has been ranked as a lead generator that is increasing in overall importance.
Businesses Are Generating Actual Sales Through Blogs and Social Media.
There are still companies that are unsure of the value social media and blogs can bring to their marketing efforts. Do consumers actually read posts on Twitter, Facebook and blogs? The answer is YES! Businesses utilizing these outlets in their marketing campaigns have reported that they have acquired new customers as a result. Using Social Media outlets is not just for generating brand awareness; it does actually produce quality leads and sales.
Traditional outbound marketing such as direct mail, print media, telemarketing and the Yellow Pages have become much less effective. Consumers have not only discovered ways to avoid these forms of marketing, they have the internet which allows them to research the products and services they’re interested in on their own.
Because of these changing consumer behaviors, businesses are now switching their marketing efforts to inbound marketing, which allows consumers to find them much easier. All of this information shows that businesses utilizing inbound marketing are capturing leads much more effectively. Given that inbound marketing is digital, the cost per lead for any given business will continue to go down.
Sources: Hubspot - webconnect
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