Inbound marketing is proven to work – so why are company boards treating it as a necessary evil rather than an essential marketing channel?
Stop treating content marketing as a poor relation.
Despite recognising online marketing as the source of the majority of their leads, most businesses still treat content marketing as if it’s a necessary evil, and not their greatest ally in a crowded marketing space. This attitude is reflected by the continued investment in traditional marketing techniques, while newer channels are often provided with minimal funding. And it’s this dangerous attitude that needs to be changed for good.
Successful inbound marketing is all about great content and research has shown this to be true as the report,Content marketing: Puncturing the hype and getting practical, revealed that of the 82% of organisations already using a content marketing strategy more than 90% of them have seen significant business performance improvements, including more web traffic and more qualified sales leads.
But great content doesn’t just happen. You need to have a comprehensive strategy behind that content to make sure it really is great – that it targets all the right people and speaks to them about the things that matter.
The Rot of ROI
So why is content marketing being treated as an afterthought? The board is understandably focused on ROI at the core of whatever marketing endeavour they undertake – they want to see immediate cost-effective results. In their eyes, inbound marketing doesn’t always deliver such results:
Less than 8% of companies are completely satisfied with the levels of ROI, according to Tomorrow People and B2B Marketing’s ‘How good are you at inbound marketing?’
Hubspot describes inbound marketing as the best way to turn strangers into customers and promoters of your business. Inbound marketing is all about aligning the content you publish with your customer’s interests to attract inbound traffic that you can then convert, close, and keep over time.
But inbound marketing isn’t a ‘quick-hit.’
Building an opt-in community takes years.
Creating content takes weeks.
3-18 months is how long a typical B2B buying process takes.
It’s a long term investment designed to develop long-lasting relationships with customers that will bear fruit over the long haul, rather than to just land quick-wins right from the off. Therefore it is critical to focus more budget and resources on digital marketing – and develop a realistic approach to ROI.
Make inbound marketing work for you. Download this eGuide and learn about the 6 essential steps you need to take to maximise your inbound marketing strategy.
