The Facts and Stats - Why Choose An Inbound Marketing Strategy

The inbound methodology focuses on attracting customers to your website through content creation, social media, SEO, and many other marketing techniques. It has three core principles:

– Attract – Appeal to the right people with valuable content.

– Engage – Publish insights that align with your target prospects’ pain points.

– Delight – Empower your customers so they find success with their purchase.

In theory, if each customer is delighted with their purchase, they will share your brand with both their online and offline networks. This acts as a free, passive form of marketing that can create a steady stream of new potential customers. When implemented correctly, inbound marketing has a high ceiling for delivering a return on investment.

To showcase the measurable results the inbound methodology delivers we’ve compiled a list of marketing stats. When looking to take your marketing in a different direction using a new methodology, we understand you want proof they provide results, so that’s what we’ve found…

Inbound Marketing ROI: Facts and Figures

– On average the cost of securing inbound leads is 61% less than with outbound methods.

– 41% of marketers across the globe state that inbound marketing delivers a measurable ROI.

– B2B customers are 50%-70% into the research stage before making contact with the seller, by clicking a call to action, for example.

– 75% of prospects using search engines do not click past the first page.

– B2B companies that create 1 or 2 blogs per month see a 70% increase in lead generation compared to organisations that don’t.

– When a company increases its landing pages from 10 to 15 they see a 55% increase in generated leads.

– 47% of prospects view between 3 to 5 pages of content before clicking a call to action.

Who Is Using Inbound Marketing?

Both B2B and B2C companies are implementing the inbound methodology to attract more prospects online. 74% of marketers asked in 2018 said that inbound marketing was their primary marketing strategy.

Inbound can be used across a wide range of industries such as eCommerce and consumer products, manufacturing, and hospitality for example. Inbound focuses on attracting prospects, no matter the industry it’s operating in.

Around 60% of marketers said content marketing was either very important or extremely important to their marketing strategy. On the other hand, only 24% of marketers planned to increase their content marketing budget in 2020. This means that if your business invests in the right inbound methods, you could overtake your competitors by increasing your search engine rankings and generating higher-quality leads.

Why Are Marketers Using It?

Marketers looking to deliver high-quality leads need to implement the correct techniques and strategies. One of the most important factors to consider when choosing how to focus your marketing efforts is the cost-benefit, the ROI.

How can you increase conversion rates, while reducing spend? This is where inbound marketing excels. It commonly costs less than outbound techniques while having the potential to generate higher-quality leads; leads who are interested in your site and what you offer.

What Results Does Inbound Deliver?

To fully understand the results inbound methods deliver, analyse other company’s performance. Seeing a business in the same industry succeed and grow with inbound shows how it could benefit you.

Inbound is effective because it cultivates relationships with prospects, here are some of the companies benefiting from inbound techniques today:

Cisco

Cisco is a multinational technology company that designs and manufactures networking hardware and software, as well as a wide range of high-tech products and services. With a headquarters in the centre of Silicon Valley in San Jose, California, it’s a big name in the technology industry. However, before switching to the inbound methodology they were struggling to stand out when marketing themselves.

In response, the tech conglomerate decided to shift from outbound methods to brand journalism by publishing a series of videos. Using their website and social media platforms they highlighted the stories of entrepreneurs, students, and artists where Cisco’s technology helped them achieve their goals. This programme is called The Gateway and since it’s launch it has delivered an ROI of over $5 million.

This was a form of inbound marketing as instead of a hard sell, Cisco created content that helped prospects see how their products and services could benefit them. It also created a human image for the brand. They supplemented these posts with a blog, publishing multiple posts each week, which is still continuing to attract prospects with its content.

Herschel Supply Co

Herschel Supply Co. sells retro hipster-style backpacks and accessories and was founded in Canada. Over recent years they’ve excelled using the inbound methodology, particularly with their unique and engaging Instagram posts. Their social media campaigns have earned praise from HubSpot and many others. Sales rose by 900% in their first year trading and they have carried on posting big numbers with 350% and 60% growth in the ensuing two years.

The first obvious sign they’re doing well is their over 1 million followers on Instagram. The account immediately stands out for its aesthetic, amazing urban and pastoral landscapes, and clear product integration. However, what makes the account unique, and the reason the company has grown a dedicated community, is many of the posts are provided by customers.

Each post tells a story of adventure-seeking exploration, which is possible through tracking posts with the #WellTravelled hashtag. This hashtag has helped cultivate a community of artistic travellers who produce a steady stream of wanderlust-inducing posts featuring Herschel’s products.

ModCloth

ModCloth is an online indie and vintage-style women’s clothing retailer originally founded in Pittsburgh but now has a headquarters in Los Angeles. They’re another brand that HubSpot has praised, but this time for it’s regularly published blog content. It’s a great example of a brand that knows its persona and uses it to create unique posts with a relatable and funny voice.

The use of engaging and relevant images makes each blog stand out, while the writing adds a personal touch with great storytelling techniques often being employed. ModCloth publishes a variety of content including style guides and interviews, which are organised in categories and subcategories so the user can find evergreen content easily. The blog also looks just as good on mobile devices as it does for internet users on laptops or desktops.

What makes the blog unique is its brand identity. While using a conventional format each post has an individual colour scheme, icons, and features relevant images. It’s the perfect example of how a brand should provide content that will attract, engage, and delight its target audience.

The Takeaway

The marketing industry is constantly evolving at a rapid pace, which makes it a challenge for marketers’ plans to adjust. Inbound marketing isn’t a strategy for the future, it’s something companies should think about implementing right now. It can be easily adapted to maintain pace with industry trends and used by B2C and B2B marketers.

The average click-through rate for top ranking websites on Google SERPs is 28.5%. While the second position sees a massive drop off to only 15.7% and the third is even lower at only 11%, which highlights the ROI an effective SEO strategy can deliver. Once a prospect clicks through to your site, you’ve attracted them. Now it’s time to engage, delight, and turn them from a lead into a customer.

Inbound Marketing at Loop Digital

This is where inbound marketing techniques will help secure your business sales, without the costs of outbound methods. To begin the process of generating higher-quality leads and increasing your company’s ROI, get in touch with our team of experts to discuss your marketing strategy today.