In the Internet age, companies of all kinds are finding that they have to adapt their marketing strategies to compete on a much broader scale than was previously necessary. Most consumers now research products, brands, and service providers before ever entering a brick-and-mortar store — in many cases, they skip the store entirely and buy online. Each Internet search turns up at least thousands, if not millions, of results, meaning that a company who wants to stay competitive needs a solid, effective marketing strategy to stand out from the pack in the eyes of the consumer. As a result, inbound marketing is quickly gaining in popularity.
What is inbound marketing? Inbound marketing is a strategy that relies on drawing consumers in to discover the company on their own, rather than reaching out to them through major ad campaigns and the like. Tools like quality blogs, SEO, and social media sites help companies lure in consumers without wasting money on ad space and commercial slots that primarily just get ignored.
The stats are behind this new practice, proving that an inbound marketing company may be just what your company needs to develop a more effective marketing strategy. When doing product research, 75% of consumers never make it past the front page of results. To be competitive, then, a company needs to make sure that their product ends up on that first page. If a company’s inbound strategy is effective, these tactics generate 54% more leads than more traditional advertising campaigns.
Even ignoring the increased number of leads produced by this marketing strategy, investing in inbound marketing services directly and positively impacts a company’s bottom line right from the start. Inbound marketing costs an average of 62% less per lead than traditional outbound marketing. Moreover, leads pulled in from SEO have a 14.6% close rate, which is significantly higher than the 1.7% close rate exhibited by traditional outbound marketing leads. In other words, consumers who find a company through their own research are more likely to spend their money at that company.
As you can see, the results are in: an inbound marketing company may be the most important tool in your arsenal for building a successful company in the digital age. For any business owners out there, what are some of your favorite inbound marketing strategies?
