Inbound Marketing Benefits by the Numbers

Before diving headfirst into the benefits of Inbound Marketing, let’s define the work and costs that go into an effective Inbound Marketing and Lead Nurturing program.

In Inbound Marketing, we create content and distribute it through a variety of online channels, including websites, blogs, social networks, industry forums, email and paid search. We create landing pages and call-to-action graphics to attract and convert leads. And we analyze data collected via marketing automation systems and make recommendations for new content and new strategies.

Therefore, the majority of costs from an Inbound Marketing and Lead Nurturing program come from the highly skilled creative talent producing, editing, distributing, measuring and analyzing Inbound Marketing content and data. A typical Inbound Marketing team of experts is comprised of a senior marketing strategist, senior consultant, content marketing manager, content creation team, senior graphic designer, enterprise marketing data analyst and a web designer/developer.

Inbound Marketing and Lead Nurturing have a few additional costs outside of creative talent, too.

Additional Costs:

• Demand generation services, such as PPC (paid search) and external costs for email marketing and press releases
• Search engine optimization on website pages, blogs, videos, downloads, social profiles, and press releases
• Professional video production costs
• Marketing automation software fees

Does Inbound Marketing sound like it’s going to be a bit pricey? Inbound Marketing is an investment in talent and experience and, yes, it can be as expensive in the long run as traditional outbound marketing. Positive ROI can take many months to achieve, depending on the size of your company, your current brand visibility and the competitiveness of your marketplace, but the investment is worthwhile.

Here’s Why:

• Inbound Marketing costs 62 percent less per lead than traditional outbound marketing
• Three out of four Inbound Marketing channels (blogging, social media, SEO) cost less than any outbound channel
• 57 percent of companies have reported customer acquisition through LinkedIn, 48 percent through Facebook and 42 percent through Twitter
• 66 percent of buyers indicate that "consistent and relevant communication provided by both sales and marketing organizations" is a key influence in choosing a solution provider
• Nurtured leads have a 23 percent shorter sales cycle
• Nurtured leads have a nine percent higher average deal size
• 35-50 percent of sales go to the vendor that responds first to an inquiry, and response rates decline as the age of a lead increases
• Companies that automate lead management processes can increase revenue by at least 10 percent within six to nine months, despite the uncertain economy

To learn more about Inbound Marketing benefits by the numbers, download our new, free eBook, “Lean Digital Marketing.”

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