The phrase ‘B2B inbound marketing’ has become part of our everyday vocabulary and commonplace among our multi-channel marketing campaigns. But, is it now being taken for granted and overlooked in certain cases? When working on a new project, there’s a tendency to quickly run through the required activities such as email, direct mails, telemarketing, social media, blogs, and some content. But is this undervaluing not only what is required to create great content, but also the ROI that inbound marketing can generate?

It’s still a top performing strategy

It’s important for marketers to never forget what can actually be achieved with high-quality and engaging content. For example, website conversion rate is nearly 6 times higher for content marketing adopters than non-adopters [i]. When B2B inbound marketing and content first arrived on the scene, the internet was awash with statistics highlighting just how profitable this activity could be. But as the honeymoon period slowly faded, so too did the success stories and supporting data.

B2B inbound marketing may no longer be ‘top of the pops’ but its ability to generate fantastic results as part of a multi-channel marketing campaign have not dwindled. In fact, even today, inbound practices produce 54% more leads than traditional outbound practices [ii].

It has changed slightly though…

During the initial push for marketers to create content and utilise inbound marketing, there was a flood of ebooks, infographics and tip sheets which arrived online and in our inboxes. The direct result is that we are becoming more jaded around these types of marketing activities, and poor quality content has almost made buyers lose interest in this type of messaging. So, in order to generate the results and ROI that early innovators initially experienced, marketers now need to ensure their B2B inbound marketing content is fully researched, highly engaging, and easily digestible. Only by providing buyers with information that is both helpful and highly targeted will contemporary marketers see the real ROI that this marketing technique can generate.

It’s never too late

It was recently discovered that 13% of marketers concede they don’t do inbound marketing [iii], which is a frankly horrifying statistic. However, it’s never too late to get involved. With the right knowledge and execution, B2B inbound marketing can be added to any multi-channel campaign and quickly start to show its worth.

So, whether you are 1 of the 13% of late adopters, or you’re a seasoned professional, there’s never been a better time to get back to basics and ensure you are creating and distributing only the best marketing content. To review our B2B marketing inbound marketing best practises…

 

[i] http://labs.openviewpartners.com/b2b-content-marketing-infographic/

[ii] https://www.woo-marketing.com/blog/5-inbound-marketing-myths-busted

[iii] http://www.wethrivemarketing.com/what-is-inbound-marketing/