by Fronetics | Feb 4, 2015 | Blog, Data/Analytics, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Inbound marketing costs less than outbound marketing. And it works.
The internet has empowered customers. It has provided customers with new methods for finding and researching companies. It has also provided customers with new methods for finding, researching, and buying products.
The internet has changed marketing from a one way street to a two way street.
Customers no longer rely solely on TV/newspaper/magazine ads, billboards, direct mail, email, banner ads, and other traditional outbound marketing channels to learn about new products. These methods are now viewed as too intrusive, especially among younger consumers who regularly tune out the tactics.
Customers want to find YOU (not the other way around)
A study conducted by the Corporate Executive Board’s (CEB) Marketing Leadership Council found that the average customer progresses nearly 60 percent of the way through the purchase decision-making process before engaging with a sales rep. How are they able to do this? By going online. Customers are using websites, blogs, and social media.
A study by Pardot found that 72 percent of B2B buyers begin their research with Google. Other starting points for research: personal networks (15.58%), Yahoo (5.53%), Bing (2.76%), LinkedIn (2.51%) and social networks (2.01%).
What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing focuses on consumers finding you.
Inbound marketing meets your customers and prospects where they are, with the information for which they are looking, and at the right moment. Inbound marketing provides value, builds trust and authority, which ultimately result in increased leads and higher conversion rates.
The components of inbound marketing are pretty simple: Create and distribute fresh, relevant, targeted content specifically designed to reach a target audience.
Strategies include:
- Social media marketing
- Blogging and content marketing
- Podcasts
- White papers
- ebooks
- Infographics
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Case studies
What is outbound marketing?
In contrast, outbound marketing focuses on paying to broadcast your message to find consumers who will listen to you.
Outbound marketing is a value-driven numbers game. The more banner ads, print ads, and direct mailings you pay for, the more people see your product, and the more sales you’ll make. However, it is costly. Outbound marketing costs 38% more than inbound marketing. The average cost per lead using outbound marketing is $373. The average cost per lead using inbound marketing is $143.
Outbound marketing strategies include:
- Print ads
- TV ads
- Banner ads
- Telemarketing
- Cold calling
- Press releases
- Trade shows
- Email marketing
- Direct mail
Inbound marketing makes sense
Inbound marketing just makes sense. It is a proven methodology and it costs less. Isn’t it time to meet your customers where they are? Get online. Create content. Distribute content. Engage with customers. Optimize your website.
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a management consulting firm focused on strategy and inbound marketing. When it comes to inbound marketing we take a different approach than other firms. This is because of our business experience and background. We know ROI is important, so our approach is data driven and produces results.
We understand that developing and implementing an inbound marketing strategy can seem daunting. We are here to help. We are happy to take a few minutes and look at your current strategy and give you ideas on how to start, or suggestions on what you can do to make your current strategy more successful. We are also happy to talk with you about what we can do.
We’d love to talk with you about how you can grow your business through inbound marketing.
by Fronetics | Feb 4, 2015 | Blog, Data/Analytics, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy
Inbound marketing costs less than outbound marketing. And it works.
The internet has empowered customers. It has provided customers with new methods for finding and researching companies. It has also provided customers with new methods for finding, researching, and buying products.
The internet has changed marketing from a one way street to a two way street.
Customers no longer rely solely on TV/newspaper/magazine ads, billboards, direct mail, email, banner ads, and other traditional outbound marketing channels to learn about new products. These methods are now viewed as too intrusive, especially among younger consumers who regularly tune out the tactics.
Customers want to find YOU (not the other way around)
A study conducted by the Corporate Executive Board’s (CEB) Marketing Leadership Council found that the average customer progresses nearly 60 percent of the way through the purchase decision-making process before engaging with a sales rep. How are they able to do this? By going online. Customers are using websites, blogs, and social media.
A study by Pardot found that 72 percent of B2B buyers begin their research with Google. Other starting points for research: personal networks (15.58%), Yahoo (5.53%), Bing (2.76%), LinkedIn (2.51%) and social networks (2.01%).
What is inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing focuses on consumers finding you.
Inbound marketing meets your customers and prospects where they are, with the information for which they are looking, and at the right moment. Inbound marketing provides value, builds trust and authority, which ultimately result in increased leads and higher conversion rates.
The components of inbound marketing are pretty simple: Create and distribute fresh, relevant, targeted content specifically designed to reach a target audience.
Strategies include:
- Social media marketing
- Blogging and content marketing
- Podcasts
- White papers
- ebooks
- Infographics
- Search engine optimization (SEO)
- Case studies
What is outbound marketing?
In contrast, outbound marketing focuses on paying to broadcast your message to find consumers who will listen to you.
Outbound marketing is a value-driven numbers game. The more banner ads, print ads, and direct mailings you pay for, the more people see your product, and the more sales you’ll make. However, it is costly. Outbound marketing costs 38% more than inbound marketing. The average cost per lead using outbound marketing is $373. The average cost per lead using inbound marketing is $143.
Outbound marketing strategies include:
- Print ads
- TV ads
- Banner ads
- Telemarketing
- Cold calling
- Press releases
- Trade shows
- Email marketing
- Direct mail
Inbound marketing makes sense
Inbound marketing just makes sense. It is a proven methodology and it costs less. Isn’t it time to meet your customers where they are? Get online. Create content. Distribute content. Engage with customers. Optimize your website.
Fronetics Strategic Advisors is a management consulting firm focused on strategy and inbound marketing. When it comes to inbound marketing we take a different approach than other firms. This is because of our business experience and background. We know ROI is important, so our approach is data driven and produces results.
We understand that developing and implementing an inbound marketing strategy can seem daunting. We are here to help. We are happy to take a few minutes and look at your current strategy and give you ideas on how to start, or suggestions on what you can do to make your current strategy more successful. We are also happy to talk with you about what we can do.
We’d love to talk with you about how you can grow your business through inbound marketing.
by Fronetics | Dec 30, 2014 | Blog, Logistics, Manufacturing & Distribution, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
I wrote a guest blog for freight logistics company Cerasis in October which discussed how companies within the manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, and industrial industries can increase their B2B visibility on LinkedIn.
The catalyst for writing the blog were results from a recent survey focused on the supply chain and logistics industry. 58% of respondents rated LinkedIn as “very impactful,” and 37% rated LinkedIn as “somewhat impactful.” At the same time, respondents reported challenges associated with strategy (33%) and a lack of understanding about the application of social media (24%).
Leveraging LinkedIn
There are over 3 million LinkedIn company pages. Being present on LinkedIn is critical, but is not enough. To maximize your LinkedIn presence you need to take steps to increase your B2B visibility. Here’s how:
-
Create a compelling company page
Your company page is an extension of your company. Make sure that the page is compelling, informative, and presents your company as a leader within the industry.
-
Be active
In addition to keeping your company page up-to-date, you need to be active on LinkedIn on a daily basis. LinkedIn groups are great. Actively participating in LinkedIn groups will allow your company to: 1) gain business and market intelligence; 2) introduce you to new, interesting, and relevant topics; 3) help you increase brand awareness; and 4) position your company as an industry leader.
-
Distribute content
If you want your content to be seen you need to get it out there; you need to distribute your content. Distribute your content and curated content via your company page and (when relevant) within the LinkedIn groups to which you belong.
-
Employee engagement
Your employees are your brand ambassadors. Empower your employees to be active within LinkedIn groups as representatives of your company. Encourage employees to share your content and industry content with their connections. Additionally, encourage employees to share open positions with their LinkedIn connections, and to identify great talent within their network.
-
Prospect for leads
LinkedIn is an effective prospecting tool. Use LinkedIn to prospect for leads and to build your sales pipeline.
-
Optimize your profile
Every employee is a reflection of the company. Encourage employees to optimize their personal LinkedIn profiles.
-
Don’t be annoying
You will fail if you take a “me, me, me attitude.” Constantly self-promoting is bad for business.
If your company is not using LinkedIn you are missing out on opportunities and revenue.
by Fronetics | Dec 30, 2014 | Blog, Logistics, Manufacturing & Distribution, Marketing, Social Media, Strategy, Supply Chain
I wrote a guest blog for freight logistics company Cerasis in October which discussed how companies within the manufacturing, supply chain, logistics, and industrial industries can increase their B2B visibility on LinkedIn.
The catalyst for writing the blog were results from a recent survey focused on the supply chain and logistics industry. 58% of respondents rated LinkedIn as “very impactful,” and 37% rated LinkedIn as “somewhat impactful.” At the same time, respondents reported challenges associated with strategy (33%) and a lack of understanding about the application of social media (24%).
Leveraging LinkedIn
There are over 3 million LinkedIn company pages. Being present on LinkedIn is critical, but is not enough. To maximize your LinkedIn presence you need to take steps to increase your B2B visibility. Here’s how:
-
Create a compelling company page
Your company page is an extension of your company. Make sure that the page is compelling, informative, and presents your company as a leader within the industry.
-
Be active
In addition to keeping your company page up-to-date, you need to be active on LinkedIn on a daily basis. LinkedIn groups are great. Actively participating in LinkedIn groups will allow your company to: 1) gain business and market intelligence; 2) introduce you to new, interesting, and relevant topics; 3) help you increase brand awareness; and 4) position your company as an industry leader.
-
Distribute content
If you want your content to be seen you need to get it out there; you need to distribute your content. Distribute your content and curated content via your company page and (when relevant) within the LinkedIn groups to which you belong.
-
Employee engagement
Your employees are your brand ambassadors. Empower your employees to be active within LinkedIn groups as representatives of your company. Encourage employees to share your content and industry content with their connections. Additionally, encourage employees to share open positions with their LinkedIn connections, and to identify great talent within their network.
-
Prospect for leads
LinkedIn is an effective prospecting tool. Use LinkedIn to prospect for leads and to build your sales pipeline.
-
Optimize your profile
Every employee is a reflection of the company. Encourage employees to optimize their personal LinkedIn profiles.
-
Don’t be annoying
You will fail if you take a “me, me, me attitude.” Constantly self-promoting is bad for business.
If your company is not using LinkedIn you are missing out on opportunities and revenue.
by Fronetics | Nov 18, 2014 | Blog, Logistics, Marketing
Cerasis is a top North American third party logistics company offering logistics solutions with a strong focus on LTL freight management. In 2012 the company decided to move from a traditional approach to marketing (ads in print publications and a heavy reliance on referrals) to a digital strategy – inbound marketing.
Within 25 months:
- Visits to the Cerasis website increased by 1,141%;
- Visits to the company blog increased from zero to 46,404;
- Traffic driven by social media increased by 376,150%;
- Organic traffic increased by 4,066%.
Moreover, Cerasis gained 715 leads. Fourteen percent of these leads converted to customers. The 98 new customers Cerasis gained through their inbound marketing efforts generated a 14% increase in revenue.
To learn more about Cerasis’ approach to inbound marketing and for more results, download the case study: 3PL company Cerasis acquires 98 customers through inbound marketing.
