Experienced, seasoned marketing professionals have seen many changes in the last decade. We have said goodbye to phone book ads and direct mail fliers. Gone are the days when account executives schlepped through towns and knocked on doors with business cards as their main lead generation plan.
So, you say your company is still using those tactics?
No matter the industry, traditional marketing is no longer the tool that boosts you to the top of the game. Attracting and converting leads by utilizing inbound marketing offers a variety of rewards that traditional marketing has never provided. Not convinced inbound marketing is worth the investment? If you haven't dipped your toe in the cool, profitable waters of inbound marketing, take note. There are four key reasons why your traditional marketing tactics aren't working.
It isn't where the customers are. Shoppers are online. Whether researching their purchases or making their buying decisions, people use search engines and social media as ways to make smart, informed buying decisions. If you aren't there, then they don't see you. According to HubSpot's State of Inbound Report, 54% more leads are generated from inbound marketing than traditional marketing. Traditional marketing doesn't reach the number of audience members that is possible for inbound marketing, and rarely "hits them" when they are in buying mode.
Traditional marketing is too expensive. The cost of a sales person cold calling quickly eats up a new business development budget. Add in direct mail and other traditional forms of lead generation, and the expenses continue to skyrocket. Inbound marketing reaches a wider audience at a fraction of the cost of traditional marketing methods. Marketers who fail to embrace new online ways of connecting with and converting leads are missing productive opportunities and leaving money on the table.
Accurately targeting buyers is almost impossible with traditional marketing. Developing buyer personas and then reaching them with content is the primary reason inbound works. Traditional marketing is difficult to implement so that it specifically pinpoints the audience hearing the message. The broad, all-encompassing tactics of traditional marketing ends up with a significant amount of time wasted on targets that are not true, ready-to-buy leads.
It yields puny results. The proof shows in the numbers that inbound marketing smokes traditional marketing in terms of actual results. According to Search Engine Journal, leads from inbound have a 14.6% close rate, while more traditional efforts result in a close rate of under 2%. Direct mail and cold calling are time consuming with little results. Inbound, on the other hand, offers a streamlined way of effectively converting and qualifying leads.
Marketers who have yet to adopt inbound marketing strategies are missing the boat. By still solely focusing on traditional forms of lead generation, they are failing to engage buyers who are researching their purchases and ready to buy. It's vital to pursue ways of attracting customers outside of time consuming, expensive, outdated marketing. This means inbound!
Need assistance laying out an inbound marketing plan that produces wildly successful results? Contact Marketing Essentials at 419.629.0080 and speak to one our inbound marketing experts.
