Inbound marketing seems to be the focus for most marketers that we speak to – with the benefits of lower costs for acquiring leads and higher conversion rates, what’s not to like? If it’s not already part of your winning 2012 marketing strategy, it’s definitely time to pay attention.

eConsultancy recently wrote an insightful blog ‘The inbound marketing explosion’ – which inspired me to share the piece and write my own post. It has some really useful statistics and graphs looking at budgets, average costs and conversion rates – very powerful for meetings with key stakeholders who are still trying to get their heads around the value of tactics such as content and social marketing. According to the ‘Lead-to-Close Rate’ graphic, social media alone is out-performing outbound marketing – and that’s just scratching the surface!

Back to basics – so what is inbound marketing?

Inbound marketing focuses on getting found by customers that are already shopping or learning about your industry – rather than mass-messaging to a wide audience through ‘outbound’ channels such as print advertising and cold calling.

Hubspot explains the concept very nicely – it’s an old post but still relevant and worth a quick read.

We’re often asked, so how can it help my organisation?

In brief, inbound marketing gives you warm, qualified and higher quality leads for your sales funnel. That means higher conversions and essentially more bang for your buck – I’m sure you’ll agree music to any marketers ears.

Where to start

It can always be a bit overwhelming when starting out with something new – the most important elements to any inbound marketing strategy are:

• Blogging & Good Content
• Social Media
• SEO

Very importantly, all of this should be supported with a strong website that will engage and capture leads once they land on your site. The key with an inbound marketing strategy is having a long term view – a bit of patience mixed in with commitment and consistency is what’s needed. Inbound marketing is not about overnight success or quick wins – it’s all about the nurturing, adding value and engaging with your warm audience.

We’d love to hear from those who have inbound marketing success stories or learnings to share – we’re always looking to share marketing knowledge through the blogs, so do get in touch.