47% of companies are expected to increase their inbound marketing budget for 2012, according to data from online business community G+.
It's no wonder, since the average cost to acquire a new lead through outbound marketing in 2011 was $373, compared to just $143 from inbound marketing.
The main reason for this budget increase however was found to be past success using inbound tactics, which attracts customers by offering useful, relevant information.
G+ states that one of the biggest advantages companies find in using inbound marketing is that leads cost far less to acquire.
Here, G+ explores the inbound marketing boom and how businesses are utilising it.
Reader comments (7)
1:44PM on 23rd March 2012
It makes sense that small businesses would be leading the inbound marketing charge. They don't have the budget of the bigger brands, so traditional outbound marketing techniques are out of their reach. Also, small brands can adapt and change faster, which means they can get the ball rolling a lot sooner.
4:51AM on 24th March 2012
I'm surprised social media has such a low lead to conversion ratio; but then again, social media measurement metrics interpretation is still a mystery.
10:25AM on 24th March 2012
I don't agree to the above stats. These are motivated just to drive attention of marketers to spend money on social marketing. However when facebook has 0.01% of CTR only i dont see it as a worth activity if conversion is to be kept in mind.
Founder & Practitioner at eB2BLeads
11:12AM on 26th March 2012
What counts is leads, sales and loyalty.
All other metrics and channels are ways of developing that.
The more integrated / multi channel you are the greater your reach and potential impact without ignoring the core of what works.
Strategically you want all channels, however be mindful of where you spend your time and automate what doesn't generate your ROI.
Most of all, measure (ROI in real terms) and test!!! What works is....what works.
Not surprising to see lead to close so high with SEO, direct traffic, referrals and paid search.
11:56AM on 26th March 2012
Is there a mistake in this? The distribution of lead generation charts seem to be titled incorrectly? Should they be swapped around?
11:46AM on 27th March 2012
I agree, the titles on the "Distribution of lead Generation Budget" charts do seem to be the wrong way round comapred to the analysis. The charts say that "Outbound Marketing" is Social media, Twitter, e-mail and "Inbound Marketing" is trade shows, direct mail etc.
Also, apart from the form factor, e-mail and print both get sent out by organisations to prospects and customers so why are they in different categories?
9:19PM on 31st March 2012
There IS a mistake on here - you guys should correct and redistribute. Per Mark Dolby, it's on the lead generation charts. I was getting ready to write about this and use your stats, but if they're incorrect, that would do all of us a disservice.
Shelly Kramer
@shellykramer
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