By John Hogg
With Halloween just around the corner we have been looking at some of the frightening trends in marketing today.
Scary Fact 1: No Marketing Plan = Unknown Results!
According to Marketing Profs a survey in 2014 stated that 34% of marketers did not have a documented plan. Wow, without a clear plan how on all Earth will your organisation hope to achieve whatever it is it wants to achieve?
Scary Fact 2: No More Pretty B2B Websites!
Fancy a bit of Google roulette? If yes, why not hit up Mr (or Mrs) Google and look at some of the websites for companies in your sector. How many of them are basically an online brochure? Isn't it worrying that the majority of websites in the B2B sector are just brochures and the only calls to action are on the Contact Us page and perhaps a telephone number in either the header or footer? B2B websites need to have a much more systematic approach to having Calls to Action to try and engage vistors and have any hope of turning them into a lead
Scary Fact 3: Website Content Never Changes!
Following on from our little game of Google Roulette why not look at their content and wonder when the last time was they updated their content? Does the website look as if it has a regular content plan behind it publishing relevant information for their audience on a regular basis? Or, are they like most other websites and they never change?
If we look at the frightening thought above that no-one is updating their website then how could we possibly overturn this? It is not as if we can simply re-write our services page every week. So what do we do? Step forward blogging - did you know that companies which blog generate 67% more leads than companies which don't. A scary statistic indeed from the guys and ghouls at Hubspot.
Scary Fact 5: Social Media Isn't Being Used To Promote Business Effectively
So you develop a strategy, content plan and start blogging - who cares? To be honest, no-one... unless you tell them that is! Why not mix up your social media a bit and slip in a few posts about your blogs? You would be surprised at the increase in traffic if you do this right!
Scary Fact 6: If It's Not Measured It Isn't Really Marketing
Forget all those 50% of marketing works and 50% doesn't conversations - if you do it right and introduce Inbound Marketing principles at your firm you will be driving more traffic, generating more leads and converting more clients!
With the introduction of a proper Inbound marketing sytem for your B2B company you will now have access to closed-loop reporting and know exactly where your leads are coming in from and what is working and what is not. Use this information to make more informed decisions and before you know it your marketing will be highly effective and driving growth for your business. Did you know that only 18% of the people who primarily use Outbound techniques felt their marketing was effective vis-a-vis 81% of those who use Inbound. And the reason for this is because proper Inbound Marketing measures and reports on everything - no more unknown quantities. It works!
So there you go, just a quick look at a few frightening thoughts about B2B marketing. Get it right and the results are clear versus getting it wrong and you might just live to regret it.
If you would like to find out more about how Inbound Marketing could work for your B2B business and help your firm to grow, why not schedule a free, no-obligation consultation?
John Hogg
John is managing director of Enlighten IC and has been involved in legal marketing and technology marketing for over 25 years. He is passionate about how an inbound approach to marketing can help firms to drive leads and grow their business.
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