We are just a few weeks away from the end of the year, another one that is behind us. A new period is approaching, 365 days of adaptation, progress and revolution. A year that presents itself with many questions: Where is marketing heading? How many companies will join the Inbound methodology? What will the new trends be, etc.?
Ending a period almost indirectly leads us to take stock of what has come and what is to come. And this is exactly where the role of Inbound Marketing comes into play.
what has become of it during 2018? We believe that the best way to tell you about it is with the help of official data. From those published in HubSpot's State of Inbound 2018 report.
where do we stand?
Converting leads into customers, a priority objective for companies
More than 6,000 interviews. Almost 100 countries. Industries of all kinds. And sizes for all tastes. These have been the performance scenarios for the collection of Inbound Marketing data in 2018. What has happened?
As the report shows, it seems that industries put converting leads into customers at the top of their objectives. Around 75% of respondents verified this, with increasing website traffic (47%), increasing revenue from existing customers (45%), demonstrating ROI from marketing activities (31%), reducing the cost of acquiring leads/sales opportunities/customers (29%), and sales enablement (25%) coming in below.
These are data that certainly help us to interpret the behaviour of companies. We talk about their main priorities, but what are their challenges in achieving these objectives?
In response to this question, it seems that organisations have traffic generation and sales opportunities as their main objective, at 67%, well above the rest of the challenges. At the other end of the spectrum, however, are directing content to an international audience and recruiting better employees, both at 17%. In the middle of these two percentages are demonstrating ROI, securing the necessary budget and identifying the right technology for our needs, among others.
do you have anything to say about this? What would you consider to be your priority challenge? And your goal?
The importance of traffic and sales opportunities
Given that the state of Inbound Marketing shows that companies give great importance to traffic and sales opportunities, we believe this is a good time to dwell on this point.
It seems that 70% of companies want to close more business and even get a response from prospects. However, some still doubt which is the most direct way to achieve these goals. In life, everything is a process. Converting sales opportunities into customers, too. We are talking about Lead Nurturing or the art of converting leads into customers, something that takes a lot of work.
However, what is the price companies pay to convert strangers into visitors, leads, customers and promoters? Undoubtedly, companies that have devoted themselves to Inbound Marketing hide a great deal of work in identifying contacts in their databases, generating valuable and timely information, combining techniques, social networks, email marketing, etc.
These companies do not abandon their prospects, but accompany them throughout their purchase cycle. It is a decision-making process that begins with discovery/knowledge, continues with consideration and ends with a single decision. It is here that the user is ready to buy, but what will their final decision be?
Attract, convert, close and engage, but never abandon.
