In the B2B world, inbound marketing has totally altered the playing field. Today, more than ever, Google has become a household name, and is shaping the way each of us learn, play and work every day. We must quickly learn how businesses in the B2B space can use this to their advantage.
As technology has evolved, so have your customers. Customers today have more information available to them than ever before. The days of “buyer beware” has flipped to “seller beware” and B2B sales professionals must adapt to the way they interact with prospects.
Faced with changing technology and changing buying habits, companies must adjust their marketing budget to focus on educating and reaching customers where they are in the buying process.
The ultimate goal of today’s digital marketing strategy must be to develop a pipeline of leads that provides a company’s sales team with qualified opportunities:
- Outbound marketing relies on generating leads through emails, ads, telemarketing and interruptive-based communications.
- Inbound marketing generates leads by creating quality content that draws people to the product, company or website.
Put new tools to work
With new marketing technology and website improvements, the costs are linked to revenue, solving the black hole dilemma that CMOs have been plagued with in the past. It is time for business leaders to conduct a marketing audit and implement a plan and strategy in order to grow their business in today’s digital world.
The tools for small businesses to compete on a global stage are rapidly approaching and growing at an astonishing rate. The era of digital marketing, mobile revolution, big data and marketing automation is fueling a keen desire to increase business intelligence and leverage non-interruptive marketing techniques.
Today’s marketing technology allows for easy management and organization of leads and sales and marketing data. Marketing automation platforms such as HubSpot are designed to manage a pipeline of leads. These platforms integrate into customer relationship management programs allowing better management and decision-making among business leaders.
A potential game changer
Regardless of industry, a solid inbound marketing strategy can help improve any step of the buying cycle. The growth of marketing automation is increasing the adoption of small and midsized businesses and has been proven to directly increase revenues, the number of qualified leads, customer satisfaction and be a catalyst to improving overall marketing and operational efficiency.
If adequately planned and executed, these tools work and are ever more necessary in today’s world. They require some time to develop depending on the complexity of your business. Done well, it can be a game changer in how your business approaches its market strategy and uncovers new opportunities to grow.
Dolf Kahle is CEO of Visual Marking Systems Inc.
