It is not a secret that inbound marketing is an important component for lead generation. However, it is less well known that it is also an important component for a company’s profitability.
The Hinge Research Institute recently did a study that showed a significant correlation between profitability and online lead generation. The study revealed that firms which generate 60% or more of their leads online are two times more profitable than firms which generation 20% or less of their leads online.
The results are consistent with a 2011 HubSpot inbound report, which showed that inbound marketing techniques are much more cost effective than traditional, outbound methods.
The Hinge study asked participants to rate fifteen techniques by how effective they were for goal achievement. The top three techniques were: 1) whitepaper and ebooks, 3) business blogging, and 3) search engine optimization. As a building or remodeling company owner, if you are not already doing one or more of these techniques, start to consider topics for ebooks and blog posts and start to do keyword research to improve your search engine results. Don’t get overwhelmed if you aren’t doing any of these techniques and don’t know much about them yet. Simply pick one and build from there.
It is also interesting to note that the three least effective techniques in the study were: 1) banner ads, 2) pay-per-click or PPC, and 3) YouTube. One of the biggest reasons that PPC is not an effective technique is that you have to continue to spend money to continue to generate leads from it. The leads that are generated are generally of a lower quality than the leads from organic channels, such as blog posts. If you are relying heavily on any of these techniques for your building or remodeling company, you don’t have to quit doing them but start putting more of your focus elsewhere.
Finally, as a company owner, one of the smartest things to do with your time and money is to invest it back in the company. Anything that you create for your web site, such as a blog post or article, will be an asset for your company for a long time. With almost no work or additional expense, your content will continue to generate leads and traffic. The investment strategy is more scalable and also more profitable.
Blog Post Written by Spencer Powell
Spencer is the Inbound Marketing Director at TMR Direct. Spencer specializes in helping clients create and execute effective inbound marketing campaigns.