Vital Statistics for B2B Marketers Two. Inbound vs. Outbound
Not long ago, being a B2B marketer was simple. The more you pushed out there, the better your pipeline. But then something changed.
Here are all the latest facts and stats B2B Marketers need to build the case for a balanced inbound and outbound marketing strategy.
As always use and abuse at your leisure and feel free to share your own Vital Statistics using #b2bvitalstats
The way businesses buy is changing
- 9 out of 10 business buyers say when they are ready to buy, they will find you
- 81% of them start the process with a web search
- Many are 50-60% of the way into the buy cycle before they will even make contact with a vendor
Source: DemandGen report (http://www.slideshare.net/G3Com/content-preferences-surveyfinal)
And B2B buyers are hungrier for information
- 78% are looking for information around their business challenge
- 84% said Word of Mouth recommendations influence their purchase decisions
- 58% engage with peers, 48% follow industry conversations, and 41% read research papers and postings from thought leaders
Source: Breaking out of the funnel http://www.genius.com/media/pdfs/mgResources/DGR_GeniusWP_3-11.pdf
Content is still king
- If the order value is more than $10k – 70% of buyers say they review four or more pieces of content prior to purchase
- The white paper is still the most read piece of content – but 60% of buyers say they don’t have the time for reading – so the shorter, the better
- But remember – 75% of buyers want vendors to curb the sales messages
- And show your sources – 60% say trust in the source of the content is important.
Source: Marketing profs http://www.marketingprofs.com/articles/2012/7070/five-trends-b2b-marketers-need-to-understand-to-succeed-in-2012
Source: DemandGen Report http://www.demandgenreport.com/
Source: Content4Demand http://www.content4demand.com/blog/?Tag=relevant%20content
And how content is being consumed is changing
- 80% of business leaders are watching more online video than ever before
- 75% of senior executives watch videos on business sites every week
- And 65% go on to visit the vendors website after watching a video
- Mobile searches have increased by 247% in the last year (despite only 10% of the web being mobile friendly)
- And 67% of business buyers want interesting and exclusive content through apps
Source: Rise of the digital C-Suite http://www.forbes.com/forbesinsights/digital_csuite/index.html
Source: State of search http://www.stateofsearch.com/mobile-web-search-on-android-is-the-future-247-increase-in-uk-says-yes/
Source: CMA http://apa.customerpublishing.org/news/consumers-show-appetite-for-branded-content-through-apps
But traditional outbound methods are not dead
- 74% of B2B Marketers still find direct mail effective
- 71% think email marketing is critical
- And 72% are sure that events still pack a punch
- But the numbers are worth taking into account… outbound costs $364 per lead compared to $135 for inbound
Source: Marketing Sherpa http://www.marketingsherpa.com/article/direct-mail-rated-as-an
Source: HubSpot http://blog.hubspot.com/blog/tabid/6307/bid/31555/Inbound-Leads-Cost-61-Less-Than-Outbound-New-Data.aspx
Source: Circle Research http://www.circle-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/03/Email-Marketing-Infographic-Hi-Res.pdf
However, reaching the right people is getting harder
- An average marketing database contains 25-30% useless records
- And 88% of people report having lied on registration forms
- Data has a shelf life – if it’s more than 3 years old, chances are only 10% of your data will be clean and useful
- But get it right and the best quality data can drive 70% more revenue
Source: B2B Digital http://b2bdigital.net/2012/05/31/b2b-marketers-bad-data/
Source: Fearless competitor http://fearlesscompetitor.com/2011/05/05/the-problem-with-marketing-data/
Source: Sirius Decisions http://siriusdecisions.com/
B2B marketing has changed again. Have you?
Great post Earnest
Thanks for all the stats. I was most interested in your cost per lead comparison. I was surprised inbound’s cost was as low as $135 because it’s mostly a time investment which most people don’t factor in when calculating cost per lead.
What should be noted, however, is that while inbound leads are relatively cheap, they are also largely unqualified. They may demonstrate an interest in what you sell, but they often don’t fit your customer demographics. The reason is simple. You can’t control who visits your website.
Direct marketing is often criticized for cost and interruption, but the fact is, you can control who receives your message. You can pre-qualify your mailing list so you know that everyone who responds is able to buy what you sell.
Hi Bob,
So on inbound – I’d say that’s a yes and no. It’s a fascinating subject.
So the problem today with ‘inbound’ is that it’s being badly sold – get content out there, people register to get the whatever it is, then they get ‘followed up’ by some hapless sales rep. The truth is that just because they downloaded, doesn’t mean they’re ready to buy. Really effective inbound involves a much longer journey, with proper lead scoring to identify and flag when someone’s activity really signals them as ‘further down the buying cycle’.
You certainly can’t control who consumes your content or visits your website, but with some smart technology, and smarter thinking/process, you can decide who’s a lead, and who’s not. We think outbound and inbound both have a place. Inbound currently has some serious issues in the way that it’s being practiced – but ultimately, it will be a huge piece in the ROI puzzle when companies get it right.
The single biggest problem in marketing today is correctly saying what is a lead, and what isn’t. This fundamental broken link is what causes sales and marketing to fight, finance to hate marketing, and marketing to look ineffectual.
Chris.
Well… the other problem may be that research respondents, in general, have a hard time articulating what they really want/need. Much of the research above appears to take what respondents say at face value.
Everyone would say that they hate ‘junk mail’. On that basis, you might conclude that junk mail is ineffective and should be abandoned. But the reality is, junk mail is only junk mail to the recipient if it is irrelevant, or doesn’t address a burning need.
So, suffice to say, poorly executed junk mail should be abandoned, while well-executed junk mail (which manages to land the right offer in the right hands at the right time… and is therefore no longer ‘junk’) should be continued because it works.
This whole discussion is not really about inbound vs. outbound. It’s about good marketing vs bad marketing.