Download - The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing

The 2011 State of

Inbound Marketing

www.HubSpot.com

February 2011

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THE STATE OF INBOUND MARKETING

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Contents

Introduction ............................................................................................................................................ 3

The State of Marketing Costs & Budgets ............................................................................................... 4

Inbound Channels Convert Leads into Customers ............................................................................... 10

What‘s Important to Marketers? ........................................................................................................... 13

Conclusion and Additional Resources .................................................................................................. 16

Appendix.............................................................................................................................................. 17


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Introduction Summary This report is based on a January 2011 survey of 644 professionals familiar with their business‘

marketing strategy.1 The key takeaways are:

Inbound marketing channels are maintaining their low-cost advantage: Inbound

marketing-dominated organizations experience a cost per lead 62% lower than outbound

marketing-dominated organizations.

The gap between spending on inbound vs. outbound continues to widen: In 2009,

inbound marketing had a 9% greater share of the lead generation budget; in 2011 its share

was 17% greater.

Blogs and social media channels are generating real customers: 57% of companies

using blogs reported that they acquired customers from leads generated directly from their

blog.

More and more business are blogging: Businesses are now in the minority if they do not

blog. From 2009 to 2011 the percentage of businesses with a blog grew from 48% to 65%.

Businesses are increasingly aware their blog is highly valuable: 85% of businesses

rated their company blogs as ―useful,‖ ―important‖ or ―critical;‖ a whopping 27% rated their

company blog as ―critical‖ to their business.

Overview of Inbound Marketing

This report is designed to help businesses and marketers understand the current usage and results of

inbound marketing. Inbound marketing is a set of marketing strategies and techniques focused on

pulling relevant prospects and customers towards a business and its products. Inbound marketing is

becoming widely accepted because it complements the way buyers make purchasing decisions

today—they are using the Internet to learn about the products and services that best meet their needs.

Inbound marketers offer their audiences useful information and tools to attract these people to

their site, while also interacting and developing relationships with individuals on the Web. Inbound

marketing tools include blogging, content publishing, search engine optimization and social media.

Inbound marketing contrasts with traditional outbound marketing, in which businesses push their

messages at consumers. With techniques that include direct mail, telemarketing and trade shows,

outbound marketing has become less effective over time as buyers have behaviorally and

technologically (e.g., TIVO, spam filters, ‗do-not-call‘ lists) tuned these interruptive campaigns out.

1 For more information about the survey please see the appendix.


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The State of Marketing Costs & Budgets Inbound Consistently Delivers a Cost per Lead Dramatically Lower Than Outbound

Survey participants were asked to report the distribution of their spending and their average cost per

lead. Respondents who spend more than 50% of their lead generation budget on inbound marketing

channels report a significantly lower cost per sales lead than those who spend 50% or more of their

budgets on outbound marketing channels:

In 2011, the average cost per lead for outbound-dominated businesses was $373, while

inbound businesses reported their leads cost on average $143.

Inbound marketing-dominated organizations experience a 62% lower cost per lead

than outbound marketing dominated organizations.

This finding is remarkably consistent from year to year. The previous study showed strikingly similar

results: the 2010 survey showed that inbound marketing-centric organizations experienced a 60% lower

cost per lead.

$332

$373

$134 $143

$0

$200

$400

2010 2011

Avg

. C

ost p

er

Le

ad

Average Cost Per LeadInbound vs. Outbound

Outbound Marketing Dominated

Inbound Marketing Dominated

62% Lower Cost per Lead


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Three Out of Four Inbound Channels Cost Less than Any Outbound Channel

When asked to classify each lead generation category as ―below average cost,‖ ―near average cost,‖ or

―above average cost,‖ businesses consistently ranked inbound marketing channels as having costs

lower than outbound channels. PPC was the only inbound channel that was ranked among the

outbound channels.

Blogs, social media and organic search maintained the top slots as least expensive.

Blogs had the highest instance of being reported as ―Below Average Cost:‖ 55% of

companies who blog indicated leads from this channel were ―Below Average Cost.‖

Trade shows, PPC, direct mail and telemarketing were most frequently ranked as more

expensive.

55%47%

39% 36% 33%27%

19%

0%

20%

40%

60%

Blogs Social Media SEO(Organicsearch)

Telemarketing Direct Mail PPC(Paid

search)

TradeShows

% o

f R

es

po

nd

en

ts

Below Average Cost per Lead,% Respondents by Lead Channel

47%

29% 27%21%

13% 13%9%

0%

20%

40%

Trade Shows PPC(Paid

search)

Direct Mail Telemarketing SEO(Organicsearch)

Social Media Blogs

% o

f R

es

po

nd

en

ts

Above Average Cost per Lead,% Respondents by Lead Channel

Outbound

Inbound

Channle

Outbound

Inbound

Majority reported blog leads are cheaper.

Trade Shows were most frequently

reported as more expensive than average


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The Majority of Businesses Are Increasing Their Inbound Marketing Budgets

―How does your 2011 Inbound Marketing budget compare to your 2010 budget?‖ the survey asked. ―If

your 2011 inbound marketing budget changed from your 2010 budget, what drove that decision?‖ The

answers to these questions show that the majority of businesses are consistently increasing inbound

marketing budgets:

54% of those surveyed are increasing their inbound marketing budgets.

89% are either maintaining or increasing their inbound marketing budgets.

This increase was observed two years in row.

Among the 54% of respondents with increased inbound marketing budgets, the most

commonly cited reason was ―past success with inbound marketing.‖

The majority of businesses attributed their decreasing budgets to the ―economic

conditions‖ (71%) or ―a change in management‖ (15%).

51%

37%

12%

54%

35%

11%

0%

20%

40%

60%

Higher No Change Lower

% o

f R

esp

on

de

nts

How does your Inbound Marketing budget for the current year compare to your budget for the previous year?

2010

2011

0%

14%

15%

21%

50%

0% 20% 40%

Past Success with Outbound

Change in Management

Economy

Other

Past Success with Inbound

% of Respondents

Why Businesses are Increasing Inbound Budgets

0%

3%

11%

15%

71%

0% 25% 50%

Past Success with Inbound

Past Success with Outbound

Other

Change in Management

Economy

% of Respondents

Why Businesses are Decreasing Inbound Budgets

Majority reported increases in inbound

budgets two years in a row.


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Distribution of Budgets Continues to Shift To Inbound Channels

We asked survey respondents what percentage of their lead generation budgets would be spent on

each of 9 marketing channels: ―direct mail,‖ ―telemarketing,‖ ―trade shows,‖ ―email marketing,‖ ―PPC

(paid search / AdWords),‖ ―SEO (organic / natural search),‖ ―social media,‖ ―blogs,‖ and ―other.‖ Those

nine channels were grouped as follows (email marketing can be used both as an inbound and an

outbound marketing tool so it was not classified):

INBOUND CHANNELS

OUTBOUND

CHANNELS

NOT

CLASSIFIED

PPC Direct Mail Email Marketing

SEO Telemarketing Other

Social Media Trade Shows

Blogs

The results show that:

The average portion of budget dedicated to inbound increased from 38% to 41% from 2009

to 2011.

The net effect is that the gap continues to widen - inbound marketing had a 9% greater

share of the lead generation budget in 2009 in comparison to a 17% greater share in

2011.

29%24%

38%41%

0%

20%

40%

2009 2011

Avg %

of

Budget

Lead Generation BudgetAverage Distribution, 2009 v. 2011

Outbound

Inbound

9% gap 17% gap


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A more granular view of the data shows that:

Marketers are allocating more of their lead generation budgets to social media and company

blogs.

The average budget spent on company blogs and social media increased from 9% in 2009 to

17% in 2011.

Marketers are decreasing the portion spent on PPC, direct mail and telemarketing.

9%15% 18%

13%

13%13%

16%11%

10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

2009 2010 2011

Avg %

of

Budget

Inbound Lead Generation BudgetAverage Distribution, 2009-2011

PPC

SEO (organic search)

Blogs & Social Media

9% 7% 6%

11% 11% 13%

10%

6% 5%

0%

20%

40%

2009 2010 2011

Avg %

of

Budget

Outbound Lead Generation BudgetAverage Distribution, 2009-2011

Telemarketing

Trade Shows

Direct Mail


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Small Companies Continue to Spend More of Their Budgets on Inbound Marketing

In a continuation of a trend identified in previous reports, small businesses are attempting to level the

playing field by focusing on lower-cost inbound lead generation techniques.

In 2011, small businesses (1 to 5 employees) plan to spend 49% of their lead generation

budgets on inbound marketing.

In comparison, medium-to-large businesses (50 or more employees) only plan to spend 36% of

their lead generation budgets on inbound marketing.

Small business are only giving 10% of their budget to outbound, while medium-to-large

business are allocating 28% of their budget to outbound channels.

Small businesses plan to spend dramatically more of their budgets on social media and blogs.

Medium-to-large businesses plan to spend more of their budgets on outbound methods,

including trade shows, direct mail and telemarketing.

19%

16%

10%

12%

4%

3% 3% 3%

6%

17%

3%

13% 13%

10%

7%8%

0%

10%

20%

Social Media SEO(Organic Search)

Blogs Email Marketing

Trade Shows PPC(Paid Search)

Direct Mail Telemarketing

Avg

% o

f B

ud

ge

t

Avg. Distribution of Lead Generation BudgetsSmall vs. Medium to Large Businesses

1 to 5 Employees

Over 50 Employees


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Inbound Channels Convert Leads into Customers Social Media and Blogs Generate Real Customers

The use of social media and company blogs as marketing tools not only gets your company better

brand exposure, but it also generates leads that result in real customer acquisition.

57% of those using company blogs have acquired a customer from a blog-generated lead;

this is an increase of 11 percentage points since 2010.

Similarly, 57% of companies using LinkedIn have acquired a customer from that channel.

Facebook and Twitter users reported customer acquisition rates of 48% and 42%,

respectively.

Customer Acquisition through Blogs is Directly Related to Frequency of Posts

If your blog is underutilized, you are leaving customers on the table. The 2011 survey shows a direct

correlation between blog post frequency and new customers acquired.

46%41%

44%41%

57% 57%

48%42%

0%

20%

40%

60%

Company Blog LinkedIn Facebook Twitter

% of Channel Users who Acquired aCustomer

Through that Channel

Customer Acquisition by Channel

2010

2011

33%

49%

72%76% 78%

89%

0%

50%

100%

Less ThanMonthly

Monthly Weekly 2-3 Timesa Week

Daily MultipleTimes a

Day

% of BlogUserswho Acquireda customer

through their blog

Frequency of Blog Posts

Blog Post Frequency vs. Customer Acquisition


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Most Company Blogs Publish at Least Weekly

Despite the evidence showing that increased blogging correlates with increased customer acquisition,

blogging frequency remained relatively steady between 2009 and 2011.

In 2011, 71% of respondents indicated they blog at least weekly.

Facebook Is More Effective for B2C; LinkedIn Is More Effective for B2B

The effectiveness of a particular social media channel depends upon the type of business. While both

B2B and B2C companies are able to acquire customers through any of the four channels surveyed,

Facebook is clearly more effective for B2C businesses and LinkedIn is clearly more effective for B2B

businesses. Both business types found similar and relatively high success with customer acquisition

through a company blog.

15%

62%

23%

10%

61%

29%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

Daily Weekly Monthly or less

% o

f R

ep

so

nd

en

ts

Frequency of Blog Posts2009 v. 2011

2009

2011

61%

55%

41% 39%39%

63%67%

53%

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

LinkedIn Company Blog Facebook Twitter

% of ChannelUsers who Acquired aCustomer Through

that Channel

Customer Acquisition by ChannelB2B v. B2C

B2B

B2C


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Channel Effectiveness by Industry

A deeper dive into the customer acquisition results shows how the effectiveness of blogs, Twitter,

Facebook and LinkedIn varies by industry. The major takeaways from this data include:

Higher Education, Professional Services & Consulting, and Software & Biotech found blogging

was highly effective. All of those industries had over 50% of respondents indicating customer

acquisition through their blog.

The Retail industry experienced the most success through Facebook and Twitter.

Communications & Media, Banking/Insurance/Financial Services, Manufacturing, Professional

Services & Consulting, and Technology Hardware found LinkedIn was highly effective.

58%

58%

80%

72%

50%

59%

60%

66%

61%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

Technology (Software/Biotech)

Technology (Hardware)

Retail/Wholesale

Professional Services/Consulting

Manufacturing

Higher Education

Communications/Media

Banking/Insurance/Financial Services

% of Channel Users who Acquired a Customer Through that Channel

Customer Acquisition by Channelby Industry

LinkedIn

Twitter

Facebook

Blog


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What’s Important to Marketers? Inbound Marketing Channels Continue to Grow in Importance

Based on the data regarding customer acquisition and lower average costs for inbound marketing, it is

not surprising that inbound marketing channels continue to grow in importance. Looking at the last six

months:

62% of businesses rated social media as being more important.

Social media and SEO were the channels most frequently reported as MORE important.

Direct mail was the channel most frequently cited as LESS important.

Businesses rated every outbound channel as LESS important than any inbound channel.

62%

51%

38%

22%

16%11% 10%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

Social Media SEO(Organic search)

Blogs PPC(Paid search)

Trade Shows Telemarketing Direct Mail

% o

f R

esp

on

de

nts

Which sources of leads have become MORE important to you over the last six months?

50%

38%

33%

25%

12%10%

7%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

Direct Mail TradeShows

Telemarketing PPC(Paid

search)

Blogs SEO(Organicsearch)

Social Media

% o

f R

esp

on

de

nts

Which sources of leads have become LESSimportant to you over the last six months?

Outbound

Inbound

Outbound

Inbound


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Blogs Remain Most Important Social Media Channel

Survey respondents were asked to indicate if their

business publishes a blog. From 2009 to 2011, the

volume of respondents indicating that their

company publishes a blog has shown rapid

growth:

From 2009 to 2011, the percentage of

respondents with a company blog grew

from 48% to 65%.

On the flip side, the likelihood of a not

having a blog has been reduced from 52%

to 35%.

Respondents were also asked to rank the services that they use as ―critical,‖ ―important,‖ or ―useful.‖

The results indicate:

A whopping 27% of users rated their company blog as “critical” to their business.

85% of users rated company blogs as “useful” or better.

LinkedIn, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter were considered ―useful‖ or better by over 60%.

In contrast, MySpace, StumbleUpon, Digg and Flickr all had user bases where over 70%

considered the channel only ―somewhat useful‖ or ―not useful.‖

14%

18%

14%

16%

27%

25%

26%

30%

34%

35%

25%

23%

28%

21%

23%

0% 20% 40% 60% 80% 100%

MySpace

StumbleUpon

Digg

Flickr

Twitter

Facebook

YouTube

LinkedIn

Company Blog

% of Users

How important are these services to your business?

Critical

Important

Useful

Somewhat Useful

Not Useful

27% reported their blog was “Critical”.

48%61% 65%

52%39% 35%

0%

50%

100%

2009 2010 2011

% o

f R

ep

so

nd

en

ts

Do you publish a company blog?

No

Yes


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Company Blogs, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter Increasingly Valued by Businesses

The results of both the 2009 and 2011 studies reveal that certain channels are gaining importance over

time. The graph below shows the percentage of users who rated the channel as either ―critical‖ or

―important‖ in 2009 and 2011.

The results of this comparison show:

Company blogs are increasingly valued. The blog is the channel most frequently

reported as critical or important, both in 2009 and 2011.

YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter are also increasingly important. Facebook and Twitter gained

an additional 18%, and YouTube gained 20%.

Flickr, Digg, StumbleUpon, and MySpace had reduced importance.

52%

26%24%

21%

14%

21%25%

13%

62%

44% 44%

38%

11%9%

6%4%

0%

20%

40%

60%

Company Blog

YouTube Facebook Twitter Flickr Digg StumbleUpon MySpace

% o

f R

ep

so

nd

en

ts

% Respondents indicating Channel was Critical or Important2009 vs. 2011

2009

2011

Gaining Importance


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Conclusion and Additional Resources

Traditional outbound marketing techniques – including direct mail, print advertising and telemarketing –

are becoming less effective. Buyers are not only finding ways to tune these messages out, but more

importantly, they now have the capability to evaluate the products and services they need on their own.

As a result, businesses are transforming their marketing efforts to focus more on inbound programs that

allow customers to find them. The State of Inbound Marketing report shows that businesses that more

aggressively practice this are capturing leads more effectively. Given the digital nature of inbound

marketing, the marginal cost per customer acquisition is typically close to zero, meaning that as buyers

continue to shift how they make purchasing, the cost per lead for a given business will continue to

decrease.

While it is clear that businesses are gravitating towards inbound marketing, some are moving more

aggressively than others. Those who move first are more likely to reap the tremendous business

benefits of this new era of marketing.

If you are interested in learning more about inbound

marketing and how to combine blogging, SEO and social

media for results, try HubSpot‘s free 30-day trial!

http://www.hubspot.com/free-trial




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Appendix We asked respondents to name the best and worst marketing programs they‘ve executed to drive leads

and sales over the past year. Represented below are their answers in a word cloud.

Best Things People Did in Marketing Last Year:

Worst Things People Did in Marketing Last Year:


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Respondent Profiles

The State of Inbound Marketing report is based on surveys conducted in early 2009, 2010, and 2011.

The 2011 results are based on responses from 644 professionals who were familiar with their business‘

marketing strategy. These professionals included marketers, business owners, entrepreneurs, and

executives at companies of various sizes. 76% of these professionals worked in business-to-business

companies and the range of industries varied greatly. Industries represented in the sample included

Retail, Technology, Professional Services & Consulting, Banking/Insurance/Financial Services and

Communications & Media among others.

1 to 539%

6 to 109%

11 to 2512%

26 to 508%

51 to 20015%

201 or more17%

How many full-time employees does your company have?

B2B76%

B2C24%

My business primarily sells to other businesses (B2B) or consumers

(B2C)

Technology19%

Retail / Wholesale

6%

Professional Services / Consulting

30%

Communications / Media

14%

Banking / Insurance / Financial Services

4%

Other27%

What industry best describes your company?

Marketing50%

Other8%

CEO / Executive

9%

Business Owner / Partner

33%

What best describes your role?


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Sample Questions Asked

The survey was designed to collect data on the marketing practices and results for a wide range of

businesses. This is the third consecutive year in which this survey has been conducted. Respondents

were asked a series of questions related to their business‘ marketing programs the results they have

seen. Most of the questions fell within three categories:

- Marketing budget and sources of leads, including:

o What percent of your sales leads come from each of your lead channels?

o What percent of your lead generation budget do you spend on each of your lead

channels?

o Estimate the cost per lead for each of your lead channels.

- Trends in ―importance‖ and ―usefulness‖ of marketing channels and leads, including:

o Which sources of leads have become MORE important to you over last six months?

o Which sources of leads have become LESS important to you over last six months?

o How useful are social media sources to your business?

- Focus on blogs and social media

o Do you publish a blog?

o How often do you publish a post?

o Have you ever acquired a customer from the following social media / blog channels?

Download - The 2011 State of Inbound Marketing

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