You are watching television and within 10 minutes saw over 5 ads. Do you remember what they said, or do you remember the call to action? Did you have a chance to write down the number or memorize it in 5 seconds? Better yet, did you use your TiVo to skip them?
You are listening to the radio on your way in to the office and hear an ad for a local company running a promotion. What action do you take from that radio ad?
There are several questions that one can ask themselves when it comes to marketing and advertising. Knowing how effective an ad campaign or marketing promotion is can be crucial to understanding the performance of your carefully monitored budget. With senior managers and business owners keeping a close eye on their overall marketing ROI, advertising and marketing dollars are under the microscope.
Marketers are interested in results and qualified sales leads
A 2011 budget survey by Goldstein Group Communications and Hearst Business Media shows that marketers are showing more interest in lead quality and search engine marketing.
“Many marketers discuss the priority they place on lead generation, yet the bulk of their advertising spending remains centered on impressions or brand awareness buys,” said Hearst Electronics Group’s VP Publishing Director, William Barron.
While the ratio of online, compared to, traditional spending settled in at 51% traditional to 49% online; two years ago, 60% of budgets were spent on traditional tactics such as literature/catalogs, direct mail, trade shows, and print advertising.
Quality of leads were a key focus of the survey as opposed to the actual quantity.
What does this survey really tell us? Companies need to increase their revenue, and they are tired of spending money that appears to be swirling around the drain.
How to get those qualified sales leads
The beautiful thing about following the inbound marketing methodology is that inbound marketing ROI is very measurable, especially when measured correctly.
You can’t only look at the amount of unique visitors your website receives over a period of time as a marketing campaign success. Where you need to focus attention is the revenue that website visitors are driving to your business. Are sales truly getting those quality leads that so many companies are looking for?
Since companies are still spending a significant amount of their budgets on traditional advertising, those campaigns can be, and should be, tied back to online marketing campaigns.
The important factor truly will be in 2011, how the marketing and advertising industry can educate, partner with and help drive the revenue growth through effective marketing for their clients. After all, that is what it is all about.
Inbound marketing, coupled with strategic content marketing strategies, lead nurturing, and a ready sales team is fully equipped and qualified to deliver those qualified sales leads.
(Source: State of Inbound Marketing Report .PDF)
How inbound marketing drives qualified leads
When people search for your product and service, they don’t want to be directly marketed to. They want an answer to their question, and a solution to their problem. Does your online marketing campaign offer that?
Once they find your product and service, do they have an offer waiting for them to further engage their interest? Using a landing page that can give them what they need and give your business a more ready sales contact, it is a harmonious situation.
Do you know the visit to lead conversion rates, and also do you know the lead to customer percentage through your website?
Understanding how the investment that you have put into your web presence should be a primary focus in 2011. Knowing how effective your dollars are in putting qualified sales leads into your sales teams hands, will be a determining factor in your overall advertising and marketing success.