Besides your sales team, your website is your company’s greatest sales tool. It’s the hub where you attract prospective buyers, educate and prime them for sales, and lead them through conversion. While this process won’t change anytime soon, marketers do need to shift attention to other channels to meet their marketing goals.
HubSpot’s just-released State of Inbound 2016 report (download the full report here) surveyed 4,500 marketers and salespeople about their daily challenges, priorities and strategies. The report found the marketing industry’s top two priorities are converting leads to customers and growing website traffic.
Inbound marketing has proven a successful approach to both of these goals. Marketers have built a solid foundation after years of blogging and creating content to house on their websites. Now it’s time to scale.
“If you build it, they will come” is not a solid marketing strategy. The key to marketing and sales success? Identify where your buyers are, and proactively go to them to engage.
Here’s how survey respondents said they prefer to communicate:
Unless you’re an Amazon of the world, it’s unlikely a prospect wakes up in the morning thinking, “I have to check out [insert your company]’s website today.” Marketers need to work to connect with prospects on the channels they’re already using, and give them a reason to engage further – whether through email, on your website, on social channels or elsewhere – then nurture and convert them into customers. The right channels for your company will depend on its target audience, so get to know your buyer personas and their preferences.
After you’ve identified your priority marketing channels, you then need to think about the content that will resonate with target buyers, and determine how to share that content with prospects through the appropriate channel at the right stage of the marketing funnel.
Here’s a glance at the information State of Inbound respondents look for when making a purchase decision:
The good news is, marketers are already planning for the future and looking to improve their distribution of content across channels. Here’s a look at the breakdown of which new channels marketers plan to test this year:
Marketers need to take the time to identify and prioritize a strategy for engaging with target audiences beyond their websites. The State of Inbound report makes that clear, and provides insights for marketers on where to begin. Reaching audiences where they already are will help marketers break through the clutter and create engaging interactions and experiences.
Do you need help expanding your marketing strategy to new channels? Get in touch.