I remember the day the light went on for me with inbound marketing. It was an early webinar from Hubspot that explained the principles at a simplified, high level. That afternoon my co-workers thought I had exceeded my prescribed caffeine limits, but this was a natural buzz!
That experience showed me how easy it is to get excited about the concept of inbound marketing, to comprehend intuitively how a relevant and disciplined content strategy can be the basis for smart SEO work; that social media can be employed as a targeted, engaging broadcast and promotion network; how clever use of content offers and calls to action can help convert visitors into identified leads; and finally, how web analytics can help marketers monitor, modify, and continuously improve their online marketing.
But there’s a big difference between understanding the concept, and seeing undeniable proof that it works and creates the impact businesses need. That’s why I especially like this case study I found on Hubspot’s website about Colt International, a privately held Dutch manufacturer of HVAC and climate control systems and products.
What I especially like about this example is they didn’t wait a year or more to look at results; Colt Manager of Marketing and Communications Gertie Arts sat down with Hubspot’s Inbound Marketing Manager Pamela Seiple as a relatively new customer last year to share 3 months worth of data. Here’s what she revealed:
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- Starting from zero (0!) traffic from social media they were already attracting 900 visitors per month after 90 days
- Total monthly web traffic grew 10 times versus their starting point
- Right from the start they were experiencing a respectable 13% landing page conversion rate
Gertie reported that she meets weekly with the Colt CEO to update him on the progress of their inbound marketing initiatives, and she shared with Pamela that Hubspot’s analytic tools make it easy for her to demonstrate the return Colt is realizing. She also gave a plug for the ease of having all your tools in one place, on a single platform, making integration nothing to fret about.
Need more evidence? Weidert PR guru Sean Johnson recently wrote “Social Media Return on Investment” to illustrate the same point: if you earnestly commit to this approach, you’re going to like the results! So where are you in this deliberation? Trying to figure out if it’s right for your business or industry? Don’t know how much it will cost or how you’ll pay for it? If that’s the case, let’s talk. It costs you nothing, and in the end you’ll be closer to knowing what to do.