Learn how to synchronize search, social and content for lead generation and customer conversion

Building an inbound marketing architecture

July 26, 2012Sponsored by:

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Introductions

Kaci BowerSenior Research AnalystMECLABS / MarketingSherpa@kacibower

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A research-based webinar

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MarketingSherpa Benchmark Research Library

• The collective wisdom of more than 48,000 marketers

• Nearly 5,000 pages of analytical commentary and marketer insights

• More than 6,000 charts and data tables to validate what’s working – and what’s not – in marketing today

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• What is inbound marketing, and why does it matter so much today?

• How does an inbound marketing architecture drive traffic to a point of convergence and conversion?

• How do you launch an inbound marketing architecture with a plan and purpose?

Agenda

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What is Inbound

Marketing?

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In its simplest terms…

Inbound marketing is about a lead finding you, not you finding a lead.

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The Internet has changed

buyers’ behaviors and expectations.

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Buying Process 1.0 How customers used to shop

Buying Process 2.0How customers shop today

Sales enters buying process early on

Sales enters buying process later on

Sales answers questions Customers find answers to most questions before engaging Sales

Difficult for customers to research choices

Endless research options via search and social media

Marketing has minor role, restricted to early awareness and consideration phases

Marketing plays pivotal role across stages with content delivery via search and social channels

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“To be successful and grow your business and revenues, you must match the way you market your products with the way your prospects learn about and shop for your products.”

Brian Halligan, Co-author of Inbound Marketing, CEO, HubSpot

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Inbound marketing uses organic search, social media, and content marketing to draw

prospects in to a point of conversion.

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Poll Question- Which of these is your most significant lead source?

• Blogs/Content/Whitepapers• Email• Organic search (SEO)• Paid search (PPC)• Social Media

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Inbound tops the list of B2C and B2B lead sources rising in importance

Which sources of leads have become more

important to you over the last 12 months?

Tele-market-

ing

Direct MailTrade Shows

PPCEmailBlogsSocial Media

SEO

25%25%

35%

47%

80%

70%

81%

92%

13%17%

13%

59%

79%

67%

87%

96%

B2BB2C

Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded April 2011, N=1,530

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Inbound also converts leads into customers

Which of the following sources generate traffic

with the highest conversion rates on

your site?

Social media ad placements

Other referring sites

Social media sites

Paid search

Email marketing campaigns

Organic search

3%

8%

7%

14%

22%

30%

1%

5%

4%

10%

28%

29%

B2B

B2C

Source: ©2012 MarketingSherpa Lead Generation Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded January 2012, N=1,915

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Inbound leads cost 66% less than outbound leads

Outbound:Average cost/lead: $146

Inbound:Average cost/lead: $50

Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa Search Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded April 2011, N=1,530

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More marketers value the integration of these inbound marketing tactics – than actually do it

76% of marketers agree that

leveraging Inbound Marketing is essential…

…but only 47% are

doing this

Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa Social Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded February 2011, N=3,342

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We know Inbound works…

So how can you do it well?

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• SEO, social and content are each proven performers when separately implemented.

• But, when strategically synchronized into a methodical strategy, the result is significantly reduced costs, increased sales, and improved ROI.

• Synchronizing these tactics requires an architecture to systematically channel traffic to points of customer conversion.

Synchronize these tactics into a systematic

architecture

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Without an architecture, leads are lost before reaching a conversion point

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With a hub-and-spoke architecture, leads converge on customer conversion points

• The Inbound Marketing architecture has three levels:

1. Foundation – organic search (SEO)2. Spoke sites – social media3. Hub sites – website and blog

• Objective is to systematically drive traffic from search and social media to specific conversion points

Case study

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Case Study: Background

� ID: Firefish Software, a recruiting software companyLocation: MarketingSherpa Case Study LibraryNumber: #CS32198

Research Notes:

Problem: Capture the attention of their market despite a lower marketing budget than their competition

Approach: • Put entire marketing budget into a comprehensive inbound marketing

strategy • Coordinate different inbound channels• Avoid costs of attending tradeshows through virtual social media

interaction

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Step 1: Focus on multiple inbound channels

Aim: • Create quality content that Firefish clients would find valuable

Methods:• Tackled several inbound channels at

once• Focused on fact that web traffic

only came from social media, other sites and organic search

• Worked to get “the maximum mileage” out of any content they created

"If we do a webinar with a client, I will then take my prep notes for that (webinar) and turn that into ablog post. We have to be really smart about our resources right now because we don’t have a really huge team.“

- Ailsa Partridge, Online Marketing Executive, Firefish

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Step 2: Develop thought leadership

Aim: • Guest blog and post content to other

relevant online communities

Methods:• Offered blog exchanges• Got involved in conversations in

external communities, like LinkedIn• Continually weigh pros and cons of

doing this, e.g. time invested vs. results

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Step 3: Interact with tradeshows virtually

Aim: • Interact with tradeshow participants without actually attending and

paying for these events

Methods:• Took advantage of conferences that are also online • Uncovered the main points of each speaker and wrote blog posts by

lunch or break at the event• Created whitepaper summarizing a conference and posted next day to

generate more discussion• Promoted these posts through Twitter to drive engagement with event

attendees, a captive and interested audience

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Results

94% customer retention

Key performance metrics YoY Change

Leads generated + 190%Website traffic + 335%1.5:1 demo-to-customer conversion rate

!"The Internet is democratizing the marketplace for many industries. It’s no longer about who has the biggest budget to spend on expensive advertising campaigns. Instead, potential clients are making decisions based on the quality and authenticity of information they are finding online.” – Ailsa Partridge, Online Marketing Executive, Firefish

Level 1 – Organic search (SEO)Attract timely and relevant search traffic

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Level 1 – Organic search (SEO)Everything begins with a search

• Goal of SEO is to help search engines, in response to a search query, find and rank your Web content higher than competing sites

• Timely and relevant content influences search results and pulls leads in to conversion points

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KEY POINT:

Ranking high in search engine results today is necessary, not optional.

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Organic search70%

Paid search25%

Other5%

Search users click on organic search results 70% of the time

Which search result link did you click on

first?

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59% of all organic clicks go to the top 3 organic

search results

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

36%

13%

10%8%

6%

4% 4% 4% 3%2%

Search Rank Position

Click

thro

ugh

Rate

Source: Clickthrough rates of Google 'US SERPS based on Optify data

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Keyword research

Optimized content and

pages

Links and

Social signals

Better search results

Traffic

Conversions

How does organic search

drive traffic and

conversions?

Where does content fit in?

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Search Social

Content sits at the

intersection of search and

social.

1. Understand what your prospects and customers need to know2. Produce optimize content based on relevant keywords 3. Deliver and socialize optimized content through social networks

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KEY POINT:

Focus on aligning content with your goals, audience and opportunities – and let that drive the design and topic.

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Target content to stages in customer engagement cycle

Setting even basic, high-level goals will provide a compass to keep you on track when you're planning and publishing content.

Customer Engagement Cycle Stage Content Goal

Awareness• Raise general awareness of your brand

• Increase website traffic

Consideration• Encourage consideration of and active

interest in your products and servicesInquiry

Purchase • Get prospects to choose you over competitors

Retention • Retain customers

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Example: Think like your ideal customer

Customer Engagement Cycle Stage Questions Asked

Awareness How can I find the best deals on footwear?

Consideration What do I need to consider when purchasing women’s running shoes?

Inquiry What types of running shoes does this company offer?

Purchase Why is it better to purchase from this company over another?

Retention What would make me purchase from this company again?

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Existing content Repurpose existing content as

News releases Rewrite in conversational tone and post on blog

Video of CEO annual meeting speech

Post video on YouTube Convert audio to MP3 for downloadable podcast Transcribe speech and post on blog

Customer case studies Create PowerPoint and post on SlideShare Record PowerPoint with voiceover as video and post on YouTube Post video (YouTube embed code) on blog

PowerPoint presentations Record with voiceover as video and post on YouTube Convert audio to MP3 for downloadable podcast Rewrite in conversational tone and post on blog

Self-published articles Rewrite in conversational tone and post as a blog series Record audio to MP3 for downloadable podcast

Outdated blog posts Rewrite with updated titles, references, etc. and post on blog

Inventory existing content for repurposing

Level 2 – Social networks Build and engage social networks

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Social networks:Bring together like-minded people

Provide a platform to share and influence opinions

Give companies a great way to listen and monitor

Offer people and companies a place to congregate and converse

• Posts link to blog and website content – and conversion points

Level 2: Spoke sites – social networksFor community building and engagement

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Top social marketing priorities for CMOs address traffic and awareness, but also leads and customers.

56% Increasing website traffic

50%Achieving or

increasing measurable

lead generation

51% Improving

brand awareness

or reputation

45%Converting

social media followers into

paying customers

Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa Social Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded Feb ruary 2011, N=3,342

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B2B marketers are not only on LinkedIn and Twitter

• To be effective, it is important to develop a plan and a purpose for each site

• Example:Facebook – consumer

engagement and education

LinkedIn group – channel partner ID and development, thought leadership

Twitter – customer service deskScribd or other document sharing

Slideshare or other presentation sharing

Delicious or other social bookmarking

Flickr or other photo sharing

LinkedIn

Blog

YouTube or other video sharing

Twitter

Facebook

3%

6%

12%

18%

39%

57%

62%

74%

93%

5%

19%

11%

15%

75%

58%

59%

76%

74%

Businesses-B2B Consumers-B2C

Source: ©2011 MarketingSherpa Social Marketing Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded February 2011, N=3,342

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KEY POINTS:• More than half of active Twitter users

follow companies, brands or products on social networks.

• 79% of US Twitter followers are more likely to recommend brands they follow.

• 67% of US Twitter users are more likely to buy brands they follow.

Source: Edison Research, 2010

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Tactical plan for increasing reach on social networksWhat we are currently doing What we plan to do

Interact with your target audience wherever they are

Use your existing web presence to promote your social networks

Content is king on social media too – so treat it like royalty.

Entice your target audience with compelling offers.

Make social sharing a mandatory part of email campaigns.

Mobilize and localize your social networks.

Test and optimize your social networks for continuous improvement.

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Regularly follow discussion forums linked to their indus-

try

LinkedIn

Regularly follow blogs linked to their industry

Podcasts

Facebook

46%

35%

31%

24%

13%

Source: TriComB2B adn the University of Dayton School of Business Administration, "The Considered Pur -chase Decision: What Matters, What Doesn't And What It Means For B2B Marketing and Sales," Sep 14, 2011

B2B decision-makers use a number of online

“social” resources to gather purchase

information.

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Position yourself as a thought leader in your field

Where? • Utilize Q&A forums, like LinkedIn or Quora, to develop thought leadership.

Who? • Go where people are looking for help and resources in your industry, and offer your guidance and expertise.

When? • Set aside time every week to sift through questions related to your industry.

How? • Thoughtfully and thoroughly answer and address as many questions and concerns as you can.

What?• Avoid sales pitches and just provide information while

making sure your company and product affiliation is front and center.

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Level 2: Spoke sites – multimedia sites For content aggregation and sharing

• Multimedia – videos, images, presentations – is a driver of social media popularity and adoption

• Multimedia content produces highly favorable search rankings

Search engine crawlers find multimedia content linked to social networks, blogs and websites

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“Video is just one part of a marketing plan. It fits certain messages and people better than others.”

--Steve Garfield, Video Blogger and Author of Get Seen

Case study

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Case Study: Background

� ID: Orabrush, a breath-freshening tongue cleanerLocation: MarketingSherpa Case Study LibraryNumber: #HOW31864

Research Notes:

Problem: Product wouldn’t successfully sell through traditional channels, despite years of trying

Approach: • Develop an inbound marketing strategy from scratch through

experimentation, hard work and innovative marketing• Build the YouTube channel into a full-blown inbound marketing hub• Turn video viewers into customers right from their profiles

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Step 1: Create an effective YouTube page

Aim: • Research successful YouTube channels and create a page combining the

best tactics

Methods:• Moved beyond standard

YouTube channel page templates

• Made channel page double as a landing page with strong call-to-action

• Encouraged people to follow brand in social networks

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Step 2: Create more than one type of video

Aim: • Feature three types of videos – each with a specific purpose

Methods:• Conversion videos designed

to educate and encourage conversions

• Engagement videos designed to engage and entertain YouTube audience

• Videos of unsolicited customer reviews

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Step 3: Commit to consistency to ensure success

Aim: • Consistently create content

to engage and retain fans

Methods:• Developed a publishing

calendar planned months in advance

• Published one video a week, every week, as older videos are not promoted as often

• Stuck to a strict budget

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Step 4: Boost performance by purchasing ads

Aim: • Attract visitors with ads, and then stretch ad clicks with viral content

Methods:• Purchased ads in YouTube's

Promoted Videos program• Relied on interesting content

to convince viewers to subscribe and share with friends

"The real key is making sure you have enough 'virality' and enough engagement and interest that you can stretch those clicks.“

- Jeffrey Harmon, CMO, Orabrush

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Step 5: Engage fans and peers

Aim: • Meet social network expectation to interact

Methods:• Tried to respond to as many

comments as possible, despite volume

• Mined comments for video ideas, making sure to credit source of inspiration

• Interacted with fellow peers

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Results

Sales volume in stores is comparable to sales of premium toothbrushes

Key performance metrics Since launch of first video

Subscribers 184KVideo views 47MLanding page conversion rates 10x increase

! YouTube is Orabrush's primary marketing channel and represents 80% of its marketing.

Level 3– Hub sitesPoint and convert traffic

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• Websites are the hub of the marketing strategy

• Blogs are the hub of the social media strategy

• Work together as a point of lead convergence and conversion

• Landing page optimization crucial to rate of customer conversions

Incremental gains produce significant financial impact

Level 3: Hub sites – blogs and websitesFor traffic convergence and conversion

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Percent of blog users

who acquired a customer through

their blog

Blog frequency impacts customer acquisition

Less than monthly

Monthly Weekly 2 - 3 times per week

Daily Multiple times a day

43%

56%

66%70%

78%

92%

Source: State of Inbound Marketing Report, HubSpot, March 2012

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Percentage of total lead volume generated per inbound tactic

Organic search 29% B2C19% B2BContent marketing 10% B2C15% B2BSocial media 13% B2C9% B2BWebsite optimization 15% B2C16% B2BTotal lead volume contribution by inbound67% B2C59% B2B

Source: ©2012 MarketingSherpa Lead Generation Benchmark Survey Methodology: Fielded January 2012, N=1,915

Roll out the framework – with a plan and purpose.

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• Number of sites not important – a plan and a purpose for each is

• Master each site before rolling out the next

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• Get leads to find and choose you using an inbound marketing architecture

• Attract them with timely and relevant search results

• Build and engage them with social networks

• Create and share compelling content

• Bring them to points of traffic convergence and conversion

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More Leads. More Revenue. Less Work.

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