In parts 1 and 2 of our look at the key factors to running a successful inbound marketing campaign, we highlighted that businesses are best advised to:
- Understand What Inbound Marketing Is – and What it Isn’t
- Understand That Inbound Marketing is a System
- Understand That Inbound Marketing is a Commitment
- Understand that Quality Isn’t Optional
- Understand the Importance of Buyer Personas
- Understand the Importance of Gating
Today, we’ll wrap up our series by looking at 3 more vital factors for inbound marketing success.
7. Understand the Importance of Benchmarks and Goals
While depriving an inbound marketing campaign of resources is dooming it to fail before it starts, this doesn’t mean that you should “do inbound marketing for the sake of inbound marketing” – because that can be a major waste of time and money as well, not to mention, put you at a significant competitive disadvantage since your competitors may be scooping up your current and future customers during this inbound marketing experiment.
The way to avoid traveling on the inbound marketing bridge to nowhere is to set benchmarks and goals. As with all other business objectives (i.e. not just those related to inbound marketing), ensure that these are realistic, relevant, achievable and clearly-defined.
It’s also advisable to review your inbound marketing benchmarks and goals at least quarterly to ensure that they’re still valid. Be assured that updating them is by no means an indication that they were poorly chosen in the first place. It simply means that the landscape has shifted since the last checkpoint (and possibly in your favor), and that you’re wisely adjusting your inbound marketing perspective and metrics accordingly.
8. Understand How to Report on Results
At first glance, this key factor may seem blatantly, even offensively redundant. Obviously, you KNOW that reporting on results is a necessary aspect of an inbound marketing campaign, just as it is with any other kind of marketing campaign you might launch now or in the future.
However, your ability to determine whether your campaign is on the right track – or in need of a minor or major course-correction – depends on whether you’re generating the right reports, which in turn are fed by the right data. Forget GIGO (“garbage in, garbage out”). If you aren’t using the right data sets to evaluate results, then you’ll get the WRONG results – which will either make you think that your campaign is doing better than it is or, much more likely, that it’s underperforming and you should start worrying.
It’s beyond the scope of this (or any other) article to tell you exactly what reports you should use, since that depends on the specifics of your inbound marketing campaign, the kinds of offers you have in your system, how you’re tracking results, and so on.
However, as a general guide, you should expect to rely (at least to some extent) on data and reports generated by Google Analytics, as well as by HubSpot if you’re leveraging the platform in your campaigns. If you’re launching newsletters and email through automated software such as ConstantContact, then that platform can provide some useful data and reports as well.
9. Understand the Value of Working with Inbound Marketing Experts
Without a doubt, the biggest mistake that businesses make with their inbound marketing campaign can be traced back to one decision: going the DIY route to save money. Or to put this another way: all successful inbound marketing campaigns are built and managed by EXPERTS.
That’s because, as noted several times already in describing the other key factors, inbound marketing is not a one-time event; it’s an ongoing process that must be coordinated, managed and optimized, and as noted above, supported by the right benchmarks, goals, data and reports. Inbound marketing experts provide extremely valuable leadership and support on both strategy and implementation — and just as importantly, they do so in a manner that is clearly cost-effective in the long run.
Connect with our Inbound Marketing Experts
If your business is ready to reap the measurable benefits of inbound marketing – especially if your less capable or flat-out inferior competitors are beating you at the inbound marketing game – then contact the inbound marketing experts at Leap Clixx today. We’ll be pleased to answer your questions, and put you on track for long-term success and growth.
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