When wary business owners approach me about inbound marketing, they almost always ask me to back up what I say with proof. Well, without further adieu, here are some of the top marketing statistics from 2012 that back up my claims that inbound marketing is one of, if not THE best, way for businesses to make money, save money, and get recognized.
Money-Related Statistics
As of 2012, HubSpot now reports that getting a lead through inbound marketing channels costs 61% less than outbound marketing channels. The average cost per lead for outbound-dominated businesses was reported as being $346, which is quite a bit more than the average cost per lead for inbound-dominated businesses at $135. It’s no wonder that HubSpot also reported that a remarkable 89% of businesses polled are either:
- Maintaining their inbound marketing budget, or
- Increasing their inbound marketing budget
Small businesses are really starting to see the benefit of inbound marketing. They plan to spend 43% of their budgets on inbound marketing, while larger businesses are setting aside only 21% of their budget. Interestingly, small businesses are spending less on outbound marketing this year (14% of their budget) while larger businesses are deciding to spend more (33%).
Lead and Social Media Statistics
If you didn’t think that blogs were important, think again. Yet again this year well over half of all companies with a blog have reported that they have acquired a customer because of their blog (57%). Even more profound is the fact that 92% of companies who take the time to blog on a daily basis have acquired a customer through that blog. The more you blog, the more likely you are to get a customer.
62% of companies have reported that social media has become more important as a source of leads, which isn’t overly surprising since:
- 65% of BSB companies have acquired a customer through LinkedIn
- 77% of B2C companies have acquired a customer through Facebook
- Over 40% of marketers have stated that Google+ is either “useful” or “critical” to their business
No wonder 51% of companies are spending less and less on direct mail campaigns – they recognize this method as being a less important source of leads than social media. This should come as a relief to most businesses, since social media is free to use and direct mail campaigns are costly (and proving to be less and less effective).
Mobile Statistics
Almost everyone I know has a smartphone, which isn’t surprising when I heard that mobile internet users will reach almost 114 million in 2012 (which is up 17.1% from 97.3 million in 2011). Not only are people using smartphones to stay connected with friends and family, but they’re also using them to complete purchases. HubSpot has estimated that:
- Mobile shoppers will reach close to 73 million in 2012 (72.8 million)
- Mobile buyers will reach 37.5 million in 2012
- Smartphone shoppers will reach 68.6 million in 2012
- Smartphone buyers will reach 36.4 million in 2012
But it’s not just about mobile and smartphone users any more; now there are also more tablet users hitting the marketplace. Tablet users will reach an estimated 54.8 million in the United States this year, which is up 62.8% from 33.7 million in 2011.
The moral of the story: make sure that your website is compatible with more than just a standard PC if you want to stay in business.
Online Video Statistics
More and more people are using the internet to watch videos than read content. An estimated 169.3 million online video viewers will hit up the internet this year to watch what they want to watch rather than depend on, say, the television. That’s an estimated 53.5% of the population and 70.8% of internet users all viewing videos online. Now that’s a huge potential marketplace!
But videos aren’t just being viewed on laptops and PCs. More and more mobile and smartphone users are viewing videos online, with an estimated 54.6 million mobile phone users viewing videos on the Internet and an estimated 51.2 million smartphone users using their phones to watch videos online.
Ecommerce Stats
Did you know that an estimated 88.1% of US internet users who are over the age of 14 will be using the internet to either browse or research products online? Of that lot, 83.9% of them will make at least one purchase through the web. Online shopping only continues to increase, as there is yet another marked jump in the amount of internet buyers with an estimated 154.6 million purchasing online in 2012 (up 4.4% from 2011).
Key Takeaways:
The internet is where all businesses have to be. If you want to stay afloat, you need to get online. Create a great website, update it and your blog regularly, get on social media and make sure you’re mobile and smartphone friendly. This is necessary not to stay ahead of the competition, but just to keep up with the competition.
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