Traditional marketing is dying in this digital age.  The days of buying printed ad space, mailing out flyers and cold calling households during dinner are behind us; inbound is the new, most effective marketing method for growing your business online.

Howso, you ask?  Well, let us tell you 5 important reasons to make the switch to Inbound Marketing:

1. Consumers are Ignoring Traditional (Outbound) Marketing

Research now shows that an estimated 45% of direct mail is never even opened, and 86% of television viewers fast-forward through commercials (or don’t even view commercials at all when using AppleTV or Netflix). Between 2006 and 2013, the telemarketer close rate went from 1 contact for every 6 calls to 1 contact for every 41 calls.  That’s a pretty dramatic drop.

Consumers in this day and age are a fickle bunch.  They have (literally) the world at their fingertips, and can easily research products, read reviews, and compare prices within a few minutes and a few short keystrokes, and without even having to talk to anyone.  Traditional outbound marketing methods are used to buying a consumer’s attention rather than earning it, and they are having a hard time competing with the digital age.

2. Consumers are Looking for Your Content

To be a bit more specific here, consumers are actually looking for good content.  If you have the ability to provide that, then they are looking for you.  HubSpot defines Inbound Marketing as “focus[ing] on creating quality content that pulls people toward your company and product, where they naturally want to be. By aligning the content you publish with your customer’s interests, you naturally attract inbound traffic that you can then convert, close, and delight over time.”

On average, blogging companies will see a 45% increase in website traffic when they have a database of 21 – 50 blog articles.  Custom content, like eBooks or whitepapers, are found to be useful by 90% of consumers, who also appreciate the effort that it takes to make that content, and are 78% more likely to build a relationship with that company.

3. Generate Targeted Leads

Further to the information presented in the point above, blogging companies will generate, on average, an additional 67% more leads per month than those who don’t blog at all.  By the time consumers find your valuable content online, they are then even more drawn to your company and its products/services, meaning associated leads are highly targeted.

HubSpot estimates that, after following the general Inbound Methodology of “Attract, Convert, Close & Delight” (see image above), inbound marketing will increase your leads by up to 54%.  In hindsight, we really should have put this point at the top of our “reasons to switch” list and finished it at that 🙂

4. Save Money!

Inbound marketing requires much less of a financial investment than the traditional outbound methods of printed ads, mailed flyers, and call centres.  Mashable estimates that inbound methods cost 62% less per lead than traditional outbound methods…so not only are you generating more leads by going inbound, but you are spending less on each lead as well.  Double win!

5. Stay Competitive

89% of brands are prioritizing their inbound budgets, with another 93% already on board…so what are you waiting for?  The trend is clearly moving in the direction of a new model of digital marketing; sticking to only the traditional outbound methods may hinder and greatly affect your company’s success.  Switching to an inbound model will keep you competitivemay and potentially push you ahead of your competitors.

Summary

After going through the stats and quotes from our list above, your question should no longer be “Should I Switch to Inbound?”; it should be “When Do We Start?”

Keep your eye on the Umami blog this month for more posts on the topic of inbound methodologies, and how to effectively implement a fresh new strategy for your marketing efforts.  In the meantime, we’ve put together an awesome free download that will help you turn your website into an inbound marketing machine and ready to drive traffic, leads and sales.  Check it out today and let us know what you think!