Ever wondered how some brands seem to effortlessly attract customers while others struggle? The magic often happens when they whip up convincing points that spotlight the benefits of smart moves, like diving into inbound marketing. Getting stakeholders on your side or just wrapping your head around the real benefits, learning how to build a business case for inbound marketing in order to make a solid pitch for inbound marketing is key. This isn't about fancy jargon or complex theories; it’s about making practical, impactful decisions that resonate with both your team and target audience.
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Demonstrate value and evidence for ROI
Want to build a business case for inbound marketing that gets a resounding "yes." from your boss? It all starts with knowing your numbers. You need to have a crystal clear understanding of your annual sales goal, average order value, and delivery capacity. This is the foundation for figuring out how many customers you need to hit your targets. Let's break it down with an example.
Breaking Your Numbers Down - a Simple Example
Say your annual sales goal is $1 million, your average order value is $1,000, and you can handle 100 orders per month. With some quick math, you'll see you need 1,000 customers over the year, or about 84 per month, to reach that $1 million goal. So you've got your sales goal, average order value, and capacity. Now it's time to crunch the numbers and determine exactly how many customers you need to bring in. This is where a handy tool like a Lead value calculator comes in. Plug in your numbers and voila. You'll have a clear target for the number of customers required to hit your revenue goals. You also have an idea of what each lead is actually worth, and indirectly, an idea of how much you can afford to spend to acquire a lead.
Determine the rate at which an online lead becomes a customer.
Next up, you need to figure out your lead-to-customer conversion rate. In other words, what percentage of your leads actually end up buying? This is crucial for determining how many leads you need to generate to hit your customer acquisition targets. Industry benchmarks can give you a ballpark idea, but the most accurate data will come from your own analytics. Armed with your lead-to-customer conversion rate, you can now calculate the total number of leads needed to reach your customer acquisition goal. It's a simple formula: Customers needed ÷ Lead-to-customer conversion rate = Leads needed. So if you need 1,000 customers and your conversion rate is 2%, you'll need to generate 50,000 leads. That might sound like a lot, but stay with me...
Build the business case and the marketing plan
You've got your key numbers - now it's time to translate that into a compelling business case and marketing plan. This is where you'll outline exactly how inbound marketing will help you hit your lead and customer acquisition targets. Start with an executive summary that highlights the key points of your business case. This should include your revenue goals, the number of customers and leads needed to reach those goals, and a high-level overview of how inbound marketing will get you there. Keep it concise and compelling - this is your chance to grab your boss's attention and get them excited about the potential of inbound.
1. Introduction
In the introduction, provide some context around your business case. Why is inbound marketing important for your company? What challenges are you currently facing that inbound can help solve? This is also a good place to touch on the basics of the inbound methodology and how it works to attract, convert, close, and delight customers. Next, dive into a situational analysis. This is where you'll take a closer look at your current marketing efforts and how they're performing. Analyze your website traffic, lead generation, conversion rates, and customer acquisition costs. Identify areas for improvement and opportunities for growth. You should also conduct a competitive analysis to see how you stack up against others in your industry. What are they doing well? Where do they fall short? How can inbound help you gain a competitive edge?
2. Business objectives & success measures
Clearly define your business objectives and how you'll measure success. This should tie back to your revenue goals and the number of customers and leads needed to reach those goals. Get specific with your objectives. Instead of vague statements like "generate more leads," set concrete targets like "increase lead generation by X% in Q3." Also outline the key performance indicators (KPIs) you'll use to track progress. This could include metrics like website traffic, conversion rates, lead quality, and customer acquisition costs.
3. Set Realistic Cost Expectations
As both a successful, Hubspot Certified Inbound Marketing and Sales Agency, as well as a 15 year customer of Hubspot's, who used Hubspot's Inbound Marketing approach to build our SAP practice first, we can tell you that must set realistic cost expectations as part of building your building your business case, and ultimately, for making the purchase decision to go with the Hubspot Marketing Suite.
These costs include:
- Agency Fees
- Develop Buyer Personas
- Content Strategy Plan Development
- Content Writing (part of content marketing) and 3rd Party Content Production Services
- Producing Case Studies and other Downloadable Content
- Blog Posts
- Video Production
- Social Media Content Production and Posting
- Email Marketing
- Enabled by the Hubspot Marketing Platform
- Search Engine Optimization
- Paid Advertising
- Google PPC
4. Options analysis
Finally, present an options analysis that compares inbound marketing to other potential marketing investments. This is where you'll make the case for why inbound is the best choice for your business. Consider factors like cost, time to results, scalability, and alignment with your overall business strategy. Use data and case studies to support your arguments. For example, you might compare the cost per lead of inbound marketing vs. traditional outbound tactics like trade shows or print ads. Or you could highlight how inbound's focus on attracting qualified leads aligns with your company's shift towards a more targeted, account-based strategy. The key is to present a clear, data-driven argument for why inbound is the smart choice for driving business growth.
To get a "yes" on inbound marketing, know your sales goal and how many customers you need. Use tools to find this number, figure out your conversion rate, then calculate total leads needed. Finally, lay out a plan showing how inbound meets these goals with data-backed arguments.
FAQs in Relation to Build a Business Case for Inbound Marketing
What are the 4 elements of inbound marketing?
Inbound marketing thrives on content creation, SEO optimization, social media engagement, and branding strategies to pull in leads.
How do you develop an inbound marketing strategy?
To craft one, first understand your audience. Then create valuable content for them. Optimize for search engines and promote across social channels.
What are the 4 stages of inbound methodology?
The four stages include attracting strangers with quality content, converting visitors into leads, closing deals to gain customers, and delighting folks so they become promoters.
What is an example of an inbound marketing plan?
An effective plan might start with blogging to attract visitors. Use email campaigns to nurture those leads next. Finally, use analytics to refine strategies over time.
Conclusion
At its core, when you need to build a business case for Inbound Marketing, everything hinges on clarity—both in understanding what you aim to achieve and communicating these goals effectively. Crunching numbers and showing off stats is one part of the game, but what really moves your brand up the ladder is making sure those figures are marching in step with goals that have real impact. Whether you've been navigating through countless strategies seeking results or are fresh on the scene looking for direction, remember: success begins with crafting stories that connect. Diving into this skill, we've seen how it can really boost your ability to connect with more people and make a bigger impact.
In conclusion, taking steps toward developing an informed strategy doesn’t merely set the stage—it actively shapes the future of engagement between businesses and consumers alike.
Need Hubspot Inbound Marketing Consulting?
We can help you develop your business case for Inbound Marketing and Inbound Sales. Of course, we can also help you set up your Hubspot Marketing System and get your Inbound Marketing Lead Generation and Sales System.
